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WORK TITLE: The Next One Will Kill You
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WEBSITE: http://www.mahubooks.com/
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PERSONAL
Born in Yardley, PA.
EDUCATION:University of Pennsylvania, B.A.; Columbia University, M.B.A.; Florida International University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Broward College, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, assistant professor of English.
MEMBER:Mystery Writers of America (Florida chapter president).
WRITINGS
Contributor of stories to a number of periodicals, including VerbSap, Blithe House Quarterly, and In the Family.
SIDELIGHTS
Neil S. Plakcy is an American writer, primarily of mystery and gay erotica. He has contributed stories to a number of periodicals, including VerbSap, Blithe House Quarterly, and In the Family. Plakcy additionally serves as an assistant professor of English at Broward College.
"Mahu" Series
Plakcy published the second novel in the series, Mahu Surfer, in 2007. Gay Honolulu police detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is tasked with uncovering the identity of a murderer targeting surfers on the north shore of Oahu. A contributor to the Mysterious Reviews Web site observed that “Plakcy has crafted a fine murder mystery that is well thought out, with clues to its solution scattered throughout the story.”
In 2008 Plakcy published the novel Mahu Fire. After a bomb is detonated at a fund-raiser for an anti–same-sex marriage organization, the Hawaii Marriage Project, and kills the antigay vice mayor, Kimo goes undercover to infiltrate the antigay Church of Adam and Eve to follow a lead. Writing in the Lambda Book Report, Drewey Wayne Gunn noticed that Kimo “seems more comfortable in his own skin. This greater assurance and his resulting openness to others bode well for the future of the series.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly observed that the protagonist’s “lusty affair with his new fireman boyfriend … softens the edges of this sharp whodunit.”
The next novel in the series, Mahu Vice, was published in 2009. Kimo finds that his personal life is in contradiction with the law on multiple levels, from family friends running a prostitution racket to his brother’s implication in hiring undocumented aliens. In a review in Ft. Lauderdale’s Sun Sentinel, Oline Cogdill found that “Plakcy’s strength in creating believable characters shines. The author shows all aspects of his characters, from their relationships to their sex lives. Plakcy contrasts Kimo’s openly gay status to Mike’s closeted life.” Writing on ReviewingTheEvidence.com, Drewey Wayne Gunn remarked that “in some ways it is the most satisfactory case so far. I like the details of an investigation, the way the nonessential jostles against the essential, leaving detective (and reader) to sort out which is which.”
In 2011 Plakcy published Mahu Blood. Ethnic tension in Hawaii threatens Kimo’s family. Meanwhile, his own relationship with fire investigator Mike Riccardi hits a snag after they move in together. A contributor to the Romancing the Book Web site remarked that “Plakcy has come up with another winner, not only in Kimo Kanapa’aka but in the overall detective genre as well. The characters are well written and, living in Hawaii as I do, I can see the qualities of people I have met here on the island in the characters.” Writing on the Big Thrill Web site, Austin Camacho mentioned that “there are so many sides to his character that the author doesn’t let his sexual orientation define him. Being a native of Hawaii allows him to relate to the Native Hawaiian characters and understand their struggles, although being part Hawaiian, part Japanese, and part white makes him the classic outsider hero in many situations.” Camacho pointed out that “Plakcy handles the police procedural side of the story well too.”
Plakcy published Zero Break in 2012. Kimo investigates the murder of a young lesbian mother as he and Mike debate having kids of their own. Reviewing the novel on the Reviews by Amos Lassen Web site, Amos Lassen reasoned that other than Kimo and Mike, “there is another major character in the novel–the island and its setting. We feel the author’s love for Hawaii and he describes it by using much of the local terminology.”
Plakcy published Natural Predators in 2013. With detective partner Ray Donne, Kimo investigates a warehouse fire that was used to conceal the murder of a prominent statesman. A contributor writing on the MM Good Book Reviews Web site reasoned that “Kimo and Mike are a great couple, and this story shows that even though they are madly in love, they still have their ups and downs. The slight conflict that we see between them is wonderfully done and it isn’t brushed over when they do come to an agreement.”
Plakcy published the tenth novel in the series, Ghost Ship, in 2016. Kimo looks into the appearance of a ship on Oahu’s Leeward Coast with four corpses on it while he is under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Reviewing the novel on the Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Web site, a critic commented that “this is a thrilling read, and a heartbreaking one. Plakcy doesn’t deliver all the answers to all the issues and problems he raised here. And I think that’s about right. For some things there aren’t any. For some personal ones, there are only more questions and things to work out. That’s what book eleven is for.”
"Angus Green" Series
Plakcy published The Next One Will Kill You in 2016. Rookie FBI agent Angus Green is consulted by senior agents who are working on finding an informant who went missing in Ft. Lauderdale’s gay scene. Angus is thrilled at the chance to work on a bigger case than what he is used to, but his enthusiasm to play a greater role puts him at risk.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that “not every thread here is equally successful,” clarifying that “it’s Plakcy’s characters, not his plot, that charm.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly suggested that while some readers may have wanted “more action and romance … most readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of Angus.” A contributor to the Joyfully Jay Web site reasoned that “while the story was not terribly long on character development, what it did do (and very well) was set up the key players that will be the focus of this new series.” The same reviewer confessed: “I am really looking forward to the next” novel in the series.
Other Novels
In 2011 Plakcy published the novel The Outhouse Gang. The book centers on the lives of the individuals who came to local fame for an annual prank (1963 to 1988) involving an outhouse. Reviewing the novel on the Reviews by Amos Lassen Web site, Lassen insisted that “it is always good to have some Plakcy to read and even more interesting when he takes a new direction.” Lassen took note of the “very good writing” in this novel.
Plakcy published Third Night in 2012. A gay Orthodox Jew struggles with his people’s intolerance of his sexuality as he develops feelings for a close friend. Again writing on the Reviews by Amos Lassen Web site, Lassen proposed that novels like Third Night “make it that much easier to reconcile sexuality and religion.”
Plakcy published Buchanan Letters in 2013. Historian Jeff Berman studies letters that indicate U.S. President James Buchanan was gay. However, during the course of his research, his own involvement with disgraced reporter Pascal Montrouge may ruin his career. A contributor reviewing the novel on the Gay Book Reviews Web site “highly recommended” the novel. The critic claimed that “this is a book you won’t want to rush through, so please don’t. It’s a thoughtful, satisfying story, and the journey is every bit as enjoyable as the destination.”
In 2015 Plakcy published The Sea between Us. Party planner Adam Beller and building contractor Javier Marisco attempt to bridge the gaps between them that complicate a would-be relationship. Writing on the Literary Nymphs Reviews Only Web log, a reviewer declared that “Plakcy has created a wonderfully compassionate, happily-ever-after romance that I thoroughly enjoyed.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2016, review of The Next One Will Kill You.
Lambda Book Report, September 22, 2008, Drewey Wayne Gunn, review of Mahu Fire, p. 29.
Publishers Weekly, March 31, 2008, review of Mahu Fire, p. 42; September 5, 2016, review of The Next One Will Kill You, p. 56.
Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), September 11, 2009, Oline Cogdill, review of Mahu Vice.
ONLINE
Big Thrill, http://www.thebigthrill.org/ (February 28, 2011), Austin Camacho, review of Mahu Blood.
Dear Author, http://dearauthor.com/ (November 29, 2016), review of The Next One Will Kill You.
Gay Book Reviews, http://gaybook.reviews/ (March 9, 2013), Lloyd Meeker, review of The Buchanan Letters.
Gay.Guy.Reading and Friends, http://ggr-review.com/ (March 30, 2016), author interview.
Joyfully Jay, http://joyfullyjay.com/ (March 21, 2013), review of Natural Predators; (November 25, 2016), review of The Next One Will Kill You.
Literary Nymphs Reviews Only, http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/ (December 29, 2015), review of The Sea Between Us.
MM Good Book Reviews, https://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/ (December 22, 2012), review of Third Night; (February 27, 2013), review of Natural Predators.
Mysterious Reviews, http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/ (June 8, 2017), reviews of Mahu Fire and Mahu Surfer.
Neil S. Plakcy Home Page, http://www.mahubooks.com (June 8, 2017).
Prism Book Alliance, http://www.prismbookalliance.com/ (November 16, 2016), review of Ghost Ship.
ReviewingTheEvidence.com, http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (June 8, 2017), Drewey Wayne Gunn, review of Mahu Vice.
Reviews by Amos Lassen, http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/ (March 26, 2011), Amos Lassen, review of The Outhouse Gang; (November 1, 2011), Amos Lassen, review of Mahu Surfer; (May 12, 2017), Amos Lassen, reviews of Third Night and Zero Break.
