With all the wit and high-stakes suspense of his Lovejoy series, Jonathan Gash's debut Dr. Clare Burtonall mystery, Different Women Dancing, was published to rave reviews. A "smashing new crime novel," enthused The New York Times Book Review. In a dramatic departure from the irascible Lovejoy, Gash casts smart and sensuous female cardiologist Dr. Clare Burtonall in the lead, and a high-priced male prostitute, Bonn, as her sensitive and charismatic sidekick. The result is incendiary. Prey Dancing finds Clare working the late shift in the city hospital's Infectious Disease Unit, where a young woman, Marie, dying of AIDS, breathes her last with a one-word message to be delivered to her boyfriend: "Forgive." Ironically, Clare's search for the man makes her the target of his sworn vengeance for Marie's death, drawing her into the unfamiliar terrain of the city's dark underworld. Once again Bonn, with the street savvy of a rented Romeo, provides Clare with his unique kind of insight and intimacy to help save them both from a brutal fate.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The British author of the Lovejoy series gives the imaginative sleuthing pair of respected cardiologist, Clare Burtonall, with male prostitute, Bonn, an intriguing second outing following Different Women Dancing (1997). Clare's world is medical research: hospitals, stifling bureaucracy, an outwardly respectable but malign husband and the occasional paid-for tryst with Bonn. Bonn, the ex-seminary student turned "goer" (male prostitute) inhabits a world of "uppers" (female customers), "pollen" (illicit drugs) and much violence. A last act of kindness to a young drug addict dying of AIDS makes Clare the target of a psychotic criminal and thrusts her into an unfamiliar underworld she's unequipped to cope with. Enter Bonn, who moves through his deadly, highly organized but volatile milieu like a Candide?a part of it but largely untouched. Clare provides the grounding?a smart and decent, essentially conventional person?while the disarmingly nonchalant Bonn, living according to his own standards, is fawned and fought over by men and women alike. In edgy, slangy and original prose, Gash captures his quirky cast and unusual settings to create entertainment of the first rank.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The unlikely team of cardiologist Clare Burtonall and her lover, male prostitute Bonn, risk murder when they attempt to carry out an AIDS patient's last request. The second in Gash's non-Lovejoy?but thoroughly entertaining?series (Different Women Dancing, LJ 6/1/97).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent follow-up to Different Women Dancing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Prey Dancing (A Dr. Clare Burtonall Mystery) (Hardcover)
Gash continues the chronicle of Dr Clare Burtonall and Bonn the "goer" - a male prostitute in an un-named city in Northern England. Very different from the Lovejoy stories. There isn't much to laugh at here. Despite the almost impenetrable vernacular, Gash's quirky handling of dialogue carries conviction. (The dialogue is hard work - this reviewer was born and raised in that corner of England and, despite these credentials, struggled to keep up with the speech flow - has Gash invented a new slang, or has this reviewer been away too long?)The characters of Clare and Bonn are developed - engaging the reader's sympathies further - as are their relationships with the other main players, although Clare's property developer husband steps back from the main action whilst posing a significant potential threat to Clare's future. Gash has successfully created a new series, totally breaking away from Lovejoy and his band of lovable rogues. The crimes in the "Dancing" series are not capers - they are violent, vicious and nasty. Bonn and Clare's world is hard, grimy and dangerous. A good read - can't wait for the next one!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Original & Powerful & Ultimately Depressing in the Extreme,
By A Customer
This review is from: Prey Dancing (Paperback)
Gash has created a world in PREY DANCING (and the earlier book in the series DIFFERENT WOMEN DANCING) in which everything is tainted. The only two well-meaning characters, Bonn and Clare, must live in this world of darkness, sorrow, and violence. Bonn, the fallen seminarian turned male prostitute, is pulled along through a life filled daily with beatings, murder, and fear, a life empty of any genuine feelings of affection. Clare, a dedicated doctor, is sullied, too, by being tricked by her criminal husband into being a party to his deceit. Both of them are trapped, with no possibility of escape--ever. If you are easily depressed, this is NOT the series for you. It's also about as easy to follow at times as A Clockwork Orange or Faulkner's stream of consciousness writing. The overall effect is powerful, but with the modern lifestyle most of us are forced to follow and the bad news screaming from the headlines and evening television reports, I for one would prefer something more "up" to relax with at the end of a long day.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
too weird for me,
By
This review is from: Prey Dancing (Paperback)
The book is really well written, and may fascinate some. But for me it was to jarring, reading a book with characters so very different and not-admirable. Moreover, I find it impossible to believe that a 28 year old, at least attractive woman, who is also a doctor (let alone all the other women who keep this business going), would pay for sex. And then, towards the end of the book, this woman who apparently was alienated enough to pay for sex decides that she needs to have a real relationship with the male prostitute. I just don't believe it. I also am not charmed by the male prostitute himself, who is supposed to be sympathetic despite his profession. Again, i don't believe it. Further, I agree with the reviewer that found the language virtually impenetrable; often i could not figure out what was happening. I stopped reading Lovejoy books because they became too desolate for me (couldn't Lovejoy be at least respectable enough to live a halfway normal life in a house?. This is far more so.
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