About the Book;
Carved in Bone
A new mystery by six-time Lambda Literary award winner, Michael Nava. Set in San Francisco in 1984, Henry Rios, a gay criminal defense lawyer, is fresh out of rehab and trying to put his life back together. He’s hired by an insurance company to investigate the apparently accidental death by carbon monoxide poisoning of Bill Ryan in the Castro Street apartment he shared with his lover, who survived. As he delves into Bill Ryan’s life, Rios becomes convinced Ryan’s death was no accident, and that his young lover is implicated. Meanwhile, the tsunami of AIDS is bearing down on San Francisco’s gay community.
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My Thoughts and Review:
This was a first for me. My first read by this author and my first read of gay fiction.
This was a superb story on multiple fronts. A superb mystery and a documentary on the aids epidemic of the 1980’s.
A richly constructed read that is told in two timelines. The story of Bill a gay teenager who finds himself in the gay scene of San Francisco after he is disowned by his family for being gay.
Also Henry Rios, a gay insurance investigator, who fresh out of rehab finds himself investigating Bill’s death and the claims on his life insurance policy. Henry finds himself questioning the circumstances of his death. And the deeper the investigation goes the more suspicious Henry becomes. That is the mystery.
The side of the book that appeals to me was Michael’s superb writing and storytelling. Also his superb documentation of the aforementioned Aids epidemic that swept the gay community in the 1980’s. A community that not only finds itself shunned by the hetrosexual world, Persecuted by the media of the time.
This book is not only a superb story but also gives the reader a bit of historical context of the human story behind the sensational headlines. This book was a revelation and an education. Thanks Michael.
Author Bio – Michael Nava is the six-time Lambda Literary Award author of the Henry Rios novels and recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement in LGBTQ Literature. The New York Times praised him as “one of our best” crime fiction writers. The New Yorker called Henry Rios “a detective unlike any other previous protagonist in American noir.” Carved In Bone is the first Henry Rios novel in 20 years. Says novelist David Ebershoff (The Danish Girl) Carved In Bone is “rich, haunting and deeply engaged with the world.”
Social Media Links – Twitter @micnavawriter
Instagram: @micnavawriter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MichaelNavaWriter/
Podcast: The Henry Rios Mysteries Podcast (I-tune, Spotify, etc.)
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