Romancing the Book, http://romancing-the-book.com/ (January 27, 2012), review of Mahu Blood.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, https://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com/ (June 8 , 2017), review of Ghost Ship.*
I am a native of Yardley, Pennsylvania, and felt the call of the tropics drawing me to Hollywood, Florida, where I now reside with my partner and our golden retriever. That love of tropical latitudes has also nurtured an abiding interest in Hawaii, as well as in what Graham Greene called "shady characters in sunny places."
Here I am at the CN Tower in Toronto, when I visited there for Bloody Words.
My fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Verbsap, Blithe House Quarterly and In The Family, as well as winning first prize in a South Florida magazine contest. I am an assistant professor of English at Broward College and the proud papa of a white golden retriever named Brody. More information on my books can be found on the Books page.
Dinner Guys
Tom Corcoran, John Hart, me, Jim Born and Jim Swain at dinner on Lincoln Road after the Miami Book Fair, 2008.
I have published a wide range of fiction and non-fiction in mainstream and GLBT publications, both in print and on line. My work has been anthologized in many erotica anthologies (see my Erotica page for more details).
Bouchercon 2006 kukui nut
The GLBT Panel at Bouchercon 2006. Anthony Bidulka, Alex Brett, me, Caro Soles and Mark Richard Zubro. My panel outfit: a Mahu shirt and a kukui nut lei.
Photos by Lori L. Lake
Scottsdale Gun Club
At the Scottsdale Gun Club during ThrillerFest, with a bunch of great writers and cool people (photo by Zoe Sharp).
I am the president of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America, and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), Columbia University (MBA), and Florida International University (MFA).
Books and Books
At my first reading at Books and Books on Miami Beach; the paintings behind me are by Hannah Lasky
Feel free to e-mail me for more information about any of my books.
Neil S. Plakcy
Neil S. Plakcy
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I've wanted to be an author since I was about sixteen, when a high school assignment on A Separate Peace showed me how powerful writing can be. At the University of Pennsylvania I studied creative writing with Philip Roth and Carlos Fuentes; I went on to receive my MFA from Florida International University.
My first published novel was Mahu, about a Honolulu homicide detective dragged out of the closet during a tough case. I put a lot of myself into Kimo Kanapa'aka, the hero, and yet he’s very much his own character, and much better than I am! He has had a powerful hold on my imagination for many years. I love writing about him and hope to keep doing so for a long time. He’s also the source of my favorite reader question. A few years ago, someone emailed to ask if he was circumcised.
My first reaction was “Man, I’ll bet Stephen King doesn’t get questions like that.” But then, his are probably even weirder. I went online and did some research and discovered that at the time Kimo was born, hospital circumcisions were common. So there you go.
My path to publication was a long and checkered one, as is the case with many authors. My first published stories were magazine erotica, and I still like to keep my hand in (no pun intended) with that kind of writing. But for the most part now I write mystery and romance—all my books seem to have both those elements, though in different proportions.
I began writing the golden retriever mysteries because I spent so much time walking my golden, Samwise (yes, I’m a Tolkien geek). He had so many funny habits and such a strong personality that I just knew I had to write a book that featured a dog like him. (Fortunately, Sam had no habit of finding dead bodies.)
I live in Hollywood, Florida now, with my partner and our golden retrievers, Brody and Griffin.
AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR NEIL PLAKCY
written by GGR-Review 03-30-2016
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Welcome to Gay.Guy.Reading and Friends where today we are happy to have Neil Plakcy with us.
We have a wonderful interview with Neil about accomplishments and he also talks about his New Release, A Cold Wind.
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Tell us a little about yourself, if you were to pick something what would you like others to absolutely know about you?
I’ve been writing stories on a fairly serious basis since I was about sixteen. I majored in English as an undergraduate, and eventually got an MFA in creative writing. My partner says that my career didn’t really take off until I met him, seventeen years ago—and he’s right. But coincidence or causation? The jury’s still out on that.
What are your hobbies, what do you like to do in your spare time?
A lot of my spare time is taken up with my dogs, Brody and Griffin. They are English Cream golden retrievers—which means they started out as adorable little bundles of white fluff, though their coats have both gotten a bit more golden as they’ve grown up. Dogs appear in most of my books, whether mysteries or romances. In the first of the Have Body, Will Guard books, Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, a small mixed breed dog showed up at the apartment Aidan Greene was renting in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. I had no idea what she was doing there, but Hayam (her name means deliriously in love in Arabic) told me she was there to provide comfort and love, things Aidan had great need of then.
How do you go the “Extra Mile” in your life?
For me, the “extra mile” is about writing every day. I used to either wait for the muse to strike, or wait for a deadline to approach (for a creative writing class or critique group). But now I recognize that I have to make a commitment to writing regularly, so that those “writing muscles” get their exercise. Even when I just don’t feel like it, I figure I can churn out some crappy prose that I can make better later.
How often do you travel? Do you prefer to travel or are you more of a homebody?
I love to travel. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and every summer when I was a kid my parents would pack me into the car and we’d drive somewhere, from Cape Cod to Historic Williamsburg, New York’s Finger Lakes to the Jersey shore. When I was fourteen my parents sent me on a summer study program to France, and I’ve been back several times. There are still so many places I want to explore in the world—and one of the great things about writing the Have Body Will Guard series has been the opportunity for armchair travel and research.
What is your “niche”?
I don’t think I really found my voice as a writer until I started writing about things that mattered to me. I love writing about gay male characters in different situations, and I also like using my own religious and ethnic background, as well as the diverse society where I grew up, to add realism to my books. Right now I’m pretty focused on mystery and romance novels that involve gay heroes, though I am also a great lover of science fiction and fantasy novels and would like to expand my niche to include them.
What would be your best advice to new writers?
Read and write. Reading in your genre helps you understand things like character development, plot and dialogue, and the more you write, the more chance you have to improve.
Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break in?
I was persistent and didn’t give up when I was told there was no market for the books I was writing. I was told by agents and editors that “men don’t read fiction” and “women want to see female protagonists in cozy mysteries,” for example. In both cases they’re wrong—I have lots of readers, male and female, who love my male heroes in both romance and mystery. Sometimes industry professionals can be short-sighted, so believe in what you’re writing.
What’s next?
I’m really excited about a three book series I have coming out with Diversion Books starting in October, about a smart, sexy, openly gay FBI agent in the Miami field office. He’s in his late twenties, an accountant who longs for adventure, and his first big case gives him just that!
Some of our readers might not know much about A Cold Wind. Are you able to tell us a bit about it?
A Cold Wind is the eighth in my Have Body Will Guard series of M/M romances. It’s hard to write a romance series about continuing characters, in my opinion—how do you make things like buying a house together sexy? My solution is to create a romance between secondary characters which my heroes will help along through their work as bodyguards—protecting their clients but also providing good role models, whether for a pair of star-crossed young lovers (in Under the Waterfall) or a couple of older guys with lots of baggage, in A Cold Wind.
What would you tell readers to convince them to read A Cold Wind?
If you like sexy characters in exotic locations, then I think you’ll like my books, which contain character development, description and action—both intimate and sometimes deadly!
What (if any) sorts of editorial changes did the manuscript go through?
I’ve been blessed to have a great editor at Loose Id. When I wrote Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, I sent the submission in cold, and I was fortunate to have it assigned to Maryam Salim. She wrote me a lengthy rejection letter for the book, spelling out exactly what was wrong. I think the biggest problem was that I was trying to tell too many stories at once, with lots of chapters from the bad guys’ point of view. She helped me see that the central story in each book has to be a romance, whether it’s between the heroes, Aidan and Liam, or between other men they are protecting or helping. I rewrote that book, focusing on the growing love between Aidan and Liam, and then resubmitted it. And Maryam and I have been together now for fourteen books—eight in the Have Body, Will Guard series, four in the Love On series, and a few standalones as well.
Quick Fire Questions:
Tropical or Arctic?
Tropical
Best Food?
Chocolate
What do you drive?
