My Reads: Suicide Ride: The Platinum Man by Elizabeth Llewellyn

Last week I brought you here to my page to hear my take on a book I'd just read in the last couple of weeks, Dee Kelly's Breaking Kate. It's a book that pretty much any romance reader would enjoy.

This week's read? Not so much. I don't mean that readers won't like; on the contrary. They should love it, but they should also be prepared to read something that's not only not their typical read, but also not sweet, smooth, or pretty. I decided that I wasn't going to go easy on any of you - oh, no. Instead, you're going to get an in-your-face read that just won't stop. It's Suicide Ride: The Platinum Man by Elizabeth Llewellyn.

First off, take a look at that cover. Is that not some kind of freakin' gorgeous? It's dark, mysterious, seductive - all the things that make me want to open a book. I mean, if it's got a cover like that, it's got to be heavy-duty, right?

Let me assure you, it is. This is no light reading here. Set in Los Angeles, we begin the tale with gorgeous Johnny Gellis, a man on the run. It's only until much later that we learn what has set him on the path he's taking, but when he reaches the end of the line, he, his Vette, and his guitar go looking for someone to make him a star and save him from the miserable life of a gynecologist. It doesn't take long before casual small talk leads him to Norman Dimond, owner of Dimond Records, started by his late father, Preston Dimond. When Johnny goes to Norman's club - a gay club, no less - to look for the infamous producer, Johnny finds him. Or perhaps Norman finds Johnny. The reception the hetero Johnny receives from the always homo/sometimes bi Dimond is disconcerting, but it's even more disconcerting to Norman, who falls ass over tea kettle for the beautiful, troubled young man. The plot unfolds and we watch as the two verbally tangle and untangle over and over.

Yes, the plot is unusual in its message and structure. Yes, the story is very worth reading. But none of that was what struck me about this book. You see, I started reading and I simply couldn't stop. Because this isn't your typical read, no sir. This is something else entirely.

This is high literature. I'm careful in my writing to not go completely over the heads of my readers, but Elizabeth didn't use those brakes, and I'm glad she didn't. What you get is prose that flows, almost qualifying as poetry constructed in a swollen stream. It's gritty, raw, elegant, stark, brutal, and lyrical, all together inside the covers of one book. By the end of the book, you know exactly how Norman feels about Johnny. What we're not sure about is how Johnny feels about Norman, or himself, or life in general, except to say that young Gellis takes an approach to solving his problems that I would not advise.

But regardless the outcome, the art in this hard-driving volume will leave you breathless. It's a ride like no other, and soon I'll bring you the second in the series, Suicide Ride: The Fix. Give The Platinum Man a chance, but have a dictionary handy. Fortunately, you'll need it.

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