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Christopher Rice’s Gay Marine

There aren't many topics the authors in the Rice family won't dare to tackle. Pretty much every gay man has fallen prey to Anne Rice's seductive tales of sexually ambiguous vampires in New Orleans . . . the seductive and powerful Mayfair witches . . . and even (my favorite Anne Rice novel) the sexual exploits of the Italian castrati. But Anne's son, the openly gay Christopher Rice, has proven himself a stand-alone literary talent, too. His recent novel Light Before Day was a brilliantly penned thriller that lifted the veil on a silent epidemic within the gay community, and his earlier novel, The Snow Garden, was set in what Publishers Weekly deemed a "pansexual pharmacopoeia" of freshman year college rituals. Now, Rice is returning with another gay-themed novel, Blind Fall. And this time, his story is centered around a closeted gay Marine who finds himself caught up in a murder. From the review at Amazon.com: John Houck became a Marine to become a hero. But his life changed when he failed to notice an explosive device that ended up maiming the captain of his Force Recon Company, a respected Marine who nearly sacrificed himself to save John's life. Home from Iraq, John pays a visit to his former captain, only to discover the captain has been gruesomely murdered. John pursues a strange man he sees running from the scene, but he discovers that Alex Martin is not the murderer. Alex is, in fact, the former captain's secret male lover and the killer's intended next victim. When it becomes clear that local law enforcement has direct connections to the murder itself, John realizes that to repay his debt of honor, he must teach Alex Martin how to protect himself, even if that means teaching Alex to kill. In the process, John confronts the painful truth about the younger brother he was unable to protect and the older sister he always felt he failed. Blind Fall is a story of honor and integrity, of turning failure into victory. It is a stunning departure for Christopher Rice: the story of two men, one a Marine, one gay, who must unite to avenge the death of the man they both loved -- one as a brother-in-arms, one as a lover -- and to survive. __________________ It's a long way - (or maybe not for at all?) - from his mother's dark tales of 18th century operatic torture, but Blind Fall seems to also be another Rice family story of secret love . . . dark betrayal . . . and what hides in the shadows. Rice's new novel will be relased on March 11, and is available now for pre-order from Amazon.com. - Steve Ralls

Labels: books

02-08-08