Nissan Juke crossover SUV
Neil S. Plakcy: THE NEXT ONE WILL KILL YOU
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Neil S. Plakcy THE NEXT ONE WILL KILL YOU Diversion Books (Adult Fiction) 7.99 11, 15 ISBN: 978-1-68230-301-6
A rookie FBI agent is determined to show his worth when he’s tapped for his very personal connections to Fort Lauderdale’s gay community.Eyes on the prize, Angus Green is determined to win big money at strip trivia night at Lazy Dick’s. He’d love the chance to send Danny, the younger brother he’s basically raised, on a summer study-abroad program. So he’s more focused on Stonewall history than his day job as an FBI agent—that is, until he sees his colleagues Vito Mastroianni and Roly Gutierrez in the crowd. Angus is pretty sure neither Vito nor Roly is gay, so he’s not sure what they’re doing cruising a gay bar until they tell him about a missing informant. Ever since getting in touch with Roly, who’s working on the Bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force squad, Paco Gonzalez hasn’t been seen or heard from. Now Vito and Roly need Angus for his expertise in the gay scene, from his connections to his willingness to get people to talk. Though Angus is technically assigned to a job looking into a jewelry operation’s potentially illegal connections, he’s psyched at the possibility of being mentored by Vito and Roly and joins the investigation with enthusiasm. His attention is diverted when Danny calls to let him know of suspicious goings-on in his own workplace. Fearful lest Danny be the target of an inquiry, Angus offers his brother tips on conducting an investigation into credit fraud. Though he’s glad to be part of such a big operation, Angus’ hunt for Paco makes him act ever more impulsively, and his desire to close the case may well put him in danger. Not every thread here is equally successful; it’s Plakcy’s characters, not his plot, that charm.
The Next One Will Kill You: An Angus Green Novel
Publishers Weekly. 263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p56.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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The Next One Will Kill You: An Angus Green Novel
Neil S. Plakcy. Diversion, $14.99 trade paper (268p) ISBN 978-1-68230-301-6
Angus Green, the affable hero of this brisk series launch set in South Florida from Plakcy (Mahu and five other mysteries about a Hawaiian gay police detective), is a gay rookie FBI special agent. The first case for out and proud Angus puts him on the trail of an informant named Paco, who used to work at a local gay bar and may know something about a planned jewelry heist. The mystery deepens as Angus uncovers pill mills, engages in stakeouts, and gets involved in a shoot-out. Meanwhile, Angus is distracted by the plight of his brother, Danny, who's having legal trouble in Pennsylvania, and his budding relationship with Lester, a sensitive bouncer at a gay club. The most interesting part of the book concerns Angus's developing friendship with an older gentleman, Tom, who becomes integral to solving the case. Some may feel that the main story line could have used more action and romance, but most readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of Angus. (Nov.)
Mahu fire
Drewey wayne Gunn
Lambda Book Report. 16.3 (Fall 2008): p29.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 Lambda Literary Foundation
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/lambda_book_report/lbr_back_issues.html
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MAHU FIRE
Neil S. Plakcy
Alyson / $14.99 / ISBN 978-1-59350-079-5 / 303 pp.
This Honolulu case begins with the separate murders of a homeless man and a rooster. It escalates with the fire bombing of the headquarters of the Hawaii Marriage Project, an organization spearheading the fight to legalize gay and lesbian marriages in the state. There quickly follows a sniper attack at the group's subsequent rally in a park, Since his supportive family members were endangered by the fire bombing, openly gay police detective Kimo Kanapa'aka demands the case be assigned to him. His attention quickly focuses on the homophobic activities of the Church of Adam and Eve, Meanwhile, he feels responsible for the gay teenager who helped him in an earlier case and who, as a result of coming out, has been permanently disowned by his father. And Kimo becomes more than a little attracted to Mike Riccardi, the lire inspector working a series of arson cases involving gay businesses.
Though punctuated with one tense, dramatic incident after another, the case proceeds at a leisurely, enjoyable pace that gives the reader time to savor what is happening to the main character.
The third in the Mahu series (Mahu being the local slang for homosexual), the novel continues to chart Kimo's exploration of his long-concealed sexuality and to celebrate Hawaii's cultural diversity. Like the previous novels, it emphasizes the importance of family, both the ones we are born into and the ones we create. However, here more than before, the novel also takes on political, legal, social, and religious concerns of grave importance to all of us. And for the first time Kimo works within the system, interacting with other police officers, firefighters, and the larger community. All in all, he seems more comfortable in his own skin. This greater assurance and his resulting openness to others bode well for the future of the series.
Gunn, Drewey wayne
Mahu Fire: A Hawaiian Mystery
Publishers Weekly. 255.13 (Mar. 31, 2008): p42.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Mahu Fire: A Hawaiian Mystery Neil S. Plakcy. Alyson, $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-59350-079-5
Hawaii's in a "hot wave" during a dry El Nino spring made hotter by protests against same-sex marriage advocated by the gay and lesbian members of Hawaii's Marriage Project in Plakcy's engrossing third Mahu mystery (after 2007's Mahu Surfer). Kimo Kanapa'aka, an openly gay Honolulu detective who's investigating a homeless man's murder, gets distracted after a bomb goes off at a Hawaii Marriage Project fund-raiser. Vice-mayor Wilson Shira, an antigay politician, dies in the explosion, while others are injured, including Kimo. As leads on the homeless man's murder dwindle, Kimo focuses on finding the bomber and even goes undercover with the aspiring cop daughter of his boss, Lieutenant Sampson, to attend a meeting of the antigay Church of Adam and Eve. Kimo's lusty affair with his new fireman boyfriend, Mike Riccardi, softens the edges of this sharp whodunit. Readers should be prepared for explicit gay sex. (May)
Review: The Next One Will Kill You by Neil S. Plakcy
nov
25
2016
1 COMMENT
The Next One WIll Kill You: An Angus Green Thriller by Neil S. PlakcyRating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Rookie FBI agent Angus Green thinks he is going to the local gay bar just to win the strip trivia game so he can send his baby brother, Danny, some money towards his Italy trip. Imagine his shock when he sees not one, but two colleagues that are there sniffing out a source who called in a potential robbery at the upcoming jewelry event in sunny Florida. When they catch Angus after the game, they pull him in on the case, giving the young agent his first big break at the agency. However, that one tip leads where no one ever expects and before he can blink, Angus has uncovered a murder, unearthed evidence of an illegal drug ring, and much, much more. Before Angus knows it he is knee deep in multiple cases all leading back to his jewelry heist and is on his way to proving himself as more than just a wet behind the ears rookie.
Author Neil S. Plakcy offers up a classic whodunit mystery in his latest release, The Next One Will Kill You. The action is swift, Angus is both determined and laser focused, and this novel goes a long way in establishing what I hope will be an ongoing series of gumshoe novels featuring this extremely likeable and down to earth FBI agent.
While the story was not terribly long on character development, what it did do (and very well) was set up the key players that will be the focus of this new series. We are introduced to several team members on the FBI; Angus’s brother Danny; Lester, potential boyfriend to Angus; and Jonas, his roommate. Interweaving these intros with a multi-layered jewel heist/murder/street drug cartel, and suddenly we had a great deal of action that kept me interested and the story moving along. Unfortunately, with so many balls in the air, there was not a lot of time to get to know Angus well—but he was compelling enough to make me want to learn more about him and that is exactly what you want in a first installment.
I am really looking forward to the next Angus Green story. If it is as well crafted and exciting as the first, this is sure to be a series that many will be flocking to read.
November 29, 2016
REVIEW: The Next One Will Kill You by Neil S. Plakcy
KaetrinB- REVIEWSFBI / Florida / Fort Lauderdale / Gay / mystery / police procedural / queer2 Comments
the-next-one-will-kill-youAngus Green wants more adventure than a boring accounting job, so after graduating with his master s degree he signs up with the FBI. After his initial training at Quantico he s assigned to the Miami field office but stuck behind a desk. Struggling to raise money for his college student brother, he enters a strip trivia contest at a gay bar. But when he s caught with his pants down by a couple of fellow agents, he worries that his career is about to crash. Instead, he s added to an anti-terrorism task force and directed to find a missing informant. It s his first real case, and it takes him from Fort Lauderdale s gay bars to the morgue on a desperate chase to catch a gang of criminals with their tentacles in everything from medical fraud to drug use to jewel theft. At the same time, his brother s girlfriend is murdered and his brother becomes a suspect. Angus struggles to learn the skills he needs to save his brother and earn rank as a full-fledged agent capable of running his own cases. If he can t overcome his own insecurities and face down violent criminals with mayhem on their minds, he could lose everything he cares about. The street quickly teaches him that the only way to face a challenge is to assume that he’ll survive this one–that it’ll be the next one that will kill him.”
Dear Neil S. Plakcy,
Someone really needs to fix the blurb on Goodreads because it’s wrong. Angus’ brother is in trouble but it’s not because his girlfriend was murdered; he and his fellow waitstaff at the restaurant he’s working at to help put himself through college are being investigated for card skimming.
The rest of the blurb is accurate though. Angus is a fairly new FBI agent and he does participate in a strip gay trivia contest (to help his brother go to Italy) and in the process, stumbles into an FBI investigation involving jewelery, drugs and murder.
