Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Hot Rocks (Nick Hoffman Mysteries) (edition 2007)by Lev Raphael
Work InformationHot Rocks by Lev Raphael
Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The triple-entendre of its title is representative of the quality of Lev Raphael’s literate new Nick Hoffman mystery, Hot Rocks. Unlike many gay detective novels, Hot Rocks has a believable plot, well-developed characters, and skillfully composed prose. Personal trainer Vlado Zamaria turns up dead in the steam room of the Michigan Muscle health club, and English professor Nick Hoffmann, aided by his flashy colleague Juno Dromgoole, puzzles out the solution to the murder. Along the way, the novel is filled with references to politics, literature, music, and contemporary culture, as well as a sophisticated vocabulary (“exiguously” or “anchorite” or “epigone,” anyone?) unusual for its genre. However, the breadth of author Raphael’s interests and vocabulary never comes off as pretentious or pedantic. In fact, the only complaints I can make about Hot Rocks are its unusual, even cartoonish character names (Juno Dromgoole? Alfred Aftergood? Merry Glinka?) and its complete lack of sex scenes. Professor-cum-detective Nick Hoffman spends a fair amount of time naked in the locker room and wet areas of Michigan Muscle, but unfortunately Raphael is much too tasteful to go any further than such sparkling clean nudity. Nonetheless, the intellectual pleasure derived from the gradually unfolding wordplay of the title Hot Rocks is more than enough to make even the most prurient reader overlook the dearth of sex scenes and eagerly anticipate the continued adventures of Nick Hoffman and company. ( ) no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Series
State University of Michigan English professor Nick Hoffman stumbles on the corpse of Vlado Zamaria, the ruthless head trainer at the Michigan Muscle health club, in a steam room. Nick and his pal, Juno Dromgoole, team up once again to ferret out the killer, for whom there's no shortage of suspects: Vlado's bland, dutiful wife plus a plethora of actual and wanna-be lovers and jealous trainers. Nick manages a too-easy sneak peek into Zamaria's unlocked office, finding secrets that eventually reveal the murderer. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |