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The Suit by Amy Lane, available on Amazon as paperback or Kindle


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The Suit by Amy Lane
 
There are times when one gets overwhelmed with reading and as a result, some things get missed. I got my copy of The Suit by Amy Lane at the beginning of June. At that point, I had just started to read The Swerve by Steven Greenblatt, about the discovery of the lost works of Lucretius and how they brought about the Renaissance. It's a good, interesting, informative book, but hard reading. As a result, The Suit got put on one side to be read later. Unfortunately, a birthday and a number of gifts meant a pile of books to be read later. A pile I did not get through, due to illness, before Christmas when more was added to it. As a result, I only reached the bottom of the pile and The Suit last month. Then reading was interrupted by a need to attend the International Blackpool Convention of Magicians. It seems that the world was determined I was not going to read this offering from Amy Lane.
 
However, I eventually did manage to finish it. That is my first comment about the book. It is long, over 300 pages. The first book in the Long Con series is a lot shorter. Each one since has seemed to get longer. My gut feeling is that this one is about ten percent longer than it needed to be. I got the feeling that the same piece of information was being presented to me a number of times in slightly different forms. Though it was always information that you need to understand the story.
The book is about the relationship that develops between two of the characters from earlier adventures in the Long Con series, Michael Connoly, the ex-con mechanic and the slick art historian come insurance investigator Carl Cox. This relationship is set against the need to obtain the help of a European gangster in the search for a bone marrow donor.
 
The developing relationship between the two men is touching and handled sympathetically. The ongoing story, about the investigation into the death of the gangster's brother in a mysterious accident, is interesting and well-written. It keeps your attention.
 
However, the last part of the plot for me goes a bit askew There is something about the plot that did not quite work. At the start of the book, Amy Lane writes that she wanted to write about falconry. I can understand why. Having flown a falcon, I would love to be able to write something about them one day. I think though in the plot line that Amy has taken in this book, she has pushed the suspension of disbelief a bit too far. There is something about the last third of the book that does not quite work. It is good, it is interesting. It's well written but I don't think Amy knew enough about her subject to get the details right. What she has got wrong I don't know. It is just that there is something that jars in the last part of the book, it does not quite come together.
 
The late Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, said if you got all the details right, the reader will believe anything. I think there are some details that Amy must have got wrong, though what they are I do not know.
 
Having said that, this is still a very good read, and the first two-thirds of the book are, in my opinion, amongst some of Amy's best writing. Especially the physical relationship between Michael and Carl. It is written in a much more believable and sensitive style than some of Amy's earlier works. where I would admit I would often jump over the sex scenes just to get on with the story. Over the years Amy seems to have got a lot better at writing such scenes.
 
Well worth reading and if you are into the Long Con series, this is essential reading, otherwise the next in the series will not make sense. On the whole, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone I know who likes this type of MM romance adventure. I just have a slight problem with the plotline at the end.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Doing better, but still have major problems. Cannot type at the keyboard for very long. About ten minutes maximum at one time. The review was actually typed up for me by a friend. I just cut and pasted it. Do most of my reading on my tablet.

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