The publicity information that came with the review request also mentioned “more than a hint of romance”. I guess my definition of what that means differs from whoever wrote it. Angus does meet someone and have sex with him and by the end of the book, they do seem to be heading towards a relationship but the focus of the story was on the mystery. Lester, Angus’ hookup and maybe-boyfriend, is a bouncer at one of the clubs Angus is trolling looking for a particular witness. Lester assist him to get the fingerprints of a suspect but other than that, he’s not really involved in the investigation. There was very little time spent on the developing relationship and I didn’t feel like I got to know Lester at all. I also didn’t feel the book showed me very much of Angus getting to know Lester. As far as a romantic thread is concerned, it wasn’t all that satisfying for me.
Primarily, The Next One Will Kill You is a police procedural/mystery. I wish I’d have known that because I probably wouldn’t have requested it. I’m a romance reader first and foremost and I prefer my mysteries to have a strong romantic element to keep me engaged.
As far as the mystery went however, I thought the book was pretty good. It seemed to me (although I admit I’m no expert here) that you have done your research about how the FBI works and how it interacts with various other law enforcement agencies and, in particular, how things work in Florida. Sometimes the information tripped over the line into didactic but for the most part, it felt authentic and gave the fiction an anchor in reality.
Vito came up behind me and clapped me on the shoulder, startling me. “Your first big op?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“You piss your pants yet?”
I scowled at him. “I’m okay.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry if you get nervous, rookie. Happens to all of us. You know what I do?”
I shook my head.
“I always say to myself, ‘It’s the next one that kills you,’ ” he said. “Not this op, but the next one. That’s how I make it through.”
I hadn’t been thinking about getting killed at all until then.
The other thing I liked (actually I loved it) about this book is the sense of place. Angus lives and works in the Fort Lauderdale area and his community is filled with a very diverse mix of people. There are Cubans, Haitians, African Americans, gay people, lesbians, drag queens, Mexicans, illegal and legal immigrants and they dominate the book. While it is true that Angus and his two main FBI mentors are white men, the vast majority of people in the book are of a different ethnicity. Even as an Australian, I know that Florida (or parts of it at least) is a melting pot of ethnicities and identities and it was so good to see that represented to seamlessly in a novel. Most of the people in the book (and certainly most of the diverse cast) were given a distinct identity which wasn’t entirely based on race or sexuality but included it as part of the makeup of the character – not stereotypical or a character shortcut but also no unimportant. At least, that’s how I saw it.
Angus is asked to take the lead on the investigation because he is gay and men in gay clubs will talk to him more readily than to a straight white G-man. Angus is occasionally impetuous and sometimes things work out serendipitously (but I think that’s pretty much the case in most if not all mysteries and police procedurals) but he follows procedure and doesn’t make silly mistakes.
Your writing style is a little stark and this had me occasionally feeling that the transitions were a bit jerky, but I think readers who like mysteries and who don’t mind whether it comes with a small dose or a big dollop of romance will enjoy the book and I expect regular mystery readers will enjoy it better than I did. In that regard, my grade probably needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
As a mystery, I’d give it a B-. As a romance? Well, it would be unfair to grade it that way as it really isn’t a romance.
Regards,
Kaetrin
Ghost Ship by Neil S. Plakcy ~ Book Review by Queue
Posted on 16 November 2016 by Queue — 2 Comments ↓
GhostTitle: Ghost Ship
Series: Mahu, Bk 4
Author: Neil S. Plakcy
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover Artist: Unknown
Rating: 3.75 of 5 Stars
Publication Date: 09/30/2016
Length: Novel (~ 50K-100K)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Gay Romance, Mystery/Thriller
Blurb:
When a sailboat carrying four bodies washes up on the Leeward Coast of O’ahu, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, on loan to the FBI, must discover what sent this young family and their deadly cargo on a dangerous trans-Pacific voyage. Leaving behind his partner and their infant twins, Kimo must work with his police cohort Ray Donne to unravel the forces that led this family to their deaths.
From Hawaii’s sunny beaches to a chillly island in Japan to the Pacific Northwest, Kimo and Ray step far out of their comfort zones to confront an evil much greater than any they’ve investigated before.
My View:
I’ve been a big fan of the Mahu series since book one but the last two have fallen a little flat for me and this one was along the same lines.
Kimo Kanapa’aka and his journey of self-acceptance has been my favorite part of the storylines but after so many books and being settled down, there isn’t much to explore anymore.
I love mysteries with gay characters where the romance takes a back seat but I also want the MC to learn something or grow and evolve along the way. The best stories in this series were ones where the cases he’s investigating can connect to things going on in his life.
That didn’t happen here. Kimo’s case is totally separate from the issues he’s having with his partner, Mike. Really, the issues are being caused by Kimo’s absence and Mike being upset it. I felt like Mike’s attitude was rather unfair and just made it harder for Kimo to concentrate on his job.
I never really got into the case here involving stolen plutonium. There were no personal stakes here and the way Kimo and Ray went about investigating the case sometimes had me shaking my head. I understand that a lot of law enforcement is based on being in the right place at the right time and speaking to the right people. But here it took Kimo just happening to have a family member in Idaho Falls and that person’s mother just happens to know their suspect. Additionally, the way the suspect opened up to Kimo and Ray just felt suspicious. I would think with everything his plan entailed he would be a little more careful than to tell two complete strangers almost everything.
The decisions made by Kimo and Mike at the end of the book make it look like this could be the last of the series. As much as I like Kimo I think it’s time. His story has been told and Plakcy can now focus on a different series.
Links
Ghost Ship on Goodreads
MLR Press
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
All Romance eBooks
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
A MelanieM Review: Ghost Ship (Mahu #10) by Neil S. Plakcy
Standard
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
ghost-shipNew fathers investigate the death of a young family.
When a sailboat carrying four bodies washes up on the Leeward Coast of O’ahu, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, on loan to the FBI, must discover what sent this young family and their deadly cargo on a dangerous trans-Pacific voyage. Leaving behind his partner and their infant twins, Kimo must work with his police cohort Ray Donne to unravel the forces that led this family to their deaths.
From Hawaii’s sunny beaches to a chilly island in Japan to the Pacific Northwest, Kimo and Ray step far out of their comfort zones to confront an evil much greater than any they’ve investigated before.
I have been such a fan of this series and author and that continues with Ghost Ship. Over the series of nine novels, readers have watched Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka be outed to his family and the HPD, come to terms with that, meet and date, lose and reunite with Mike, his now life partner. They’ve fathered twins with their friends a lesbian couple they’re co parenting with, and have a foster son now attending college. Its been a long and tumultuous ride that eventually saw Kimo and Ray leaving the Honolulu PD for temporary assignment with the FBI. That’s where we find them now on a life changing case for both Kimo, his family and Ray, his work partner and friend.
This is one of the worst cases in all the series, a sailboat washes ashore with a dead family on board, father, mother and twin babies. It immediately hits home for Kimo and Mike with their twins but the emotional impact carries over to the reader through the descriptions and later in the captains diary the father kept. Its heartbreaking and you quickly understand the drive to solve this case and the web of intrigue behind the cargo and deaths.
Plakcy has woven one of the most involved and layered cases of the series here. Its threads go from Hawaii to Japan to mainland US and back again and those travels will stretch thin the ties that bind Kimo to Mike and his family just when they need him the most and Kimo is aware of it. The same will go for Ray. Its the job versus family again and never has it been made more painful or obvious that a choice will have to be made, then here in this story. Parts of Kimo’s carefully crafted life are falling to pieces and yet he still must pursue this case with Ray because of the deadly consequences if he doesn’t. Ray also is having similar issues within his own family. Two men torn by job obligations and family love and loyalty on the most important case of their lives.
This is a thrilling read, and a heartbreaking one. Plakcy doesn’t deliver all the answers to all the issues and problems he raised here. And I think that’s about right. For somethings there aren’t any. For some personal ones, there are only more questions and things to work out. That’s what book 11 is for. Kimo and Mike and family are still on a journey. I hope Kimo does decide to return to the Honolulu PD, even with all the problems that entails. Its where the series and Kimo started. And if its winding down, that where he should end up.
If you haven’t found this series yet, please don’t start here. You’ve such a treat in store for you. Run, don’t walk to the beginning Mahu (Mahu #1) and meet Kimo and see how it all starts. Plakcy is a master of the vernacular, you’ll get a feel for the island culture and people. Trust me you’ll be addicted in no time. Then you’ll have so many wonderful books ahead of you.
If you are already a fan like me, then settle in for a wonderful read. I highly recommend it.
