Reviewers' Comments:
The Bottle Ghosts by Dorien Grey
Winner of the WordWeaving Award for Excellence
When a new client arrives in his office reporting a missing
lover, Dick Hardesty's first reaction is that the guy has taken off for whatever
reason. He begins his search by visiting the bars the missing man frequented.
Soon Dick learns that police triage missing persons; and they relegate alcoholic,
gay men to the bottom of the heap. When he questions his police contacts
regarding police procedure with missing person cases, Dick gets unexpected
results.
Desk rookie Marty Gresham is working on a master's degree
in criminology and decides to use his work for his thesis. Gresham went back
several years looking at missing persons, and discovered an unexpected pattern.
Single men, ages 26 to 40, that were heavy drinkers or acknowledged alcoholics
have been disappearing. Indeed, four have disappeared within the last six
months. Suddenly Dick once again finds himself confronted with a crime far
bigger than his initial investigation; one he cannot walk away from.
On the surface, Dick simply investigates yet another
series of murders. But the subtext of the gay lifestyle, of relationships
and desires, of hidden motives and concealed pain, lends THE BOTTLE
GHOSTS remarkable depth. While readers will identify with secret
demons, most find help or learn to live with the pain of our individual bottle
ghosts. Each scene is carefully crafted with hints and red herrings enough
to delight the most demanding mystery lover. Moreover, Grey's prose absolutely
resonates with powerful emotion and tragic decisions, with painful need and
dangerous desire.
THE BOTTLE GHOSTS provides powerful reading
on a number of levels. In addition to a terrific mystery, readers are privy
to Dick's personal world. As Dick's relationship with Jonathan plays out,
readers are given a glimpse at a different side of gay relationships not
previously explored by Grey's work. Dick no long allows, well, little dick
to run his life although we are still privy to intimate thoughts of lust
at times. Instead, Dick explores the world of a monogamous relationship
structured by love and trust. Such a transformation does not mirror a
heterosexual's expectation, and yet the similarities and differences will
be as surprising and as enlightening as Dick's previous sojourns through
clubs and baths. Furthermore, Dick has never had first hand experience with
alcoholism. Grey's treatment of the subject is remarkably insightful. And
it is these remarkable complexes that lend varied layers to this fascinating
text.
Consequently, THE BOTTLE GHOSTS earns the
WordWeaving Award for Excellence.
---Cindy Penn, Senior Editor, http://www.wordweaving.com
Amazon top 50 Reviewer
eBook Specialist, Midwest Book Review
--------------------------------------
It's been a long, sad truth that alcoholism is very prevalent
in the gay and lesbian community. While working at a g/l/b/t bookstore in
Sacramento, I was surprised at the sheer number of people who would turn
out for coffee after the local AA meeting. In talking to many of the people,
I found that different people had different reasons for succumbing to the
bottle. Some couldn't handle the act of coming out. Some found it was the
only way to deal with the rejection they received from their loved ones when
they did come out. Others used alcohol to deal with painful relationships
and other unfortunate situations that arose in their lives.
Dorien Grey, one of the best mystery authors to come
along in recent years, tackles this somewhat controversial subject in his
latest Dick Hardesty mystery, The Bottle Ghosts. In this outing,
Hardesty is settling into comfortable coupled life with his partner Jonathan,
much to the chagrin of the single men he's meeting that wouldn't mind spending
a little "quality time" with him. Just as things seem to be going smoothly,
Hardesty gets a client who wants him to investigate the disappearance of
his lover. The disappearance in itself isn't strange, as the client's partner
is an alcoholic who would often disappear for a couple of days on a bender,
yet the length of his absence this time seems unusual.
As Hardesty's investigation continues, the clues become
a trail leading to a support group for gay men and their partners, dealing
with alcoholism. Hardesty soon finds that the disappearance of this client's
partner is just one of many that appear to be connected with the support
group. He and Jonathan go undercover with the group to sniff out the truth,
but when evidence starts to indicate that there might be a murderer in their
midst, Hardesty has to do some fast detective work to keep himself and Jonathan
from being on the wrong end of the bottle…of embalming fluid, that is.
The Bottle Ghosts is a well-plotted, engaging
mystery that continues Grey's tradition of character development and intelligent
storytelling, while maintaining Hardesty's keen sense of humor. Although
dealing with a theme such as alcoholism would put a less skilled author in
dangerous water, Grey expertly navigates the complex ideas and emotions that
are involved with dealing with the disease, without ever coming across as
either too heavy-handed or overly sympathetic. It would be easy to paint
the members of the book's support group as flat, one-dimensional characters,
but Grey manages to bring depth and feeling to each one, thus lending an
extra sense of realism to the story.
The Bottle Ghosts is a welcome addition
to the Dick Hardesty Mysteries, and is bound to appeal to both old and new
fans of the series. Author Grey continues to surprise and delight with this
latest installment, and this reviewer certainly hopes to see much more of
Dick Hardesty and Co. in future novels.
--- Jay Hartman, knowbetter.com
----------------------------------------
When Investment counselor John Bradshaw comes to P I
Hardesty to enlist the detective's help in finding Bradshaw's gone missing
partner Jerry Shea; Dick does not realize where the conundrum will lead or
how many missing gay, alcoholic men there have been over the past five years.
