Chasing Smoke in Queereaders

Dec 14, 2009 Ralph Gallagher rated it really liked it

Shelves: mm-romance, 2009-december

When he was 17, Trey Eriksson's father was accused of murdering his mother and then attempting suicide. When he had no where to go, the rich Gardner family took him in. That's where his relationship with Daniel Gardner began. Fifteen years later, Trey is still seeking the truth about what happened to his parents and he crosses paths with Daniel once again.

Once again, K.A. Mitchell has done an excellent job of characterization. Her characters a fleshed out and realistic. They have flaws and aren' ...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Chris rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook, done, romance, gay, owned, 2010

Very good m/m romantic suspense about a Homeland Security Agent who's back in town helping get his mom's house ready to sell, when he runs into his high school crush. Will an mystery from their pasts bring them closer together or drive them further apart? ...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Kassa rated it it was ok

This story is about childhood friends who were brief lovers but are thrown together fifteen years later to solve the mystery that has haunted both men and may revive their jilted romance. Unfortunately the mystery aspect is obvious, trite, and poorly conceived on every level. Even the relationship between the two men is distant, cold, and unappealing. Although the writing shines in the sex scenes, which are numerous and lengthy, the plot was weak and riddled with holes that even hot sex can’t fi This story is about childhood friends who were brief lovers but are thrown together fifteen years later to solve the mystery that has haunted both men and may revive their jilted romance. Unfortunately the mystery aspect is obvious, trite, and poorly conceived on every level. Even the relationship between the two men is distant, cold, and unappealing. Although the writing shines in the sex scenes, which are numerous and lengthy, the plot was weak and riddled with holes that even hot sex can’t fill. I personally was bored with the predictable and disjointed plot that even two hot men having sex couldn’t pull my attention back in unfortunately.

The premise of the story revolves around the shooting of Trey’s parents fifteen years ago. Since then Trey has been on a mission to prove that his father wasn’t responsible for the alleged murder/attempted suicide and now that Danny is back in town, together they can solve the long standing mystery. At the same time Trey and Danny must examine their feelings for each other and whether they want more than just sexual chemistry as they work to find the answer to the question of Trey’s parents’ deaths.

The actual mystery is anything but as there are several plot holes, dangling information, leaps of knowledge, and everything hinges on the finding of ridiculous clues in very classic “ah ha” moments. These include the infamous and essential picture leaping out of a randomly dropped book, the single letter as the only thing left in an emptied drawer, and numerous attempted break-ins, assaults, and arsons which are never solved but blamed on the most influential and obvious suspect. Of course Danny and Trey have no evidence for any of this and never accumulate any either, with no reason to leap to the wild accusations they do. Nor is there any evidence offered in any coherent, intelligent discussion. Instead everything is based off a picture in very confusing and disjointed assumptions. This entire storyline was distracting and detrimental to the story as it was not the book’s strength. The resolution at the end was over the top ridiculous–almost eye rolling—and predictable from extremely early on in the book.

So while the mystery portion was surprisingly bad from a previously solid author, the relationship between Danny and Trey is shockingly not much better. Danny and Trey were teenage friends who fooled around some but due to inexperience, immaturity, and sexual confusion, nothing came of their fooling around. Danny alternatively holds a grudge about this non-starter relationship with Trey which leads him to be cold and standoffish at times. Other times Danny seems to get over the grudge and ignores their past history, correctly excusing the behavior of two immature and confused teenagers. This back and forth continues for most of the book where the main tension is from both men thinking all they are doing is having great sex without much more depth or context to their relationship. Considering these two already knew each other as teenagers, the story and writing offers no new insight into their personality and nothing to create added depth to these men as adults.

Both Danny and Trey are sketched outlines of men without the color, texture, and weight to bring them to live and give believable tension to their relationship. The alternatively hot/cold emotional battle the men go through was distracting because there was no reason for it. Both men early on decide they want more but they are afraid to ask for a real relationship, thus leaving this as two men who are willing to have sex frequently and in every conceivable way but won’t talk about the dreaded feelings. This trope didn’t feel especially fresh or unique in this story but felt staid and predictable. Furthermore, there was so much sex that didn’t lead to deepening the relationship but instead filled at least a third, if not more, of the book with hot, fluff sex. The final resolution to both the relationship and mystery happened in the same weird, dramatic scene with both men storming out of the room at different points. The tension and provocation for this emotional and dramatic scene was missing and left these men looking like children having a temper tantrum by storming out.

So if the mystery didn’t work and the relationship wasn’t much better – what did work? Well this actually isn’t a lost cause because the author is clearly talented and a strong writer. The mystery theme here overwhelmed and destroyed the book in my opinion but otherwise the relationship and complexity of the men could have rightfully starred. While the relationship wasn’t successful, this was due to the blending of the action plot with hot sex, leaving the men unexplored. The few scenes where the men did actually interact with some tension and emotions were wonderful scenes that stood out and snapped the attention and focus back to the main characters. The secondary character of Ginny was strong and colorful but again, given no purpose. Even the reason she was introduced at the awkward dinner at Trey’s was never explained and she steals the attention in scenes without a reason. But the character was vivid and interesting.

This story has high points that show the author’s real strength in creating dynamic characters and the premise of the story was great. Unfortunately the ill-conceived and poorly executed mystery overwhelmed and overshadowed the entire book, ruining the potential between the leading men. This is not a slam dunk for the talented author and I hope mystery themes will be markedly absent in future stories. The real strength and positive aspects of the story are the characters themselves and no doubt the next story will rightfully focus back on these elements to readers’ delight. ...more

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Dec 30, 2016 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it it was ok

Shelves: what-uniforms-and-investigations, what-lgbtqia, where-grr-mine, what-male-protagonist, how-ebook, what-suspense-thriller-action, what-mm, what-mm-read, what-cheating, what-angst

I loved that it started with the plot and action right from the first word. That's the type of hook that draws me in and keeps me from being bored. But then it devolved into telling about the past, stuff we didn't know yet.

At times I really liked the language. Here's some dialog between the MC and his mother

"Where are you going?”
“To look around.”
“Why don’t you wait for the police?”
“I am the police, Mother.”
“You work for the government.”
“As a policeman.” He’d been on a desk for six years, analyz

...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtq, 2010

I want to go shopping for everything else K.A. Mitchell has ever written.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, trying to find a good m/m book to read. Abandoned quite a few after just several chapters because the characters lusting after each other was just so tiresome. I'll admit that is an odd comment for a book that is almost 50% erotica (or it seemed that way), but the rest of the book was made up of an awesome plot mystery that was exciting and nerve-wracking.

I loved the characters. They see ...more

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May 26, 2010 LD Durham rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m-romance, gay-fiction

Engaging characters and an engrossing story. I liked both men and enjoyed both of their emotional vulnerabilities and strengths. This book had strong writing, though it did seem to drag in some small spots. Otherwise, a very good read.

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