Books to Ease the Summertime Blues

Two other books, both published by Alyson, are sure to make the summertime blues go by fast. Me2: A Novel of Horror by M. Christian (224 pages; $14.95) deals with the intriguing topic of doppelgangers, which the dictionary defines as an “apparition or double of a living person.”

The hero of this book, an unnamed gay man, has a double who every day becomes more and more like him until neither he nor we know who is the original and who is the double. M. Christian, who has thrilled myself and many others with his erotic fiction and his novels Running Dry and The Very Bloody Marys, tries his best with this difficult topic but does not quite succeed. Indeed, by the time Me2 finishes its course, this humble critic was too confused to know what was going on. Or care.

It was almost a relief to turn from M. Christian’s doubles to a plain, straightforward mystery novel like Mahu Fire: A Hawai’ian Mystery by Neil S. Plakcy (320 pages; $14.95).

Openly gay, Honolulu Police detective Kimo Kanapa’aka, is probably the best gay literary sleuth since Michael Nava’s mystery-solving attorney, Henry Rios. In Mahu Fire, Kimo’s third literary mystery, this hunky Hawai’ian is hot on the trail of an extremist religious group that he suspects burned down a gay community center.

We also learn more about Kimo’s friends and family, his community involvement and his fledgling relationship with humpy fire fighter Mike Riccardi. In a perfect world, the adventures of Kimo would be made into a TV series, or at least a movie. For now we must settle with enjoying his adventures in print, thanks to the literary talents of Neil S. Plakcy.