Stranger on the Shore by Josh Lanyon

[lightreads]

Stranger on the Shore

3/5. M/M. A reporter investigates a twenty-year-old child abduction, and clashes sexily with the attorney of the victim's wealthy family.

A good book that wasn't to my taste. Lanyon does these standalone mysteries that exist somewhere in the hinterland between pastiche, homage, and fanfic. Here, the predecessor work is The Great Gatsby, and well, I kind of loathe Gatsby, so this book's contemplations and gestures were lost on me. I mean, our protagonist is an outsider to wealth, which is part of the point of this book about outsiderness in your own life, but honestly . . . Gatsby. Meh.

But if you like Gatsby, or the sort of book where there would be haunting music playing in the distant background of every scene of the movie version, you'll like this, because it's Lanyon, so it's actually well done.

Note: If you are such a person, looks like the kindle edition is currently discounted.

Comments

[cyprinella]

As one of the few American high school students to make it out of HS without having read Gatsby, this is actually very helpful. I had no idea that's what the story's antecedent was.

[gnomad]

I've got a soft spot for Gatsby, which is probably why I liked it so much. I've also got a soft spot for Catcher in the Rye, which is starting to make me wonder if I'm going to become That Dude.