The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Year of the Rat (Dom Reilly book 1)
By Marshall Thornton
Kenmore Books, 2021
Five stars

When an author of an epic series like the Boys Town books launches a new series, it is a moment of great anticipation. I was not disappointed. Of course, Nick Nowak was in my mind a lot, because one can’t help but draw comparisons. Right?

Before I start, let me note that the time in which this book is set— February, 1996 – is one that is vivid in my mind, because my husband and I adopted our son at exactly that moment. That son, all grown up, lives in Orange County, CA, where the book’s action is largely set. I’m thinking: not an accident.

Right away, Dom is up front with us. His much younger partner Ronnie Chen, whose name is Chinese but whose background is a lot more complicated than that, doesn’t know Dom’s real history, and is aware of it. In one of my favorite lines in the book, they have this exchange:
“If I’m such a liar, why are we still together?”
“Because I think someday you’ll tell me the truth.”

Even though Dom works as a bartender in Long Beach, where he and Ronnie share a beautiful arts-and-crafts house, there’s clearly something way more interesting going on. Dom is tagged by a client of Ronnie’s to do temp work for her legal firm, which specializes in overturning wrongful murder convictions with newly-developed DNA evidence. Lydia Gonzales is an interesting character all by herself, although I’m not totally sure about her up-and-coming-Hollywood junior executive husband, Dwayne. Dom isn’t so sure about him, either.

Dom quickly gets caught up in the case of a sixteen-year-old, railroaded into a murder confession a decade earlier. The overall public sentiment on the case seems to be that he was a crack addict, so why worry about whether he was really guilty or not?

Dom is portrayed as something of a dinosaur, lumbering around with his clumsy “cellular phone” and his big middle-aged fingers. It’s clear from the start, however, that not only does Lydia see his competence, she also sees his good heart. At the same time, Dom is trying to manage the tricky situation between Ronnie and his beautiful, successful, immigrant mother, Mai Chen, who keeps not-so-subtly pushing ill-informed Chinese brides at her son, even in Dom’s presence.

In spite of Dom’s patience, and his obvious love for the ambitious Ronnie, we continue to puzzle over his secrets. Another moment I particularly loved was when a young woman sighs over the fact that all the good guys are gay. Dom turns to her and says: “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not one of the good ones.”

Well, I think Dom is one of the good ones, and was completely captivated by the increasingly unpleasant story of injustice delivered as Dom and Lydia dig for the truth among a decade of lies. Then, just as I was feeling smug, the author’s final twist was a total sucker punch.

I couldn’t be happier.
And I can’t tell you why.