Anyone back for more after yesterday...well, you have my deepest sympathy. And admiration.

Today we turn our eyes to A Dangerous Thing, second in the Adrien English mystery series by Josh Lanyon. I covered the first in the series, Fatal Shadows, yesterday in fine fashion which you can read here. I said yesterday this won't be a review, and I'm not going to reiterate that...except, well, I guess I just did.  This is basically a book rec, and one with no rhyme or reason to it at that. It ain't easy wringin water from a stone, so if you're looking for coherency it's going to be a looooong day.

I kid, I kid. I think.

If you just want to take the short word for it, A Dangerous Thing is a fun--as fun as murder can be, anyways--witty mystery with some of the best characterization out there and some really top notch writing. Find out for yourself what a great read this is by buying and reading here in print or here as an ebook combo with Fatal Shadows. And if you want to read an actual review, you can read one here or here or here or here.

A Dangerous Thing: Let's Get It On

Teh Blurb 1

Suffering from writer's block and frustrated with his tentative relationship with hot but closeted L.A.P.D. Homicide Detective Jake Riordan, gay bookseller and mystery writer Adrien English travels to northern California where he finds a body in his front drive. By the time the sheriffs arrive, the body has disappeared, and Adrien once again finds himself playing amateur sleuth. But when the game turns deadly, Adrien turns to Jake. Jake may be confused about some things, but keeping his lover alive is not one of them--no matter what the cost.

Teh Blurb 2:

Basically, this book is all about the mind being a dangerous thing. And boy, don't I know what that's like. Or maybe it's a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. I know what that's like too. Well, one of the two. ;)

Yesterday in my ramblings about Fatal Shadows, I introduced Adrien and Jake and--briefly--other important characters. For A Dangerous Thing (ADT), Adrien decides to get out of dodge, so of course there is a slew of different peeps to keep track of.  In the north country--it is north, yes? My geography is so bad, and I've never been west of the MS river, my poor soul. Is north country too New Yorkish sounding? I have no clue. So correct me if I'm wrong, Adrien owns a ranch in the north country  (and he has a trust fund and a socialite mother, and yet he lives above his bookstore...how completely bourgeois dahling).  There's his caretaker, whom you never actually meet on camera. There's a group of academics digging really big holes, including one crazy Annie Oakley, one certified pompous ass, and one hot young thang that coincidentally looks like a young Jake. There's Barney Fife and sidekick. And last but not least, there's the grown-up version of the girl Adrien used to torment as a child. Uh huh.

Okay, brief rundown of the plot before we get to my favorite parts: So Adrien arrives at the ranch and there's dead body 1. But wait, it vanishes, and where the hell is the caretaker? Then a field of mary jane, a bump on the head, shots fired, Jake's appearance on the scene, lots of questions, dead body 2, some interviewing, big holes and academics, a gold mine and missing treasure, fuzznucking, jealousy, greed, more shots fired, lots of red meat, dark caves, dead body 1, old newspapers, and some danger later, everything works out. I think M. Lanyon should get me to write his blurbs, don't you?

Okay, I know what you're thinking, because I have to admit, my funny bone was tickled by it too.



That can only mean one thing right?



Woot. Partay. Buuuuuut...

No. As amusing as that would have been, I don't think Jake would have been down wit dat.

Anyways, on to my favorite parts. And for anyone who needs a nap or needs to count the blades of grass on their lawn, feel free to blow this joint (Heh. I make da funny) but I'mma throw the links at you one more time so you can buy and read. Buy ADT in print here or as an ebook here. Just do it.

Okay, one of my absolute favorite parts? I really can't tell you. It relates directly to the mystery part of the story line and I'm not going to spoil one bit of that. You'll just have to read the book, it's near the end, right at the peak of the drama, if you will. It might become one of your favorite parts as well.

So if I can't talk about the mystery, that leaves...Jake and Adrien! Which is what we all really care about anyways. (I kid. I kid. I think.) So--and these are in no particular order--we have the first kiss. I want to be original. If I were the heroine in one of those (modern) regency historicals a la Julia Quinn, I'd want to be An Original. A Diamond of the Ton. But I fear I probably wouldn't have been. I'm sure everyone and their grandmother loves this scene. And ew, I just had this mental image of grandmothers everywhere reading slash. But seriously, mushy romantic that I am, what's not to completely love about this scene? I'm hopelessly sentimental and it's their first kiss. Swoon. (And if you're wondering why I've invited my buddy Marvin to grace us with his presence...mood music, dude! I've been really trrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyin, baby.)

Okay the next one I want to talk about is kind of random, but it illustrates why I think Jake is such a brilliantly written character. Ya hurd? Brilliant. Write that down. Adrien and Jake are out at a diner or something I think and Jake asks something along the lines of "That's all you're eating, honey bunch?" (Sporffle. Or as Jake really would say, "Uh huh.") But you get the drift. And Adrien answers with, "Unlike

you, I don't have to sustain the equivalent of a small country." Oh, that's my boy. Smart-mouthed as always. And this is what comes next in the book: Unexpectedly he reddened. "This is muscle, not fat." Suuuuure. We've all heard that before.

