[Bridget] Just finished reading . . . The Adrien English Mysteries
May 25, 2009 at 6:00 am 15 comments
Today, Bridget from Good Books, Bad Books, & Every Book in Between is answering my challenge (she’ll fill you in in the body of her post) to read one of my favorites, The Adrien Engish Mysteries (Books 1 & 2 of the Adrien English series, Fatal Shadows and A Dangerous Thing.) (See my review post here.)
I will be at her place, reviewing her challenge book Nora Roberts’ Sea Swept (Chesapeake Bay series, book 1.) Come on over and say ‘hi’!
Here’s what Bridget has to say about The Adrien English Mysteries:
About a month or so ago, Renee and I were chatting via that handy-dandy gmail chat feature when we got on the topic of authors everyone else loves, but you don’t. She said Nora Roberts (gasp) and I told her m/m. It’s not necessarily that I hate them, but haven’t read any that have really caught me either. She challenged me to read the first two books in Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series and I challenged her to read Sea Swept by La Nora.
Here’s the basic blurb:
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Hmm…what to say? Starting out reading Fatal Shadows, I noticed that there was definitely a film noir vibe to the books (I’m thinking it was pretty intentional). Adrien gets a visit from cops telling him his friend has been murdered. And that’s when everything falls apart.
Both books are written entirely in Adrien’s POV. I think the 1st person POV worked fine in Fatal Shadows, but was horrible for A Dangerous Thing. Where Fatal Shadows comes across as a murder mystery-meets-potential romance with a certain hot detective, I found A Dangerous Thing to be a bit of a mess.
Fatal Shadows read like one of those old-fashioned whodunits along the lines of Agatha Christie. Adrien is at a complete loss throughout 99% of the book trying to figure out not only why so many people from his past are dying, but also why he’s the one who seems to be getting blamed for it.
On top of that is his attraction for Detective Riordan who might come across as hot to a lot of people, but kind of left me cold. It wasn’t until close to the end of the book where I could finally see the appeal of Jake. Is he my favorite? Not by a long shot, but I liked how he was into Adrien even though he wasn’t sure why.
But, and here’s a big but, my biggest issue with both books is that Adrien came way too close to being TSTL throughout both books. Instead of allowing the cops to do their job and giving them information that might be helpful, he gets himself into situations where he should have been killed. In A Dangerous Thing there were quite a few times where I was seriously tempted to smack him upside the head and ask him if he had a death wish.
It probably sounds like I hate these books…and I don’t. Truly, I don’t. However, I wouldn’t classify them as my all-time favorites either. Too many instances of stupidity and a lack of judgment drove me up the wall. I think Mr. Lanyon is a good writer and I know he has an extremely dedicated following (LB in particular J). Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be one of them.
My Overall Rating: C (B- for Fatal Shadows and a C-for A Dangerous Thing)
Well, I guess I can’t win ‘em all! <g>
However, I’m really glad that Bridget rose to the challenge. It was a lot of fun to try something new, and both of us got to expand our reading horizons. 
Entry filed under: Challenge review, Guest blogging, M/M Fiction, M/M romance, Mystery. Tags: A Dangerous Thing, Adrien English, Bridget Locke, Fatal Shadows, Good Books Bad Books blog, Josh Lanyon.
1.
Carolyn Crane (CJ) | May 25, 2009 at 6:47 am
These challenges are so funny – sometimes they work out, and sometimes they just get people reading the sorts of books they don’t like.
But good for you for trying, Bridget!
I’m personally wild about this series, and though I tend to hate TSTL stuff, but I never had that with Adrien English. I just love being in his world and in his head.
Now I’ll have to see what Renee said about Nora.
2.
Carolyn Crane (CJ) | May 25, 2009 at 6:49 am
Okay, hold on – I can’t find the nora review.
3.
Renee | May 25, 2009 at 7:25 am
Carolyn: Yeah, half the fun is seeing what happens with the reviews. TSTL is one of my biggest pet peeves. Adrien does seem to get himself into sticky situations, but some of that is sort of necessary for the mystery.
I’ll see what I can find out about the Nora review!
