The Hardest Thing: A Dan Stagg Mystery (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Well done for erotic gay male sex.Lots of sex. The main guy is Dan a former marine, he’s tough talking, tough acting. He isn’t particular about whom he has sex with. He takes a new job as a body guard for Stirling. Stirling is more effeminate. Half the story is these two traveling together. There are bad guys, guns, kidnapping, and escape. The plot was not fully developed, but good enough for a setting.One scene had me laughing. Only in an erotic story would you see something like this. A has been kidnapped. His hands and feet are tied to a bed. The bad guy wants A to give him oral pleasure before he kills A. While A is doing this A is thinking “The harder I could make him, the more I played along with his fantasy, the better my chances of escape.”At times I was tired of first person, being in Dan’s head sooo much. It’s like being with someone who talks too much. He was such a strong aggressive voice.Annoying: the cover picture is wrong. Dan shaves his head. Cover guy does not.The narrator Charles Carr was very good.DATA:Narrative mode: 1st person Dan. Unabridged audiobook length: 7 hrs and 32 mins. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 12 or more. Setting: current day New York and New Hampshire. Book copyright: 2013. Genre: erotic gay male romance. The Hardest Thing (Dan Stagg Mystery) James Lear ARC provided by publishers.I've never read any of James books before so wasn't sure of what style of writing he'd have. I found this book was romance – which I love – crossed with thriller – which I'm not so keen on. Still, the thriller element was taut, and wasn't full of over used descriptions of guns, action and personnel which so often puts me off. James manages to convey action without having to go on and on about it – a few closely written pages and I was in the scene. I liked Dan right from the start, slightly morose and introspective but when we learned about his background, rose to ranks of Major and then kicked out for his sexuality it's not surprising he was bitter about events. He'd lost his lover too, to a sniper and yet because of Service policies wasn't allowed to grieve openly or be involved in the funeral. I find that sort of discrimination extraordinary, and even though policies have been changed I'm sure the same situations are still around :( Anyway – Dan short on cash, and accepts a job that sounds straightforward, taking a person under threat to somewhere else. He's sharp, he knows there's more going on that he's told but thinks he can stay ahead and earn some much needed cash. Then he meets his charge Stirling, who's young and very Hot! Dan and he get off to a shaky start, with Stirling being an out and out brat. Closeted together though while on their journey Dan soon learns Stirling is gay, and they become much more close....they have various mishaps, and meet an extraordinary range of characters, many of who very conveniently are gay, and incredibly throughout the book I don't think we ever get to meet a woman!There's deceptions, double dealing and danger, towards the end both Stirling and Dan are captured, and risk losing their lives. Dan finds out things about Stirling that go far further than the doubts he had about him, and make him wonder if he is the right person for the picket fence and dogs scenario that he desperately wants. Someone close, to love and hold, someone of his own to spend a future with. He thought maybe Stirling was that person and then....well, its a sad part – and I like those, so long as they end well :) I enjoyed much of the book, the way that Dan and Stirling grew together, I felt for Dan but TBH Stirling was always a selfish brat to me – still if he keeps Dan happy...I followed the action fine, as I said sometimes thrillers get so bogged down in detail that I just mentally switch off, but this kept me just in the right side. I did have a problem with the fact that so many of the people they met were conveniently gay- I’m sure that is stretching credibility too far, and also the way they were so ready to drop everything – literally :) - and have sex any time, any place, anywhere. I guess to me romance equates to one person relationships and sex...and found it difficult to accept they would happily have sex with others together and separately. Then when Dan was searching for Sterling, the love of his life...he was happy top have sex with someone else many times. That part really spoiled the romance for me, took out the deep emotions I thought would have stopped that happening. At least there were condoms used every time! I read a book recently were the men were partner swapping, not knowing some of them and not using protection, I think in this day that’s just a wrong message so I was glad at least it was promoted here. It's priced at £8.23 for 288 pages/405kb so quite expensive even given that gay fiction seems to command a higher price than other genres. If you're a gay fiction devotee you may think it worth while if this is the sort of novel to appeal and to rer read. Its not one for my keeper files though. Stars: three and a half. Parts I enjoyed, parts I didn't :(
What do You think about The Hardest Thing: A Dan Stagg Mystery (2013)?
Very enjoyable. I was very happy to read on the author's page that there might be a sequel.
—dell
Move over Jack Reacher there is a new man in town. The sexy Dan Stagg.
—pumpkinpie
