The Secret Tunnel

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 7/10PROS:- As twisty-turny a plot as its predecessor. Seriously--Lear is closer to being a contemporary Agatha Christie (with a few alterations here and there, granted) than any other author I've encountered. The plot points pile one on top of another on top of another (ad nauseum, it seems on occasion), and there are so many characters as to make one dizzy at times.- Even more wicked a sense of humor than its predecessor. This is only the second of Lear's works I've read, the first having been The Back Passage, but his writing contains wit and cleverness in abundance. And he recognizes (and strives for, I imagine) the parallels between his stories and the English detective stories from the first half of the twentieth century, even going so far as to poke fun at his own adherence to the mystery formula: "Oh, I love this bit," one character says just before the narrator launches into his tell-all at the book's conclusion. "When the detective has got everyone into the same room, and suddenly everything becomes clear."- Plentiful sex of various shades and colors. I didn't find it `hot' per se, because very little of it is emotional...at all...but if you're looking for raunchy sex and a character who's as randy as a jackrabbit, they're both in full supply here.CONS:- The plot is almost too convoluted. I must confess I found my mind wandering off during the big tell-all scene because there were just so many characters and so much that had to be accounted for that I stopped caring after several pages about exactly which person contributed exactly which action to the muddle.- Every male character in the book is gay. (Okay, okay, some of them are bi.) And no, I'm not exaggerating. When seen as part of a larger, humorous work, the abundance of guys wanting to get it on with other guys is funny, naturally. But there was a point about halfway through the book when I got a little exasperated (though to be honest, that went away and my amusement returned later on), if only because Lear really is a masterful storyteller and I thought for just a moment, "You're using this as a crutch when you're good enough not to need it."- The same bothersome little romance...thing...that comes up at the end of The Back Passage returns here, and I don't see the point of it. Mitch has a faithful (or so we're led to believe) lover at home and isn't away from him for more than a couple of hours before he cheats on him, and before the trip is all said and done, he's had sex with 8 or 10 different men, most of them multiple times. This isn't a romance; okay, I get it. But why tell us about the hapless, ill-treated lover at all?Overall comments: If you're looking for a book with a plot that will keep you guessing, particularly if you enjoy tongue-in-cheek humor, this is an excellent read. It's not realistic, nor does it portray even the ghost of a real human connection on any level other than the physical. Erotica, yes. Romance, no.

I have no idea what to say about this book. I’m fascinated. I’m turned on. I’m horrified. I’m turned on. James Lear has created a fantasy/historical world that definitely touches my inner perv. A world where all men are gay and in possession of a “voracious [hole where the sun don’t shine].”My opinion hasn’t changed much from my review of the first book. There’s still an impressive lack of lube. (However, there is exactly one mention of Vaseline. Color me relieved.) Mitch still has sex with an impressive amount of men, though I’m sorry to say that yet again I forgot to take a tally. (What’s wrong with me?) And, as usual, if that dude on the cover would just lift his hips a little, I could totally see his peen. Really, would that be too much to ask? Mr. Lear, your shocking disregard for the female sex disappoints me: A GIRL NEEDS SOME PENIS TOO, YOU KNOW. Jerk.The main difference between this book and the first is that Lear has actually developed…an actual PLOT. It’s totally true! There’s at least 20% less sex (I know, I’m sad as well). Most of the plot is inspired by Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. In this case there’s a murder on the Flying Scotsman, a train that travels between Edinburgh & London. There’s even a Hercule Poirot look-alike, a small mustachioed Belgian man name Betrand, who serves as Mitch’s main sidekick.Also featured in this book:-1920s movie & theatre star Tallulah Bankhead“Tallulah, let me introduce you to a very good friend of mine, Mitch Mitchell. He’s like you, Talloo.”“Bisexual?”“American, I mean.”-The British Fascism Party, who were big, big fans of Benito Mussolini (this is such a bizarre plot point, I have nothing funny to say about it.)-A gay virgin, the previously mention Betrand, who takes on not only Mitch, but 4 Scottish soldiers, ALL ON THE SAME DAY. He walks away from this with nary a limp.-Again, Bertand (I have a serious admiration for this dude), later communicates to Mitch, THROUGH HIS [Hole where the sun don’t shine], that he’s in trouble.“At first I couldn’t believe it. I waited, not moving my [penis], which was rock hard thanks to this pulsing grip….But yes, here is was again. The same pattern, the same rhythm….I was being signaled by an [hole where the sun don’t shine] in Morse code. And it was signaling SOS.”-Finally, in one of the weirdest plot points, Prince George makes an appearance. As far as I can tell, Prince George is the future king of England, father of the present Queen Elizabeth II, and was portrayed by Colin Firth “The King’s speech.” But instead of speaking with a stutter, he has a pronounced lisp. He’s also having an affair with Hugo Taylor, a fictitious movie star. What the FUDGE, James Lear?!?I hesitated to give this book a full 4 stars because it is just so bloody ridiculous. However, it’s also extremely entertaining and so I recommend it to anyone who wants a giggle.