Cover art is amazing and works perfectly for the novel and series.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
The Sea Between Us
Title: The Sea Between Us
Author: Neil Plakcy
Publisher: Loose Id
Publisher URL: www.loose-id.com
ISBN: 978-1-68252-025-3
Genre: {M/M} Contemporary
Rating: 4 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Chocolate Minx
Party planner Adam Beller and building contractor Javier Marisco first met at the Miami Beach Publix grocery; their attraction was immediate as well as irresistible. Adam and Javier’s attraction developed into a monogamous liaison together, at the present time they are ready to take the relationship to the next level, though there are a few obstacles standing between Adam and Javier’s pathway to matrimony.
The Sea Between Us is the sequel to Mi Amor. The sequel highlights Adam returning to an east coast college to earn a MBA in marketing and real estate. The separation puts a strain on the relationship, causing Adam to have doubts regarding Javier’s feelings. However, the real issues stems from Javier’s Cuban culture. Some in the Cuban community still believe homosexuality is a choice. This way of thinking is especially true with Javier’s parents, who refuse to accept that their son is gay.
Neil Plakcy has created a wonderfully compassionate happily ever after romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Sea Between Us illustrates the transformation of Adam from a free spirit party boy to a mature responsible man.
Posted by Literary Nymphs at 10:28 AM
Labels: Contemporary, GLBT
Review: Natural Predators by Neil S. Plakcy
mar
21
2013
0 COMMENTS
natural predatorsRating: 5 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel
Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka and his detective partner Ray Donne are called on one of their most complex cases when an abandoned warehouse goes up in flames and in the rubble the remains of a prominent statesman are found. When the cause of death is determined to be murder, Kimo and Ray follow an ever expanding field of clues that stretch from local gyms into the rarified society of Hawaii’s oldest and wealthiest families.
More bodies pile up as the murderer stays just ahead of them, putting their families and the men in danger. In addition to his case, Kimo’s personal relationship with his partner Mike is under stress as they decide whether or not to go ahead as donors for their lesbian friends and a young runaway makes Kimo and Mike think about being foster parents.
Hawaii is a place of immense beauty , where predators and prey live and die as nature dictates. Under the shining sun and majestic waves, treacherous events happen even as the ambience lures you in. No one is more aware of the delicate balance than Kimo Kanapa’aka as he races to find the murderer and keep his new found family safe.
Natural Predators is the first book I have read by Neil S. Plakcy and therefore the first book I have read in this series. I started early evening and read right through until 2 am, pausing only to rub my eyes, adjust the light, and continue on until I had finished. I had heard wonderful things about this series but still nothing prepared me for the richness and depth of the story and characterizations I found within. It was like going to a nice restaurant only to find out that the restaurant is gourmet, Jose Andres is the chef, and you are sitting at the chef’s table.
Natural Predators is a veritable luau of Hawaiian delights, a banquet of varying aromas, textures, tastes, and melodies, something for everyone’s palate. Plakcy’s characters range from low level thugs, to runaway teens, to high society lawyers and businessman, and everything in between. All the characters have a defining “voice” consistent with their histories and culture, from traditional haoli conversations to the pidgin dialect heard among those born on Hawaii. Here Kimo and his partner track down two suspects in the case:
“Mr. Campbell. Police. Open up.” We waited, and Ray was about to knock again when the door opened. Larry, a fat Hawaiian guy with dark dreadlocks, stuck his head out. “Hey, Leroy, it’s da kine police,” he said. “Long time no see, bruddas.”
Larry yawned and stepped outside, and big, bald Leroy followed him. “How about your cousin Pika?” Ray asked. “He in there, too?” “Nah, he wen bag two days ago.” “But he was living with you before he left?” I asked. “Sometimes he moi moi wid us, sometimes wid his buddy,” Leroy said.
To Ray’s credit, he seemed to be following the conversation, which meant he was learning our island pidgin. Pika slept at their place sometimes, but had left two days before. “Tacky?” I asked. Larry nodded. “Yeah. Bodybuilder dude. Dumb as two rocks in a box.” That could describe the Campbell brothers, too. “You know where we can find him?” I asked. “Try gym,” Leroy said. “Ho brah, he alla time workin out.”
Picked out of context, it might seem a little jarring but still you can hear the rhythm of the spoken words and in context, you barely notice it so because you have become so accustomed to hearing it throughout the novel. By the end of the story, you will feel as though you have walked the streets of the city and sat and conversed with all types of Hawaiians, the authenticity of elements and locations Plakcy has brought to the story make it that real.
We travel with Kimo and Ray as they traverse from one side of the island to the other, collecting Hawaiian history and geographical facts as we go. From the history of Hawaii’s quest for statehood or independence to the polyglot of cultures that makes up a typical Hawaiian conversation, we are slowly pulled in to the draw of the islands and the rhythm of daily life there. And not once does any of it come across as a regurgitation of a history lesson.
Again Plakcy seamlessly folds in tidbits of Hawaiian sayings and facts, as in this example:
Just before four, we hopped in the Jeep to meet Frankie. In Honolulu, we don’t use mainland directions like east, west, north and south. Makai is toward the ocean, while mauka means inland, toward the mountains. Diamond Head is in the direction of that extinct volcano, while the opposite is called Ewa, toward a town of the same name.
Actually I could just keep on with quote after quote, Natural Predators is that terrific, Neil S. Plakcy is that great. His descriptions are vivid, wide ranging, and carry with them the tone of a detective familiar with the full spectrum of human society, one that has lost its element to surprise him but manages to deliver an appreciation for life and its special moments no matter the situation. I am in love with all of the characters here.
Natural Predators is a novel not of one plot thread but many, and Plakcy does a remarkable job of not only paying equal attention to every one but also of keeping each storyline as strong and rich in texture as all the rest. The murder mysteries have a complex history to them, the foster child element will make you laugh and cry, sometimes together, you will hold your breath as Kimo and his partner Mike work through yet another potential obstacle to happiness with regard to surrogate fatherhood and still read in amazement as Plakcy rolls in more layers much like the tropical habitats that abound in Hawaii. If I thought he would have heard it, I would have stood and applauded upon finishing this story.
So what happens now? Well, hopefully you will go off to buy the book and I am going back to the beginning and start the series from Mahu. I can’t wait for the ride to begin again, such an E Ticket!
Here are the books in the order they were written:
Mahu
Mahu Surfer
Mahu Fire
Mahu Vice
Mahu Blood
Zero Break
Mahu Men: Mysterious and Erotic Stories
Natural Predators
I can’t find the name of the cover artist but they did a beautiful job, worthy of the story within.
NATURAL PREDATORS BY NEIL PLAKCY
FEBRUARY 27, 2013 MMGOODBOOKREVIEWS
natural_predators_300Title: Natural Predators
Series: Mahu 07
Author: Neil Plakcy
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Investigation
Length: Novel Plus (279pgs)
Publisher: ManLoveRomance (15th February 2013)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: The death of an island patrician in a warehouse fire puts openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, his partner and their foster son in danger.
The beautiful tropical island of O’ahu is filled with predators, from high-flying owls to bottom-dwelling criminals. When the body of an island patrician is found in a warehouse fire, tracking his killers will bring openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka into contact with many of those predators, natural and otherwise. Kimo and his detective partner Ray Donne dig deep into the history of Hawai’i as the islands were teetering on the brink of statehood in order to understand the victim, his killer, and their motives. Kimo and his partner, fire investigator Mike Riccardi, decide to become foster parents for a homeless teen who witnessed the crime, while preparing to become dads themselves.
Purchase Link: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=NPNATPRD
Review: This story is part of a series and is best read in order. Kimo and his fire investigator life partner, Mike, are called to an early morning warehouse fire where a dead body has been discovered. Kimo and Ray, his work partner, have to dig deep into Hawaii’s history to resolve the murder of a high-profile patrician. Just who is killing off the elders of the Island and why? Whilst investigating the murder, Kimo and Mike take in a teenager who might have witnessed something he shouldn’t have and they try their best to become foster parents to the young man. Even while they struggle with the personal decision to become donors to two of their friends.
I really enjoyed this mystery that dates back over 50 years and delves into the history of Hawaii. Kimo and Ray work together to solve the murder of one of the countries patrician’s. When they discover the wife of another patrician murdered in the same fashion they begin to realize it is the connected to a murder more than 50 years before. Kimo and Mike have choices to make in their personal lives when two friends ask them to be sperm donors and a young man needs shelter. Mike is all for having a family, but Kimo is worried about the responsibilities that will fall to them.