4.
lbgregg | May 25, 2009 at 8:00 am
I’m so glad Bridget FINALLY tried them (yay for B!). I think The Hell You Say is the book that completely sold me on Adrien. It’s just the best story–it’s funny and sexy and it’s utterly devastating. Not that you all haven’t heard me wax on about it before…and then Death of a Pirate King came along and I was toast.
5.
Mandi | May 25, 2009 at 8:14 am
I am a huge Lanyon fan and I adore the Adrien English series. My least favorite of them all was A Dangerous Thing. I think if you get to The Hell You Say it gets much better. Waiting patiently for the last book:)
6.
Lea | May 25, 2009 at 8:17 am
Hey Renee:
Great post, interesting apprasial of Mr. Lanyon’s writing. I’ve got 2 of his short stories sitting in the queue and am going to read and review them. Now I’m REALLY intrigued…
Always love your posts.
Warm Regards
L
7.
Renee | May 25, 2009 at 8:36 am
lbg: The series as a whole is definitely stronger than the individual parts. I love the big story arc with Jake and Adrien. But, I still love these two books!
Wax on, lb!
Mandi: JL is one of my favorite discoveries from last year. The books get better and better as the series progresses. Can’t wait for book 5 as well!
Lea: Bridget did a great review! JL’s writing is really wonderful. Glad you’re going to try the short stories!
8.
Bridget Locke | May 25, 2009 at 11:52 am
Hi, all! Okay, sorry. For some reason blogger decided not to post my post even though I had it all ready to go. Stupid blogger.
I think I will try The Hell You Say & see if it’s good. Like I told Renee, it’s not that the writing is bad or anything. I actually really enjoy Josh’s writing-style. Adrien drove me nuts, but that’s me…I think. We shall see.
I wanted to thank Renee for having me over and also for reading Ms. Roberts. It’s always fun to try something different.
9.
orannia | May 25, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Thank you Bridget, for taking up the challenge and for reviewing the books so well! I’ve been dithering on whether to try this series (and this author, since I haven’t read any of Josh Lanyon’s books to date). I’ve heard lots about them and want to try them so they are sort of hovering over my ‘to buy’ list. Worth a read?
And I’ll try and look for Renee’s review of Sea Swept tonight. Renee – Cam is my favourite of the brothers….although Phillip isn’t too far behind
Sea Swept was my first Nora Roberts/JD Robb book and my favourite 
10.
Renee | May 25, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Bridget: I’d say it’s well worth reaading the next book, but I’m biased.
Just remember that the stories are more mystery with a gay protag (and relationships) than it is a typical m/m romance.
Thanks again for your review!!
orannia: ooh! You’ve got to try Adrien. I think he’s a character you’l really connect with.
Hope to see you over at Bridget’s!
11.
Bridget Locke | May 25, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Renee-Actually the gayness never even entered my mind. Obviously it’s prevalent throughout both stories, but it never smacked me over the head with it. It’s not erotica, so that’s probably why.
I actually enjoyed the romance aspect of the stories, though I thought it was strange how time jumped so far ahead in book 2 and they were already in a established “relationship” even though book 1 didn’t end that way (to me, anyway).
Orannia-I say try ‘em. They aren’t bad, by any means. I really dug Josh’s writing-style and will by The Hell You Say to check it out. But, I wasn’t completely knocked over either.
I’m ambivalent. There you go.
12.
Renee | May 26, 2009 at 12:06 am
Bridget: Yes, thing do tend to happen “off-screen” so to speak, between books in these.
Thanks again, so much for coming over and sharing your thoughts, and rising to the challenge!
13.
Tracy | May 26, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I’m a huge Lanyon fan as well but book 2, imho, wasn’t as good as the rest of the series. My fav so far has got to be Death of A Pirate King. I loved it.
Thanks for the review Bridget!
14.
Renee | May 27, 2009 at 9:04 am
Tracy: DoaPK was definitely the best in the series, and for me part of that pay-off was in having read the entire series build up to it.
15.
Has it really been a year? (and a giveaway!) « Renee’s Book Addiction | August 25, 2009 at 11:33 am
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