Great book. ( )

This was a dreadful book. I picked it off the shelf because it was a mystery featuring a gay Honolulu detective and I thought, "That could be an interesting character." I was wrong. Told in the first-person, the detective tells us of the struggles he's forced to undergo as a gay man, but there is no emotional depth to his narrative. Nor to any of the characters. The quality of the prose is at the level of high-school writing class.

In short, everything about the book is amateurish and hamhanded. Furthermore, I feel sorry for the Honolulu Police Department if this is one their ace detectives. The reader is five steps ahead of him in settling the "mystery" every bit of the way.

I could write paragraphs more of criticism, but I've already wasted enough of my time on this terrible book. ( )

A charity event attended by Kimo and his family and friends is firebombed and Kimo has to find out who dunnit.

It was the obvious and most cliched culprits, with some mildly interesting hidden motivations. The developments in Kimo's personal life are much more interesting than the main plot. ( )

This is the third book in the Kimo Kanapa'aka series. It is set in Hawaii and follows the openly gay Honolulu cop Kimo Kanapa'aka.

This book while being a mystery about arson, murder and a bombing, also has other themes that give the story a well rounded reality that many mysteries lack.

In this book, Kimo continues to explore life as an openly gay man, and while the last book dealt with Kimo's past, this one deals with his future.

Kimo joined the police force to help people. Now that he is out, he wants to help those like he was: young people who are struggling to deal with their difference in an often hostile world. We follow him as he works with teens at a gay and lesbian teen center, trying to help the kids build a good future for themselves. The kids are worked into the story, so it never comes off as a public-service announcement type of moment.

The other aspect of the story is Kimo comes from a very strong family, and he sees his brothers and their wives and his parents and he realizes, that fun and games are nice, but family is where its at. He starts to evaluate what type of man he wants to be, a party-boy, or someone who has a committed relationship. He thinks about what he wants, who he wants to be with, how to get there and what has to be traded-off in order for it to work.

Of course he meets someone special. But its not all smooth sailing as his new lover is not out, and Kimo has to deal with being the secret. Like life, nothing is all black or white, and Kimo and Mike have to work out their relationship. Readers should be aware there is explicit gay sex in the book.

I love that these books have characters that think and talk and interact about more than just the mystery. They seem like real (if a bit too perfect) people.

The mystery dovetails with Kimo's future orientation, because the arsons are directed at openly gay establishments. An attempt by haters to force people back into the closet, to scare them away. The bombing is at the Gay Marriage Project Center, where they are trying to sway public opinion so gays and lesbians can have their unions recognized and their family rights protected by law. Kimo's family is at a reception when the bombing happens. He takes it personally.

As a counterpoint there is a storefront church which feels that it is OK to preach hate in the name of God. These people are the natural suspects, but nothing can be done without evidence. Attempting to tie all the leads together is the bulk of the story.

The setting in Hawaii and its multi-ethnic society is done very well, as are the traditions we glimpse.

The story has a very positive and uplifting message, about being who you are, being proud, and always valuing your family: of birth, of marriage, and of friends. I really hope there are more book in the series published. ( )