Despite the fact that homophobic Chief Rourke's leaving the police force;
missing persons reports are not handled too differently. Gay partners then
and now are not the top priority. Fortunately one sharp-eyed young officer
working on his master's thesis has noted a particular pattern surrounding
some of the missing persons. Before the puzzlement surrounding what may have
become of Shea is unraveled Hardesty will have nineteen names on his "of
interest" list.
Each time I think writer Grey cannot possibly meet the
standard of his last book, he does and more. The Bottle Ghosts
continues the pattern author Grey has established for himself. Avid readers
of Grey's work will be happy to know old friends Bob and Mario, Chris and
Max, Tondelaya O'Toole, Lt. Richman are again found in this particular tome.
In The Bottle Ghosts Grey crafts a well written, fast paced
novel filled with the excellent gritty dialogue, admirable situations and
bang-up scenarios we have come to expect. Grey's expertise with words paint
a zestful backdrop of buildings, sights and sounds. I can easily visualize
the long broken Trocadero sign now gracing The Troc bar. Guy Prentiss at
the piano is nearly audible and Tondelaya! I'm happy to see he/she and her
Pearl Bailey routine have returned from New Orleans to help headline the
show for the opening of the Steamroller Junction in the gay area.
As always watch the red herrings. Just when you are sure
you have figured it all out, writer Grey sneaks in another little mischievous
word to lead you down another path. Nothing is ever exactly as may be thought
when you are reading master mystery writer Dorien Grey. If this is your first
Dorien Grey novel, it is one of Author Grey's finest. Grey writes for all
audiences who enjoy good mystery, interesting characters and tongue in cheek
humor now and then.
--- m.j. hollingshead
--------------------------------
Our favorite PI Dick Hardesty is back again and better
than ever with The Bottle Ghosts. This time Dick is hired by
a new client to find his lover, Jerry Shea, who has disappeared before on
drinking binges every three months and always showed up sooner or later.
But this time the lapse between binges was only six weeks, and this time
he hasn't returned. Dick soon finds out the couple were part of a group weekly
meeting for gay alcoholics and their non-alcoholic partners. They meet at
Qualicare, a huge, growing healthcare organization.
The police, headed up by Lieutenant Richman--who has
showed up in previous Dick Hardesty books--are beginning to cooperate more
with Dick when he takes on a new case. The officer assigned to Jerry Shea's
case tells Dick he's been looking into cases "like this" and has discovered
this is the sixth mysterious disappearance under the same circumstances in
the past five years. The cases have never before been connected, and in fact
barely noticed because of all the missing men's common sexual orientation.
Dick begins to find even more of a connection between all of the missing
men--all alcoholics, they'd all been involved in the alcoholic group therapy
sessions at Qualicare at one time or another. But there's a hitch--none of
the men there ever knew the last names or any personal details of the other
members except those discussed during group therapy, and any friendships
outside the sessions were discouraged, so nobody really gave it a second
thought when couples dropped out without a word of explanation.
Brilliantly interwoven all through this riveting mystery
is the growing love story between Dick and Jonathan, the former hustler who
first made his appearance in The Bottle Ghosts. This time around,
Jonathan comes into his own, and his fresh young character quickly zaps into
your heart and mind. When Jonathan becomes closely involved in this investigation
to the point of being in deadly and serious danger the tension is gripping,
and so is the real edge-of-your-seat unexpected surprise ending. This story
line was a fascinating addition to the Dick Hardesty series because we go
with Dick through the throes of discovery in a beginning love affair, and
all the angst that goes along with it. Readers who have preconceived ideas
about gays and their lovers will be treated to a totally matter of fact,
often entertaining story of new love spiced with danger.
And hey, guess what, folks. It's all the same. The same
feelings, same disagreements, same sitting down before dinner with a drink
and discussing your day, same housework on Saturday mornings, same romantic
feelings--all the same day to day discoveries you'll find in any really good
romance between two people.
This is a great romance along with a terrific mystery
that will make you laugh out loud, gasp with tension, and it'll surprise
heck out of you when you find out who has really been killing all these gay
men. As with all of Grey's books, this one is highly recommended for anyone
with enough courage, or even curiosity, to read with an open mind and heart.
Each one I've read has had a different focus, and each one has been better
than the last. Definitely buy this book. If you love a good mystery, you'll
love The Bottle Ghosts.
--- Beth Anderson
-------------------
"He's gone! I really did it this time." Indeed, Jerry Shea was gone and far
as his 'Partner' John Bradshaw knew, it was the end. It was, of course, the
beginning of the search by Private Investigator Dick Hardesty. Drunks disappeared
all the time and gay drunks even more so. The cops weren't interested. Dick
was.
The hunt was to take him into territory he did not expect.
Dorien Grey writes a very compelling mystery. If you're looking for gay romance
and steamy sex, this ain't it! If you're looking for a very complicated whodunit
then this is the place. Was Jerry found, and if so where and in what condition?
You may be surprised at this answer and no, it was not Shea stadium (a la
Jimmy Hoffa). As you read through this, you'll learn that Jerry is not the
only one missing. Others seem to have vanished off the face of the earth
with no apparent reason. This is not science fiction, so there has to be
a real down to earth reason.
There is, but you have to read it all the way through
to understand why. As to the 'who', that may be the biggest surprise of all.
There are clues, but can you follow them? If you think you're a good armchair
detective, try Bottle Ghosts.
--- Berry Reviews
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