This is a great combination of work and personal lives, both sides are drawn together, but neither overtakes the importance of the other. The way this story is written is really good. We get drawn into the mystery and investigation and we also get drawn into the personal aspects of the story, making us vested in both being resolved. Much to our enjoyment this story is easy to follow, even if you haven’t read all the stories in the series. You still get filled in on the important details that you might have missed from previous books. Neil Plakcy makes good use of all the characters, drawing them into the story in useful ways and making each one important.
Kimo and Mike are a great couple and this story shows that even though they are madly in love, they still have their ups and downs. The slight conflict that we see between them is wonderfully done and it isn’t brushed over when they do come to an agreement, because doubts arise when Dakota (foster son) is injured. The mystery side is brilliant, it drags you in as they follow the meager leads they can dig up, but it also leaves you with a warning… if you are going to commit murder, don’t leave somebody else to clean up your mess ‘cause it just might come back to bite you in the ass. lol. At the end of the book there is a free short called Alpha and Omega where it is a year on and we can catch up on Kimo, Mike and Dakota.
I am going to recommend this to those who love murder mysteries, learning about another culture, personal dilemmas, deep love and a happy ending.
THIRD NIGHT BY NEIL PLAKCY
DECEMBER 22, 2012 MMGOODBOOKREVIEWS
third-nightTitle: Third Night
Series: MLR Holiday 2012
Author: Neil S. Plakcy
Genre: M/M, Hanukkah
Length: Short (7,000 words)
Publisher: MLR Press (December 11th, 2012)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts ~ liked it
Blurb: Will Joe’s Hanukkah wish come true—a way to reconcile his belief in the tenets of Orthodox Judaism with his attraction to his friend Yehuda?
Can Joe reconcile his belief in the tenets of Orthodox Judaism with the religion’s disapproval of his sexual orientation? Or will his crush on his friend Yehuda ruin their friendship and leave him ostracized by his community? What will happen on the third night of Hanukkah?
Product Link: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=NP_3RDNT
Reviewer: Patrick
Review: Decent story. No real heat. In fact, most of the story made me feel like I was taking lessons in Judaism instead of reading a romance or erotica. However, I did enjoy the lesson.
“Third Night” by Neil S.Plakcy— A Gay Hanukkah Story
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Plakcy, Neil. “Third Night”, MLR Press, 2012.
A Gay Hanukkah Story
Amos Lassen
It was bound to happen and I am glad it is one of my favorite authors who wrote it—our very own gay Hanukkah story. Joe, an Orthodox Jew, has trouble with his religion’s disapproval of his gay lifestyle. He wonders if the crush he has on his friend Yehudah will ruin their friendship and make him leave his religious community. It is all set to come down on the third night on Hanukkah.
Can we now expect stories for the other Jewish holidays as well? I certainly hope so because stories like this make it that much easier to reconcile sexuality and religion.
The Buchanan Letters
Review March 9, 2013 8 Lloyd Meeker
5 stars, Contemporary, MLR Press, Neil Plakcy
buchanan-lettersTitle: The Buchanan Letters
Author: Neil Plakcy
Cover Artist: Kris Jacen
Publisher: MLR Press
Amazon: Buy Link Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 237 pages / 75,000 words
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
five_star_read_icon
A Guest Review by Lloyd Meeker
Review Summary: One of Neil Plakcy’s best
BLURB
Secret letters exposing James Buchanan as our first gay president lead college history professor Jeff Berman to fall in love with disgraced reporter Pascal Montrouge, who can make all his dreams come true—or destroy everything Jeff has worked for.
Jeff Berman, a Pennsylvania history professor, discovers correspondence between President James Buchanan and his male aide, which depicts their sexual and emotional relationship. With the help of handsome Pascal Montrouge, a disgraced reporter hungry to return to the big time, Jeff is swept away by publicity for what he has seen as an academic book, and his dreams of tenure and true love seem to be coming true. But when his life falls apart and his academic life is threatened, Jeff questions whether Pascal has only been using him—and how he can build a new life from the debris of his old one.
REVIEW
Those familiar with Neil Plakcy’s work open one of his books confident they are about to enjoy another intelligently-written, well-crafted and satisfying tale. The Buchanan Letters is no exception, but for me this one was also something of a surprise. A very pleasant one.
One of the ways this story struck me as different was its tone. To my sensibilities, it had a different emotional quality to it—more human and thoughtful, with a gentleness that isn’t as prominent in his Mahu or Aiden/Liam bodyguard series. To be sure, The Buchanan Letters is not a life-endangering adventure or murder mystery, and Plakcy changes tone to show a different side of his storytelling skills in this book. Perhaps that warmer tone is more a function of the characters themselves than authorial style.
Jeff and Naomi are professors at Eastern, a small university in Pennsylvania, friends who have been through a lot together. They are direct, honest and loyal to each other. In stark contrast, Pascal Montrouge is a sexy rogue with his own agenda, and real truth-telling is a challenge for him. As has often been observed, the best lies are partial truths, and Pascal is a master of this technique.
Each of these characters is imperfect, and Plakcy shows them in their weakness as well as their strength. Each is vulnerable to serious failure, and what failure means for each of them is one of the engines of the story.
The multi-layered plot turns around the goal of tenured professorship for Naomi and Jeff, which they hope to secure by meeting the “publish or perish” expectations of their respective departments. It takes some very satisfying twists, never implausible, always deftly handled.
Themes of honesty, loyalty, integrity and the treachery of academic politics are explored not as moral issues but without judgment, simply as aspects of modern life. They are skillfully woven together into a means for each of these three characters to clarify what they actually want in life, then to find a way to achieve it.
Adding to the historical depth of the story are the well-crafted “letters” themselves, correspondence between Buchanan and his aide. These are salted throughout the story at strategic points to add intriguing dimension to what occurs in current time.
This is a book you won’t want to rush through, so please don’t. It’s a thoughtful, satisfying story, and the journey is every bit as enjoyable as the destination. Highly recommended!
“Zero Break” by Neil Plakcy— Kimo is Back Once Again
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Plakcy, Neil. “Zero Break”, MLR Press, 2012.
Kimo is Back Once Again
Amos Lassen
If you are a fan of Neil Plakcy’s “Mahu” books then you, like me, will be glad to know that there is a new one and that our boy Kimo Kanapa’aka is back. Now he is investigating the murder of a young lesbian woman and this comes just when he and his partner and thinking about having children themselves. It all starts when the young mother is murdered in what at first seems to be a robbery. What was left behind were a complicated series of relationships and Kimo and his detective partner are at a bit of a hard time to try to discover the motive for the murder and then to catch the perpetrator and see that he is brought to justice.
This is the sixth book in the Mahu/Kimo series and this is by far the one that really catches the reader and holds him. (Not that the other five don’t). Plakcy is a master of description and he paints a picture of Hawaii that is very, very real—I could almost the ukulele strumming and see the tropical flowers blooming. This case is filled with strange twists and turns and we are kept wonderfully guessing. Plakcy seduces us into the world of Kimo and his life partner, Mike and we soon feel as if we know them personally. We also get a good look at Kimo’s relationship with Mike and how they manage to keep it fresh. There is more than just a mystery here—we also get a perspective on the nature of relationships.
There is another major character in the novel–the island and its setting. We feel the author’s love for Hawaii and he describes it by using much of the local terminology. You do not have to read any of the other books in the series to appreciate this but if you have not, you probably will want to.
Mahu Vice by Neil S. Plakcy: A Review
Oline Cogdill
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Neil Plakcy will discuss his latest novel Mahu Vice at 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Borders, 2240 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-566-6335.
Mahu Vice. Neil S. Plakcy. Alyson Books. $14.95. 320 pp.
Hollywood author Neil S. Plakcy keeps a tight reign on his well-plotted fourth novel in his series about Kimo Kanapa'aka, an openly gay Honolulu detective.
Mahu Vice by Neil S. Plakcy: A Review
Plakcy dips into sexual obsession, control issues and arson while maintaining a perceptive look at gay life in Hawaii and the importance of unconditional love from family and friends in Mahu Vice.
Kimo’s investigation into a fire in a strip shopping center that kills a teenager leads to a subculture that exploits the innocent. The shopping center has a soft place in Kimo’s heart – his father used to own it, his brother keeps the landscape bright and the detective is still a customer of the hair salon. The fire appears to have started in an acupuncture business, but the boy who was killed was living in the back of the hair salon.
Mahu Vice by Neil S. Plakcy: A Review
The case forces Kimo to work with arson investigator Mike Riccardi, his former boyfriend. Their breakup was emotional for both men, although each still loves the other. The two men must put aside their feelings to find out who set the fire. The acupuncture business had been a front for a prostitution ring that has operated under the radar. Other fires and deaths related to the prostitution ring take Kimo and Mike’s investigation to a different direction.
