Onze site gebruikt cookies om diensten te leveren, prestaties te verbeteren, voor analyse en (indien je niet ingelogd bent) voor advertenties. Door LibraryThing te gebruiken erken je dat je onze Servicevoorwaarden en Privacybeleid gelezen en begrepen hebt. Je gebruik van de site en diensten is onderhevig aan dit beleid en deze voorwaarden.
"Fadeout" is the first of Joseph Hansen's twelve classic mysteries featuring rugged Dave Brandstetter, an insurance investigator who is contentedly gay. When entertainer Fox Olson's car plunges off a bridge in a storm, a death claim is filed, but where is Olson's body? As Brandstetter questions family, fans, and detractors, he grows certain Olson is still alive and that Dave must find him before the would-be killer does. Suspenseful and wry, shrewd and deeply felt, Fadeout remains as fresh today as when it startled readers more than thirty years ago.… (meer)
aulsmith: I think the two most equivalent gay detective series are the Michael Nava's and the Joseph Hansen's where the mystery is center stage in each book, but the detective's life is a story throughout. Nava's Henry Rios is more introspective than Brandstetter.
this was both really well written, and really well thought out, plus it was brave and strong in a way i wasn't expecting. i knew the main character was a gay man, and that in 1970 to write him this way was surprising, but i didn't think that homosexuality would end up being such a key part of the story. that it would feature so heavily and matter so much to the mystery. and for hansen to do that in the first of the series, right out of the gate, not save that until his series and character were established and already well-liked, is both surprising and really brave. and that he did it so well that, even though homosexuality was illegal in 49 states at the time, that this became a popular series, is nothing short of game changing. i hope people read this at the time and started to shift their views, and their understanding. i don't see how they could read this (and presumably the rest of the series) and not be changed.
as to the mystery itself, it's really well done. i was reading it most of the time, thinking, 'why don't more writers do this?' it's so smart, have an insurance claims man investigate and instead of find a murderer, find a person who isn't dead at all. it seemed brilliant to me, and the book clipped along really nicely as well. then it did become a regular murder mystery, which i wasn't thinking would happen at that point, and that ended up working well, too. so many twists that i didn't expect. so many people i was sure had done it that didn't. all around i'm very impressed. the only thing i didn't like was that he ended up sleeping with the 17 year old at the end. that was self-indulgent, i think, and there was no need for it, especially as it was pointed out at different points in the book that it was illegal and also that it would be considered rape. so i really wish he hadn't done that. the author and the character, i mean.
for so many reasons this is such an excellent start to a series and to a character study. the universality of grief, the way he writes about community and belonging and the heartbreaking way his characters have either not lived their truth or have tried to be someone else, or have lived for someone else. this is a really sad, but also really beautiful story.
"His face kept the smile the way an old barn keeps a sign."
describing a house: "It tried to be yellow and managed a sick pale brown." ( )
Naples, FL 2023 #2 - Wow! Plowed through this in no time. Very much enjoyed the calm-demeanored manner in which Dave Brandstetter drove this fast-moving bus! I have read all of the Michael Nava detective books, and since he wrote the forward of this, i figured i would give it a try. Luckily it was his first! Written long before a gay leading character would have been considered a wise move in literary circles. Unexpected twists and turns, which are very good in my book. Looks like i have to go find the rest!! Bravo! ( )
I think I'll read the next book rather than listening to the audio version. I found it difficult to remain focused but I'm not sure if it was the narration or the actual story. ( )
As a mystery novel, I'd consider this pretty average.... what makes it interesting is the frank portrayal of homosexuality. There are several gay characters, including the detective, and their lifestyle is described without judgment. The book portrays the difficulties and joys of being gay in a time when homosexuality was illegal in most places. ( )
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Fog shrouded the canyon, a box canyon above a California ranch town called Pima.
Citaten
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
In twenty years you could say and do a lot you wish you hadn't. In twenty years you could store up a lot of regrets. And then, when it was too late, when there was no one left to say "I'm sorry" to, "I didn't mean it" to, you could stop sleeping for regret, stop eating, talking, working, for regret. You could stop wanting to live. You could want to die for regret.
It was only remembering the good times that kept you from taking the knife from the kitchen drawer and, holding it so, tightly in your fist, on the bed, naked to no purpose except that that was how you came into the world and how your best moments in the world had been spent--holding it so, roll onto the blade, slowly so that it slid like love between your ribs and into that stupidly pumping muscle in your chest that kept you regretting.
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
"Fadeout" is the first of Joseph Hansen's twelve classic mysteries featuring rugged Dave Brandstetter, an insurance investigator who is contentedly gay. When entertainer Fox Olson's car plunges off a bridge in a storm, a death claim is filed, but where is Olson's body? As Brandstetter questions family, fans, and detractors, he grows certain Olson is still alive and that Dave must find him before the would-be killer does. Suspenseful and wry, shrewd and deeply felt, Fadeout remains as fresh today as when it startled readers more than thirty years ago.
)
)
)
Google Books — Bezig met laden...
2
as to the mystery itself, it's really well done. i was reading it most of the time, thinking, 'why don't more writers do this?' it's so smart, have an insurance claims man investigate and instead of find a murderer, find a person who isn't dead at all. it seemed brilliant to me, and the book clipped along really nicely as well. then
for so many reasons this is such an excellent start to a series and to a character study. the universality of grief, the way he writes about community and belonging and the heartbreaking way his characters have either not lived their truth or have tried to be someone else, or have lived for someone else. this is a really sad, but also really beautiful story.
"His face kept the smile the way an old barn keeps a sign."
describing a house: "It tried to be yellow and managed a sick pale brown." (