Simon Says by Ashley Ladd

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Without doubt this short story winks at the tv fiction Charlie's Angels. As in the fiction, an unknown man who speaks only through a phone, Simon, owns a P.I. agency lead by three different "angels", three gay men: Cary, the it nerd, Marco, the macho ex-cop, and Rafe, the former actor and make up artist.

Marco and Rafe had something in the past, but after a police case ended very badly, Marco ditched the job and the lover. Rafe has never had a real reason for Marco's betrayal, and probably he is still in love with the man. And so when years later, the agency asked him to work with Marco and Cary, I believe that Rafe accepted to have the chance to be again near Marco. In the agency the role are quite clear: Cary is the brain, Marco is the muscle and Rafe is the pretty; and so when a killer starts to target en-travesti man, it's quite obvious that Rafe will take part to a transvestite beauty pageant as bait... what it's not so obvious is that also macho man Marco will have to dress as a beauty contestant.

From that moment on, the mood of the short story is light and most of the time funny; Rafe is all coquettish on Marco, Marco has not the will to resist to his ex-lover, and he more than once surrenders to temptation. Rafe adopts the tactics to put out everything and always, to let Marco know what he is missing. And never once replies to Marco's late rebuttal with anger or offence: Rafe knows that he is in love with Marco and that he is the only man he wants, and so he doesn't see reason to hide it.

Even if there is a killer on the loose, and some casualty on the course, the mood of the short story is always light; I think the author is not taking very seriously the mystery plot, she is more interested in the love story between Marco and Rafe. And then, all the PI agency and mystery subplot is more tv fiction "fake" than realistic, wireless boobs transceiver and unbodied voices directly on the ears.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=496

Amazon Kindle: Simon Says
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (June 29, 2009)

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