Plakcy’s strength in creating believable characters shines. The author shows all aspects of his characters, from their relationships to their sex lives. Plakcy contrasts Kimo’s openly gay status to Mike’s closeted life. Being openly gay has enhanced Kimo’s life – especially with his close-knit family, his partner on the police force and his friends. Mike lives in fear.
Plakcy also subtly parellels the Kimo’s vulnerabilty when he was first outed – quite publicly by the way -- with the helplessness of the victims who are being targeted by the killer.
The Florida-based Plakcy will make readers want to pack their bags for Hawaii. He captures the essence of Hawaii and the surfing culture in Mahu Vice.
Plakcy’s last novel Mahu Fire won the Hawaii Five-O award for best police procedural, presented by Left Coast Crime, and was a finalist for the 2008 Lambda Literary Award for best gay mystery.
MAHU VICE
by Neil S. Plakcy
Alyson, August 2009
279 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 1593501110
Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada
Honolulu police detective Kimo Kanapa'aka's cases have a way of intersecting with his personal life. The present case begins when his father's former business property is torched by an arsonist. The act sets off a whole series of discoveries about illegal activities being run by a shadowy figure. Before he is brought to justice, Kimo will discover that his own backside has been displayed prominently in a sexually exploitive photograph posted on the web, that his brother is indirectly implicated in hiring illegal aliens, and that one of his father's late friend's former mistresses is deeply involved in a prostitution racket.
Not to mention that the boyfriend with whom Kimo broke up after the former refused to come out of the closet but then gave him an STD, the handsome firefighter Mike Riccardi, is the one assigned to the arson case. Or that his best friend works as a security guard at a firm newly managed by one of the suspects. There are yet other connections. None of these in the context of the novel, however, seem overly coincidental as Oahu comes across as a small village.
This is the fourth Mahu procedural (the other three are all reviewed on RTE), and in some ways it is the most satisfactory case so far. I like the details of an investigation, the way the nonessential jostles against the essential, leaving detective (and reader) to sort out which is which. Kimo is now working with a new partner, the very laid-back but quite competent Ray Donne. He has recently come to the island from Philadelphia, his wife having decided to pursue a graduate degree at the university. Unlike some of the other cops, Ray has no problem working with a "mahu" (the local word for gay).
Kimo has been wallowing in self-pity and sexual excess as the result of his breakup with Mike. The trouble is that he can't quite get Mike out of mind or heart, and he now takes the opportunity of their working together to explore the possibility that perhaps the romance is not finished. The novel explores the nature of trust and forgiveness in a straightforward manner. It also touches on the sometimes thin line between what is a momentary slipup and what is out and out criminal. I do confess that, much as I like details, there is more about Kimo's sexual activities here than I need. Quite a number of readers, however, will find there's not enough information.
The novel also becomes de facto an examination of the multi cultural diversity that is clearly the hallmark of the new America. Most of the characters come from the mingling of Asian, European, and Polynesian roots — even Ray is Italian American — and all of them are the healthier for the fact. Cultural diversity seems to promote a greater understanding of basic humanity and lead to a sense of tolerance. It is a "purebred" Chinese man who is most bigoted of all the characters we glimpse.
Reviewed by Drewey Wayne Gunn, September 2009
Review: Mahu Blood by Neil S. Plakcy
Posted on January 27, 2012 by Romancing the Book Reviews
Mahu Blood by Neil S. Plakcy
Series: Mahu Series (# 5)
Release Date: February 2011
Publisher: MLR Press
Pages: 312
Source: eBook from author
Two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist Neil Plakcy returns to the Hawaiian Islands with a new mystery about blood ties in a state torn by ethnic tension. Openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka must investigate a series of murders that threaten his own family as well as the citizens he struggles to protect.
Billions of dollars are at stake in a fight over who the land of the Aloha State really belongs to. Is it the United States—or the indigenous people of the islands, many of whom feel their sovereign kingdom was overthrown by American businessmen?
At the same time, Kimo and his fire investigator partner, Mike Riccardi, deal with the stress of moving in together to create their own ohana—a Hawaiian term which means family, as well as community.
Review: As everyone who knows me is aware, I absolutely love this series about Kimo Kanapa’aka, the publicly outed gay cop in Honolulu. Kimo appeals to me on several levels – his masculinity (yes, he’s gay but that doesn’t mean he’s a fairy), his surfing abilities, his love for family and friends, his ability to foster gay teens in an outreach program and give them honest answers to their darkest and most personal questions, and his ability to kick ass as a detective.
In the latest installment, Kimo and his partner, Ray, must find the killer of an elderly woman shot during a Kingdom of Hawai’i rally and of a slow yet talkative lolo (crazy) man living in a group home who was set on fire. At the same time he is dealing with a number of other issues – difficulties at home after moving in with fireman-boyfriend Mike, worries over a young and ignorant mother connected to the case, agonizing over the fact that his own mother could have been the victim at the rally, and concerned with his brother’s addictions. Plus he has to constantly remind everyone that Stuey, the man from the group home, was not homeless, no matter what he looked like. All in all, Kimo does what Kimo does best – he cares for his ohana.
Plakcy has come up with another winner, not only in Kimo Kanapa’aka but in the overall detective genre as well. The characters are well written and, living in Hawai’i as I do, I can see the qualities of people I have met here on the island in the characters of Mahu Blood. The language used is choice (that’s pidgin for excellent), the places are fo’ real (except for the one’s that aren’t), and the events, unfortunately, could actually happen. I also love the new covers for all the Mahu books!
Now I’m just waiting for a book titled “Mahu Kapu” (translated – gay men forbidden).
Favorite Quote: After Mike and I had licked and sucked and rubbed each other to orgasm, he went right to sleep, but I lay there in bed next to him for a few minutes, relishing the feeling, once again, of bringing down the bad guys and making things right with the world, even if only for a little while.
Mahu Blood by Neil S. Plakcy
FEBRUARY 28, 2011 by AUSTIN CAMACHO
5 0
by Austin Camacho
Neil S. Plakcy offers a tightly-plotted police procedural mystery in his latest novel, MAHU BLOOD. But what sets this 6th outing in the Mahu series apart from all the others is that he also serves up an emotionally charged thriller about family values in Hawaii.
In MAHU BLOOD, openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka must learn who killed Aunty Edith Kapana at a Hawaiian nationalism rally. The death sets off competition between several groups for control of the millions of dollars at stake in reparations for the US takeover of Hawaii in 1893. One of the groups competing for the chance to lead a sovereign Hawaii bases its claim on the familial descent of its leader.
“The question of “blood” is an important one for Native Hawaiians,” Plakcy says. “How much of your lineage comes from the aboriginal settlers of the islands? How much Hawaiian blood must you have to be considered ethnically Hawaiian, and to take part in any cash settlement that comes out of reparations for land stolen when the US overthrew Queen Lili’uokalani in 1893?”
The issue of what makes a family is also important to Kimo, as he moves in with his life partner and they begin to integrate their blood relations together. In the novel Kimo’s family ends up in deadly danger too.
As reviewer Oline Cogdill noted in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, “Plakcy’s strength in creating believable characters shines.” Indeed, the author shows all aspects of his characters, from their relationships to their sex lives. However, neither Kimo nor this novel is defined by the character’s sexual orientation. But Plakcy says that writing Kimo is different from writing a straight detective because of the personal arc he imagined from the beginning.
“In the first book in the series, MAHU, he’s dragged out of the closet while investigating a case,” he says. “In each successive book he goes through various stages of the coming out process– making gay friends, dating, falling in love, settling down — while investigating cases that force him to deal with his own emotional issues.”
In any series, the reader needs to like the protagonist, and I think most people will like Kimo. He comes across as a good guy, and he’s multi-faceted.
“He’s passionate about his job protecting the people of Honolulu,” Plakcy points out. “Coming from a surfing background, he’s pretty laid back except when he’s pursuing killers. He has a good sense of humor and he dances a mean hula.”
The point is, there are so many sides to his character that the author doesn’t let his sexual orientation define him. Being a native of Hawaii allow him to relate to the Native Hawaiian characters and understand their struggles, although being part Hawaiian, part Japanese, and part white makes him the classic outsider hero in many situations.
Plakcy handles the police procedural side of the story well too, thanks to the FBI’s Citizen’s Academy and lots of other police courses. And he works with local police experts to make sure he gets procedures right.
Luckily, he can rely on his own knowledge to get the setting right. He captures the essence of both Hawaii and the surfing culture. Plakcy says he loves the contrast between the tropical paradise that tourists see and the gritty criminal underbelly.
