As I am currently in a steampunk-reading mood, I sought out this hard-to-find book. While I found nothing steampunky about it, I found it to be quite the gem. I love the gritty demon-filled world Hale has created. The demons (referred to as "unnatural men") are subjugated by the church, which is all-powerful. As I fell in love with Captain Will Harper (is that a hero's name, or what?!!) I could hardly put the book down and read it in one long marathon. ( )

In general, the book was good. However, there were a few problems that prevented me from rating it higher. First, is the structure of the story. There are two main sections of the book that read more like separate novellas than one continuous story. The beginning is in first person, and the second half is in third. This division detracted from the flow of the story for me. Another problem was that the secondary characters who could have seemingly been very interesting were ill-defined. Really my complaint on this point is that I wanted the book to be longer, so that I could know more about the backgrounds of all the characters. Finally, the ending was awkward and abrupt. Yes, there is an epilogue that tries to wrap up all the loose ends, but it didn't quite work for me. The epilogue switches back to first person also, so I was actually confused for a couple of paragraphs as to what exactly was going on. Sadly with a bit more development and a better structure, the book could have been great; the plot itself, the characters, and the environment that the author created all had lots of potential. ( )

http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1131 ( )

Excellent idea/premise, not the best execution. (Some of the phrases/words just didn't match up with the setting, which threw me out of the world.) ( )

Did you ever finish a book only to feel sad that you can never again open it anew and discover its delights for the very first time? Rarely if ever, I'm sure. Well for me, Wicked Gentlemen is one of those books.

And I am completely envious of any lover of dark fantasy and/or gay romance who has yet to crack the spine on this gem.

First time novelist Ginn Hale has created a world so tangible, so complete, that I felt as if I could smell, see, taste and feel everything right along with her characters. The basic premise, an alternate reality (resembling a gaslit, Victorian England) wherein a corrupt theocracy has called up the descendants of ancient Biblical demons (Prodigals) with promises of redemption only to ghettoize and oppress them, comments on a number of modern day social ills but never comes across as obviously didactic or preachy. In addition it has a complex plot, part mystery and part thriller, that's never short on nailbiting moments. But for me the most enjoyable aspects of the story were the two amazingly complex, yet subtly drawn, protagonists and the tender love story that develops between them. With her characters, Hale never hits a false note. She shows, never tells - meaning that one learns about the tortured, drug-addicted Prodigal, Belimai Sykes, and reserved priest/police captain, William Harper, from their actions, rather than a lot heavy handed exposition. They can be infuriating as often as they are endearing, but these contradictions only make them seem, like everything else in the book, utterly real.

And they're sexy, too.

This is a wonderful novel. I hope that positive word-of-mouth continues to bring it the legion of fans it deserves. ( )