Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Suicide Ride: The Platinum Man
Author: E. Llewellyn
Series: Suicide Ride #1
Heroes: Johnny Gellis
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: September 30, 2013
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: SUICIDE RIDE IS SUNSET BOULEVARD REVISITED, THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NOIR STORY REVAMPED AND ON STEROIDS!
“SUICIDE RIDE is a harrowing contemporary 21st-century tale set in Perdition that sings of Paradise Lost, Regained, and Lost Again, told in rapturous music that soars to the rafters and bounces off the beams of heaven.”
Are you straight? Are you sure? What would you do if you were down-and-out and desperate? What would you do—how far would you go—for FAME?
Find out just how far, and just how low, Johnny Gellis is willing to go in SUICIDE RIDE: THE PLATINUM MAN.
You hitch your lift with this man
You’ll have your blood on your hand …
AN OLDER MAN WITH NO FUTURE, AND NOTHING TO LIVE FOR …
Norman Dimond is the Silver Man, an over-the-hill LA-based rock ‘n roll record producer who has seen better days. A set-for-life bisexual with a hard spot for younger men, he squanders his nights hustling cash-strapped gay-for-pay desperadoes who swagger into his den on the Sunset Strip, looking for one-off love in all the right places. Lonely and at loose ends, he longs for a worthy dance partner, but despairs of finding him … Until one night, when he least expects it, in waltzes …
A YOUNGER MAN WITH A PAST, AND A DEATH WISH …
Johnny Gellis is the Platinum Man, a beautiful straight wreck who needs fixing—and who wants exactly what Norman Dimond has to give: a platform, a stage. But does he want it badly enough? Desperate to outrun his demons, he’s driving himself crazy, and is heading straight for the edge. Can Norman save him, before it’s too late?
TWO LIVES ABOUT TO COLLIDE IN A SUICIDE RIDE …
When Norman meets Johnny, their heavy-metal fenders bend, sending the male-on-male sparks flying. Johnny’s number-one-with-a-bullet hit “Suicide Ride” blows Norman’s mind, while his number-99-with-an-anchor tattoo pricks up more than just his ears. And though this hell-bent, cliff-hanging headbanger is the man-boy of his dreams, keeping him on course turns out to be a waking nightmare. Can Norman do it? Can he put him on top while stopping him from breaking down and destroying them both? The deeper Dimond digs, the darker it gets; and as the secrets and suspense multiply, so, too, do the lies. Johnny is hiding something, that much Norman is sure of; and what’s worse, he begins to feel the tug of even darker and ever more violent undertows—sinister, malevolent drags that Gellis himself cannot spin-rinse away.
SUICIDE RIDE is at once a profound work of literature and a neo-noir Hollywood bromance for the ages. Gay fiction as well as literary fiction, it’s one fast-paced rock ‘n roll romance novel you won’t be able to put down, a gritty, realistic, eye-poppingly pimped-out Ride, flush with all the car parts for a runaway success. Switching genres like lanes, SUICIDE RIDE: THE PLATINUM MAN is a total head spin—an ebullient, erudite, yet racy exploration of the ancient themes that obsess us, by way of the pop culture freeway.
Whether you’re male or female, gay or straight—if you get off on bisexual sex stories about masculine gay men seeking gay sex with straight men; if character-driven literary fiction makes you drool; if you’re a bad-ass rocking roller looking to holler; if all you dream about is getting away for awhile—then this book is your ticket to paradise.
Download him onto your Kindle or other device, and for less than the price of a cheap trick, Johnny Gellis will roll right into your Car-port. Pick him up now—and you’ll live to tell the tale …
But buyer beware: Better buckle up … You’re in for one hell of a HARD Ride!
Review:
There has been an awful lot of hype surrounding this book, which, I’ll be honest, is the main reason I decided to give it a go. I don’t think I found any reviews helpful to really understanding what this story was about, which was a bit disappointing. I truly wanted to know something about what made it such a fantastic and crazy ride.
To start with, the writing itself blew me away, although not always in a good way. The descriptions are amazing and beautiful, but I often struggled to keep up with what was actually going on. Often I felt as though I missed the important details because I got lost in the descriptive wording. So, while it was beautiful and poetic, it left me feeling confused at times.
As for the story, we have Johnny Gellis, a man somewhat on the run from his life as a gynecologist, abruptly leaving everything behind but his beat up classic car and his guitars. He heads to LA to be a rock star because he has this amazing talent and incredible look. Right from the beginning I was longing for the details behind these events. He is staunchly straight, and quite the lady killer (maybe that’s closer to the truth than I realize? I don’t know). Anyway, he ends up learning about retired record mogul Norman Dimond and where he can be found, at his raunchy gay club.
Being desperate to become a rock star, he seeks Dimond, knowing full well what may be in store. I was very excited for their interactions, and longed to finally have some dialog to sink my teeth into. While we did get some of that, I was a little disappointed in the long run. The more I learned about Norman Dimond, the more he creeped me out, to the point that there was very little about him that I liked. Thankfully, Johnny doesn’t just bend over for Norman, but the whole situation was just creepy and strange. Speaking of creepy and strange, Norman’s manservant, Cullum, was a bit of a mystery. First I thought he was alright, but then his actions spoke quite differently. And then there is poor Drew, Norman’s current boy toy. I felt so bad for the poor guy throughout this entire story.
So basically, Johnny is an extremely hot package (which Dimond constantly tells Johnny in more ways than one), and Norman wants him, in a bad way. They finally come to an agreement which is again quite odd, but they seem to finally be somewhat on the same page. Norman is trying to find out the background on Johnny, as Johnny isn’t giving anything up in this area either. Now, just when I thought things were ironing themselves out, Johnny does a 180.
This last part of the book was the best part for me. It became less wordy with more action. I was still left with so many questions, though I truly wondered if I had missed some of the answers earlier on. There is a sequel that just came out, and I will probably read it just to find out what happened next. Unfortunately, this story is going to be told over quite a few books, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hang on for the entire ride.
I really believe this may be a case of it’s not you, it’s me, so if you’re looking for something different, without any real romance or relationship, but with a lot of mystery and shadiness going on, please give this a try, because I’m definitely in the minority on this one. The writing is fabulous, but the story was just too wordy and confusing for my total enjoyment.
Overall Impression: It was good
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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