“As a former FBI bureau chief pointed out to me at a meeting in Honolulu, the cops and the crooks all know each other– in many cases they’re related, or they’ve grown up together,” Plakcy says. “The insular nature of an island adds great tension to a crime novel; you can’t just get in your car and drive away.”
For us mainland readers there’s also all the cool stuff we see in Hawaii Five-0: the surf culture, the great food, the fabulous scenery. Everything about Hawaii is exotic to the outsider.
If you turn out to like Kimo’s company as much as I expect, you can plan on more meetings. Plakcy did all the research for several books when he was in Hawaii in 2009 (at Left Coast Crime, where MAHU FIRE won a Lefty award for best police procedural.) The next novel is already drafted and in the rewrite stage, primed for a 2012 release. And while Neil S. Plakcy awaits your response to Mahu Blood, he is already thinking about what happens next.
“How will I keep the series fresh after six books?” he asks. “That’s an interesting challenge and one I’m looking forward to.”
About the author: Neil Plakcy is the author of the Mahu mystery series, about openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka. They are: Mahu, Mahu Surfer, Mahu Fire, Mahu Vice, Mahu Men, and Mahu Blood (2011).
He also writes Aidan and Liam bodyguard adventure series, Three Wrong Turns in the Desert, Dancing with the Tide and Teach Me Tonight (2011).
His other books are In Dog We Trust, a golden retriever mystery, as well as the novels GayLife.com, Mi Amor, and The Outhouse Gang and and the novella The Guardian Angel of South Beach.
“The Outhouse Gang”– An Emotional Tale
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Plakcy, Neil. “The Outhouse Gang”, Untreed Reads, 2010.
An Emotional Tale
Amos Lassen
Welcome to a new aspect of the writing of Neal Plakcy—one with no sex, no violence just good writing. It is 1963 in Stewart’s Crossing, Pennsylvania and Halloween is just a day away. A group of men comes together and they steal an outhouse and put in front of town hall. What began as a joke evolves into an annual affair by the men who are known as “The Outhouse Gang” because no one really knows who they are. We, however get to meet the members of the gang and learn how they feel about many different things as the book moves through time from 1963 to 1988.
Those years played a major part in the history of this country—there was the sexual and cultural revolution, the war in Vietnam, the drug culture came into its own when the Hippies took over our youth as they screamed for independence. Most of us who lived in urban areas so we have no idea how this affected small town life’ Plakcy has assembled a large group of characters and his descriptions of them make them, very real. But unlike other books by the author, the plot here moves slowly and with a lot of detail. And the life of Stewart’s Crossing moves slowly as well. There is a great deal of charm here and a lot of very good writing. It is always good to have some Plakcy to read and even more interesting when he takes a new direction.
Mahu Fire
A Hawai'ian Mystery with Kimo Kanapa'aka by Neil S. Plakcy
Mahu Fire by Neil S. Plakcy
Review: Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka investigates threats against the gay community including a bomb that injures members of his family and kills a city official in Mahu Fire, the third mystery in this series by Neil S. Plakcy.
Kimo is assigned to investigate the shooting death of an old man and a dead rooster in the same neighborhood. What makes the situation unusual is that both were killed by the same gun. Later, at a black tie dinner that included many prominent gay residents, a bomb is detonated, killing one, the Vice Mayor, and injuring many others. A string of disturbances had been plaguing the city, but the bombing was a considerable escalation in the violence. And then another person is killed at a gay marriage rally. Kimo has more than just his investigation on his hands when a teenager is mentoring disappears and his ailing father takes a turn for the worse. A wildfire on the island just adds to the complexity of what turns out to be a series of interconnected relationships that Kimo needs to sort out before someone else is hurt or killed.
In contrast to the previous book in this series which had a credible and interesting mystery, there is little to note in this regard in Mahu Fire. The first half in particular is written far more as gay fiction than mystery fiction with a gay character. Kimo spends much of his time pursuing a relationship with firefighter Mike Riccardi; the fact that he's supposed to be investigating a murder is clearly secondary. From a plot perspective, the investigation becomes slightly more important in the second half of the book but by this time the there is little suspense since it is obvious who is behind all the violence.
There would seem to be much potential in this series. Hawaii still seems exotic to many people and in many ways is a perfect locale for a mystery, and an openly gay police officer is, or should be, a positive role model. But the author squanders the opportunity to use either to great effect in Mahu Fire. There is little of Hawaii in the book; the fire described at the end of the book, for example, is so generic it could have taken place in California or Florida. And, oddly and somewhat inexplicably, the author's portrayal of Kimo at times tends to reinforce many of the negative stereotypes people have of the gay community.
It's not clear where Plakcy is taking this series. Mahu Fire as gay fiction is mildly entertaining. As a mystery, however, it is a step backward and that's unfortunate.
Acknowledgment: Breakthrough Promotions provided a copy of Mahu Fire for this review.
Mahu Surfer
A Hawai'ian Mystery with Kimo Kanapa'aka by Neil S. Plakcy
Mahu Surfer by Neil S. Plakcy
Review: Neil S. Plakcy's second mystery to feature gay Honolulu police detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, Mahu Surfer, hits all the right notes as a mystery yet misses the mark as an overall novel.
Someone has killed three surfers on the north shore of Oahu (Hawaii) and Kimo, a surfer himself, is sent undercover to determine who is behind the murders and why. Kimo is asked to portray an ex-cop who has left the force because he was "outed" and who has retreated to the north shore to do a bit of surfing and soul searching. He quickly determines the three deaths are related and that there is no shortage of suspects. The motive behind the murders, however, eludes him until his probing puts his own life in danger.
Plakcy has crafted a fine murder mystery that is well thought out, with clues to its solution scattered throughout the story. Kimo conducts an intelligent investigation, and regularly summarizes (for the reader) what he knows and what conclusions he has drawn to that point. Yet in the end, the identity of the killer will likely come as a surprise. That, in and of itself, is sufficient to recommend this book. In this regard, it's really quite well done.
But there are a few minor problems with the rest of the book that are troubling nonetheless. The first third of Mahu Surfer reads like an early draft of a screenplay from the Keanu Reeves surfing mystery movie Point Break. It's not all that credible. And it's hard not to picture Keanu playing the role of Kimo. (In retrospect, that may actually not be a bad thing.) Plakcy also fails to convey a sense of what it's like to surf, or even to visit, the north shore of Oahu. Anyone who has done so, or who has watched the opening credits to Hawaii Five-O, will wonder if the story actually takes place there. And finally there are the sex scenes which are not an integral part of the plot or even contribute in any meaningful way to character development, but can at best be described as gratuitous. At one point Kimo says, "I was going to have to learn to keep my personal life separate from my job. I needed to practice some restraint; I needed to keep my pants zipped for a while. Not just for my job, but for my own sanity." Plakcy should have taken Kimo's advice and applied it to his writing.
Acknowledgment: Breakthrough Promotions provided a copy of Mahu Surfer for this review.
“Mahu Surfer” by Neil S. Plakcy— Sexy Kimo
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Plakcy, Neil S. “Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery”, Alyson 2007.
Sexy Kimo
Amos Lassen
“Mahu Surfer” is about and when you mix a sexy cop like Kimo with action you have a blockbuster of a mystery. This is Neil Plakey’s second novel featuring Kimo Kanapa’aka, the good-looking and hunky Honolulu police detective and even if you have not read the first one, you cannot help but enjoy “Mahu Surfer”.
Kimo is now on the northern shore of Oahu which in itself is a fantastic place for a mystery novel. Kimo is separated from those he knows and loves—his family and his friends—and he is freshly out as a gay male so in addition to the mystery he has to solve, he also has to come to terms with his own emotional issues.
The word “mahu” is a negative Hawaiian term for gay male and Kimo is aware that being gay and a policeman is not such a good fit. Having been outed publicly and now semi-retired, Kimo must go undercover to stop a brutal murderer who seems to be on a quest to end the island of surfers. Three have already been shot and are dead and Kimo knows that the only way to find the murderer is to enter the surfing community. Kimo had once been a competitive surfer and he knows that if he wants to return to a place where he is respected on the police force, he must catch the killer and thereby disavow those who want t discredit him because of his sexual lifestyle.
This is one of those books that keep you turning pages. The suspense is high and the action never seems to stop. Through complex and beautiful characterizations and readable prose and a true sense of place, we are taken to Hawaii and to the paradise that is there. We also feel the emotion of Kimo as he struggles with his homosexuality and the issues that go along with it—honesty, loyalty, commitment and responsibility. There is not just mystery in the book—there is great beauty in the language and great suspense in the excitement. This is one you definitely do not want to miss.