But seriously, Jake is so hard to know sometimes. He doesn't talk a lot, not like Adrien, and the readers aren't privy to his thoughts. He can be blunt and he can be a real prick. You really have to read into the subtext and what's not said a lot of the time to get a read on Jake. But when you do, you get such a clear picture of this dude, well, I'm not kidding when I say Jake is brilliant. I said yesterday he was a masterpiece, and I really think he is. In some ways, I think he's more brilliantly drawn than Adrien. I think Jake--more than any other character--shows the pure power and skill Lanyon possesses as a writer. Power that would make The Brain jelush. And hey, maybe you won't agree but you should read and see if you do. Because maybe, like me, you read the above mentioned part, and just...melt. I find it so completely endearing. Mr. Tough Guy himself, blushing? If I wasn't already rooting for Jake, that line right there would have had me hook, line, and sinker. It's not a turning point or a big moment by any means, but sometimes it's the quiet, simple moments that just detonate like a bomb. Or maybe it's just me? Dooooooon't answer that.

Okay, I'm sure for the single brave soul who is still reading, you're wondering what more I could possibly say if I'm not going to talk about the plot or spoil anything. But I really only have two main things I want to blab about before I shut up. The first is actually a question for anyone who has read ADT or who rushes out to read it after reading this brilliant rec. Jake at one point growls into Adrien's neck and I LOVE IT. Can someone tell me why? 'Cause I have no clue. And before the imagination starts spinning, let me clarify something for you, tiger: this is not some animal shifter story. Pffft. Well not in the usual way, not in the typical paranormal way, though it does come up in some form in some part of the story. Hee. I tease. But Jake growling is not a prelude to sinking his teeth into Adrien's neck to turn him into a beast or anything. He just growls, Adrien jumps, Jake laughs and they both move on to bigger and better things. And yet, I remember this. And I love it. I have no clue why. 

Maybe this book for me is about the quiet moments between two people who are so obviously falling in love, even if they'd never say it out loud. Hell, Jake probably wouldn't even think it. At least not in this book. Hee. I tease again.

But yeah, the quiet moments, the shared breath, the small unexpected discoveries. That and dead bodies. Yippee!

So if you aren't already thinking I'm late for a fitting for my straight jacket, well...far be it for me to leave you unconvinced. Onward...

For those who have already read A Dangerous Thing...why the hell are you reading this? Juuuuuuuuust kidding. I wish I had prizes to give out or something,  because if anyone can guess or knows what my little cartoon here is referring to, well,  you definitely deserve a prize. I'm talking page number here people. I'm talking a LINE on that page.  But alas, I don't have any prizes or awards to give out for guessing correctly, other than cool points. You can have as many of those as you want. And virtual stuff. I'll be like a virtual fairy godmother. You can have anything you want, anything your heart desires--dream big guys--but in a couple hours you'll be left in tattered clothes wondering why the fuck you're sitting on a pumpkin. Sounds pretty incredible, right? So what are you waiting for?

Back to my point--I really did have one-- and the brilliant illustration, I hate to disappoint, but I'm about to get serious. Hopefully we'll all make it out unscathed. Have you ever read a book, and you come to a certain line, and you giggle? Inappropriately? Or you think it's odd? Or unusual? Not what you expected? But you move on, and forget about it. It's just one line, and the book is really great. And a couple months later, you pick up the book, and read it again, and when you get to that same line, it strikes you just as it did before. Only this time, instead of seeming out of place, like the worst line the author could have picked to go in that particular spot, it reads like the only line the author could have chosen for that spot? And you wonder if you laughed awkwardly the first time because tucked away in a sex scene of all places, is this line, a real gem of a line, and it says so much. And yeah, okay, it's describing a physical act. And I mean, PHYSICAL, let's get physical, physical. It probably doesn't get more carnal than that act, and yet...yet, you wonder what the author was thinking. What went through his mind as he typed those words. Did he mean that line, that graphic description, as what the surface view suggests? Or did he truly intend for that line to say so much about a relationship? Read Josh's stuff and you'll know it's the latter. And if you didn't follow that at all, then...crap. See teh kitteh. I would have posted the line itself, but you probably won't feel the same way about that line. Especially taken out of context and if you haven't read the books. Hell, Josh may not even feel that way about that particular line. So really, this is just one more reason to pick this book up and read, because you'll find your own gem of line, I guarantee it. Probably more than one. Josh is that good. And so is this book.

Well, as always, I hope that something I said intrigued you a little, tempted you towards making a purchase, even if your eyes did cross while reading. I wanted to see how many times I could throw the links at you, so you can buy the print version here or the ebook omnibus version with Fatal Shadows here. You can cruise around Josh's site for tons of useful information--like this really awesome sounding manuscript evaluation service or info on the new series he's co-writing with Laura Baumbach (be still my beating heart).

I'll be back tomorrow.

The hell you say.

I know. I'ts unbelievable. But it's true. And matter of fact, that will be the book I'm talking about!

Okay, I know. That was pretty tragic. But my brain is fizzing out, so I'll try harder tomorrow. Stop by to see what I have to say about the third book in the Adrien English mystery series by Josh Lanyon, The Hell You Say, and see what scandalous confession I'll be making that may just earn me a long trip off a short pier. Or, a little ahead of myself, should I say plank?