|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
There seem to be plenty of romantic suspense novels flooding the crime fiction market at the moment. Suzanne Brockmann's SEALS series features a strong gay character parallel to the obligatory (and actually rather dull) het romance. Lori L Lake's series adds more action into the equation and has rufty-tufty lesbians on the loose. HAVE GUN WE'LL TRAVEL (ugh, clumsy title that looks like a typesetting mistake) is set amidst the woods of north Minnesota. St Paul police officers Dez Reilly and Jaylynn Savage are taking time off from their stressful jobs to go camping and hiking with friends Crystal and Shayna (no, no one in the novel has a common or garden name like Jane or Susan . . .). But this is a trip destined for disaster when Jaylynn is kidnapped and the others find themselves entangled with escaped convicts from a nearby prison and some Russian mobsters. The book is pretty much contained within the rural setting and at times feels like a Keystone Cops chase round and round in circles. The reader canons from one location to another as Dez attempts to rescue her lover. Lake plots well and technically the book is sound, particularly with the rapid crosscutting between characters and locations. But it's not always a grabber. And it needs a strong edit to pep up some fairly leaden dialogue in places and to rid the book of breeding adjectives (thermos flask cups are always capacious, and chins always stubbly). And yes, Lake mentions once or twice that the escaped convicts niff a bit . . . HAVE GUN WE'LL TRAVEL is a welcome addition to an under-represented section of the gay crime fiction genre. It's the third in a series, and I suspect will please those who've enjoyed those books. If you haven't read these two, you may find yourself a bit lacking on the characters' back stories. But I'm looking forward to seeing what Lake does next, and hope she finds a good editor in her Christmas stocking!
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, September 2005
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
