Elliott Mackle

This is so hard to rate, so I'm not going to. There were things I loved and other parts not so much but at no point did I ever consider putting this down and not going back to it.
A big plus for this book is the historical aspect. Either the author lived being gay in the forces during WW2 or immersed themselves in research, I'd say the former. This part of the book was so on point and probably what had me going back for more. The characters and plot impressed me less but it was still an enjoyable read, even if I found the insertion of some of the flashbacks awkward and unnecessary.… (altro)

This is so hard to rate, so I'm not going to. There were things I loved and other parts not so much but at no point did I ever consider putting this down and not going back to it.
A big plus for this book is the historical aspect. Either the author lived being gay in the forces during WW2 or immersed themselves in research, I'd say the former. This part of the book was so on point and probably what had me going back for more. The characters and plot impressed me less but it was still an enjoyable read, even if I found the insertion of some of the flashbacks awkward and unnecessary.… (altro)

A solid good mystery plot with just that touch of romance to make it enjoyable for a wider public. An unusual time set, the early 1950s, at the aftermath of a famous was, WWII, but also a not so “famous” one, the Korean War: usually you are used to the loss of young souls that was the WWI or the drama of the WWII, or the tragedy of Vietnam, but the Korean War? That is more for who really was there or knew someone who was there. People don’t talk about it much. Here the setting is outstanding, the feeling is that or the author did a deep research, or he was somehow involved (maybe a relative was there?).

The book is very well written, form the 1st point of view of one of the two main character, Dan. When the story starts he is already in a clandestine relationship with Bud (clandestine not cause they are married to someone else, but since Bud is in the closet, and neither Dan is very much out, homosexuality in 1950s is still a crime, and you can very well lose everything if you are found out). The previous book, It Takes Two, is about how Dan and Bud met, but I didn’t feel I was losing something about this current novel without having read that one.

In a way, the mystery had even some fun element, trying maybe to enlighten the plot, but there is a strong core represented by the political climate, and the dangerous of being gay in those times. The two men know it, and Dan is also not at his first experience, having lost a previous lover. He is now clearly in love with Bud, but that is not a reason to lose perception with the reality they are living in. That is, there aren’t really trouble between Dan and Bud, but the external world is against them.

The romance wasn’t sexy, but it was for sure warm and sweet, despite all. Like many of the real life romances I read about, love was always love, and in a way, finding happiness at that time was so difficult, that once you found it, you grasp and cling and never let it go.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590212924/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (altro)

Unexpectedly erotic, Hot Off the Presses is the first novel I read by Elliott Mackle. I’m true, I picked this one because I was expecting for it to be a little more “easy” than other more acclaimed works by this author, and indeed it has the above “erotic content” that caught me almost by surprise.

But even with the sex, this is not at all a light novel, it’s about important issues like racism and AIDS prevention, it’s also about the struggle of a man to reconcile his private life with his professional career and commitment.

I quite like, and found original, the impromptu of the story, Henry is the editor of a LGBT magazine owned by a conservative Old Atlanta couple; how it came that an heterosexual and conservative couple owns a LGBT magazine is what makes this at the same time original and sad: the couple’s son, Chad, died in a sea accident with his business partner, and possible lover, Chip, leaving the ownership of their “baby”, a much loved magazine, to his parents. And now Henry is fighting to matching the very reason of existence of the same magazine with the compromises its owners are asking him.

In the middle of all this, Henry is still a gay man and having his needs, needs that, in a AIDS plagued era, he fulfills with anonymous, but safe encounters in the local hot baths; here he meets Wade, pupil of the US gymnastic team, that is raised to be the golden child at the imminent 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Even if Henry is pretty involved with Wade, I really hated this characters; lying and also racists, I really cannot see what Henry found in him, and when Brian enters the scene, I was all for cheering him as substitute of Wade.

As I said there is a lot of sex, sometime probably even too much, maybe since I was not liking the people Henry was having sex with ;-) so of all the sex scenes, I’m probably saving half, but not since they were not well written, but simply since I prefer for the sex to turn into love and happily ever after. Again, unexpectedly, a some sort of happily ever after is in there for Henry, if he is wise enough to grab it.

Good, strong story, with some nice twists and turns, kept me always wondering what was next. Maybe I didn’t like all the characters, maybe not even fully 100% Henry, but as always I say, unlikable characters make for an original, and thought, good novel.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590213254/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (altro)