A serial killer targeting gay
men is on the loose in Rick R. Reed's thriller titled IM. The killer, as the title suggests, picks his victims
through instant messages in gay online chat rooms. I think that this setup would have been interesting a decade ago,
when the chat room scene was a novelty, but today it seems a bit quaint. Nevertheless, the writing is very strong,
and the plot is handled well enough to be interesting, providing genuine twists and turns, managing to rescue the
limping concept. The first twist comes shortly after Ed Comparetto, the detective pursuing the case, gets himself fired because of a witness who apparently does not exist. Ed heads to a gay bar to take some time off to relax. A beer arrives, courtesy of a secret admirer, who turns out to be the non-existent witness. This is good plotting, and it’s a bit of a surprise to find it in a POD novel. As a result, things spin out of control, and a genuine question results—who is this witness, and why the game of hide and seek?
The heart of great plotting is the ability on the writer’s part to create suspense and tension. Reversals of expectation and surprises are at the center of this approach. IM has some interesting reversals, as when Ed calls the number of the witness, expecting to finally talk to this mysterious figure, only to get someone he does not expect, this reversal further increasing the suspense of the story. These reversals are, for the most part, interesting and genuinely add to the story suspense. At some point, however, Ed and the killer seem at a standstill, neither doing much to complicate the plans and goals of the other.
Besides the relatively good plot, the book gives us a glimpse into the gay culture: the online games, the obsessions, the loneliness, and the desperate search for love that never seems to work out. There is some gay sexual content here, so the book may not appeal all readers.
11 comments:
Hmm. I hardly think "the" gay culture uniformly has those attributes?
Maybe it's the male gay culture?
No, not even then. Plenty of gay men are not obsessive or lonely or game players, and it 'works out' just fine for a lot of people.
I think the Podler is just sloppy.
What does "sloppy" mean? I think PODler's a straight guy reviewing a book about gay culture and is being crucified for it. I am friends with Rick Reed and would have a hard time believing that he'd have any problem with this review, aside from it receiving a "B" and not an "A". Get a life. The guy's not a homophobe, stop trying to make him out to be one.
I don't believe, Frank, that anyone is trying to "crucify" anyone over anything at all, although I do think you're oversimplifying things.
Which I think is also the issue here, and what 'sloppy' refers to, at least in the penultimate sentence of review, and what, I believe, Ms. Veinglory was attempting to note. To say "the gay culture: the online games, the obsessions, the loneliness, and the desperate search for love that never seems to work out" is to apply attributes that aren't necessarily shared by all members of the gay community. I live in West Hollywood, which has both a very large and very diverse gay population; many eschew the Internet all together, and I know several couples who are both happy and very committed to each other (and have been for many years).
To simplify "the gay culture" in such a way is akin to "the black culture" or "the academic culture," whereas the constituents of cultures are entirely too diverse for such generalizations. This is not to say that I believe in political correctness; indeed, I believe in calling a spade a spade, which in this case translates to pointing out that this a very astute review save for some small lack of precision in its final paragraph.
-Will Entrekin
As you said, Will, the review is "astute"--aside from possibly some "lack of precision" in the final TWO SENTENCE paragraph. And these two sentences are apparently what these other two readers are honing in on, targeting PODler about. I don't see any lack of precision there at all. I live in Atlanta, home to the second largest gay population in the U.S. and I can say with certainty that the "loneliness and desperate search for love" is in many ways the norm in gay culture. Shit, it's in many ways the norm in straight culture, especially when talking about online addicts. So I don't see the problem here. If this review were about straight protagonists would the straight gamers be complaining? No. In essence, these complaints are made only to try to characterize PODler negatively by using his review in a way that it shouldn't be used. They are trying to characterize him as some kind of stereotyping, bigoted reviewer when I don't see any evidence of that at all. Call a spade a spade, fine. But wait until there's actually evidence of the spade being a spade, otherwise you're just blowing hot air and muddying the waters. I'd be interested to see what Josh Kilmer-Purcell thought of this review. Maybe one of us should ask him. Maybe one of us should ask Rick Reed before we start getting all discombobulated. Rick, care to jump in?
Rick Reed here. Anyone who gives one of my books a "B" is an uneducated, homophobic boor. But seriously folks, I don't think the review or the reviewer come across as homophobic (although he needs an education: sites like men4sexnow, adam4adam, etc. have only emerged in a big way within the last decade). I do agree that his statement about the "gay culture" does give me a pause. Changing it to "one segment of the gay culture" would probably make it seem more palatable and less homophobic. Personally, I don't even think there IS a "gay culture." We're all different and our culture is defined for each of us individually. My culture is not the same culture as the ones for the next Tom, Dick, or Mary.
I recall the aol gay chatrooms, such as losangelesm4m, way back in the late 90s. Maybe that's what the Podler is talking about.
The hookup sites in my book are modeled after adam4adam, men4sexnow, etc. These sites have only been attracting gay men in large numbers in the last six or seven years, which is why the premise really is not "quaint." There has been a lot written lately about how sites such as the ones above are taking the place of bars and bathhouses and other "real" gathering places for gay men. If you go to a site like manhunt, you'll see there are literally millions of subscribers; pick a major metropolitan area and you'll find dozens, if not hundreds, or men online right at that moment.
The review is generally a good review, it made me interested in the book whish is the kind of book I like to read. I just noted a line that struck an off note with me. Until someone makes me Governer of Rome that's all I was doing.
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