James Lear's writing is very masculine as his homosexual characters are not all stereotypical queens or femmes. His men are very much men -lacking all delicacy and genteel innocence found in many gaymale characters of other works of gay erotic fiction. The Secret Tunnel is James Lear's 5th novel and sequal to "The Back Passage". In this brilliant, exiciting and sexually stimulating rollercoaster ride murder mystery we are reintroduced to Edward "Mitch" Mitchell, an American living in the United Kingdom as a Doctor in training. On his way to visit is best friend and once lover "Boy" Morgan, Dr Mitchell is caught between a cock and a hard case. Not a detective but always wanted to be, Mitchell is on the trail of a murderer. Along this path of investigation he runs into a hungry bottom Belgian, a randy Scottish sergeant and his kilt wearing soliders, sexual psychopaths and secret lovers both on stage and in the royal family and a sex club. Mitchell will do anything to get at (and into) the bottom of his investigation, even if it means performing in a gay porn flim. This book is not only erotic and titilating, it is well written, suspencful and facinating from cover to cover (especially the guy on the cover). Lear does not candy coat his prose with purple metaphors and similes -he tells it right out. You know what his character's want in detail no euphemisms. From sexual postions to bathroom behavior,orgies to anal morris code, Lear is creative, honest, bold and very male in his layout. What I admire most about Lear's work is that it is unapologetic and it does not try to explain why these men are so aroused by other men. It is what it is, take it or leave it.

Super fun and quick read that deals with a mystery, along with a LOT of M2M sex. Well written, and a fun read.

Unlike some reviews here, I personally found this book to be a better read than the first in the series. However, I think I may have missed the point somewhere. The Back Passage was my first foray into gay erotica and I devoured it in one sitting; but, having now read the sequel, I wonder if it was the sex that had me reading so quickly or the murder mystery.The Secret Tunnel is set two years after The Back Passage and, once again, Mitch Mitchell is faced with another murder mystery; but this time around there is less sex - that's not to say there isn't a lot of sex in this book; there is, and in some ways it's more graphic and extreme than the first book.The only criticism I could level at the first book was that some of the sex encounters felt forced and almost got in the way of the plot (the journalist in the garage for one); but, in this book, all the sex seemed to occur at the right time; and Mitch's bouts of guilt definitely made him a more sympathetic characters - and less of a cliché. After all, do we really want readers to think all gay men bend over at the first hint of sex with a complete stranger? Mitch's attachment to Vince at least gives him some basis in reality. Then again, why do people read gay erotica? It's probably not for reality and therefore who really wants to read about how guilty Mitch is feeling for cheating on his boyfriend?Anyway, for me, it was the mystery at the heart of this book that had me reading it so quickly (received yesterday, finished today). This time around the larger pool of suspects and the convoluted plot really had me gripped. I wanted mystery. I wanted to have to engage my brain. This book achieved this. A great mystery with some very horny sex scenes. Well worth the read.

Regular readers of my reviews will probably remember that I absolutely loved James Lear's "The Back Passage" it stands out to me because somehow it manages to have plot, characterisation, tongue in cheek humour, suspense, a credible mystery and yet is as porny as hell and gets away with it.The Secret Tunnel is almost as good, almost, but not quite. I won't go as far as to say it was disappointing, because it wasn't. Any book that makes me read it in entirety in two sittings and in one day can never be classed as a disappointment, but it did have differences - so if you are expecting "more of the same" you won't exactly get it.There are some valid reasons for those differences, though. Mitch, our ever-ready, ever-horny hero who boasts of being able to shag five times in 24 hours, has grown up in the intervening years since the conclusion of the events in TBP. He's nearly finished his medical training and he's been living in illegal but blissfully happy coital bliss with Vince in Edinburgh. He's grown up a bit.So when he has to travel alone to London on the Flying Scotsman to visit his old University chum "Boy" Morgan - his partner in TBP - Vince cancels at the last minute and Mitch considers himself a free man for the duration.One thing with Lear's books that is essential for the new reader to do before you start: You must suspend your disbelief. Coming from me, who nitpicks about wallpaper historicals, this probably sounds like hypocrisy, but let me explain: Lear doesn't write wallpaper historicals. His facts are solid, and he clearly researches his work meticulously. But in the same way that there's ALWAYS a murder wherever Hercule Poirot or Jessica Fletcher goes, be it a country house or a fashion show (one wonders why anyone would invite them anywhere) whenever Mitch goes, every single man he encounters is either gay, bi-curious, bi-sexual or gay-for-you. Once you get over this, you can settle down and watch the smut with a smug smile, and really, all Lear does is twist a well-worn tradition to his own ends, and it works.What didn't work for me in The Secret Tunnel was that I was expecting Mitch to pursue the mystery in the same way he did in TBP, sleeping his way through the train to uncover one fact at a time, but it didn't work like that. He was constantly frustrated (in more ways than one) in his pursuit of the facts and the cock which led to me feeling frustrated (for exactly the same reasons he was!) and becoming more and more confused by the ever increasingly serpentine mystery. In fact, I found myself laughing at my own expectations when I reached chapter three and Mitch had only had sex with his boyfriend. "You're slipping, Mitch," I said, out loud.I think perhaps the plot was rather too serpentine, the cast list rather too large, the scope too ambitious. TBP was shorter, slicker and yes, full of sex, but each scene was particularly relevant to whatever Mitch was trying to find out--such as seducing an honest British Bobby in some toilets. What Lear did in TBP too was to escalate the level of sex, from frottage in a broomcloset, to voyeuristic threesome wanking over the length of the book. What I found with TST was that many sex scenes were interrupted, or simply seeming gratuitous (as strange as that sounds) characters were introduced who didn't add anything to the plot (such as the Belgium Bottom and the same policeman from TBP) and I was often confused as to what was going on. By the time Mitch did his Poirot impression and Explained It All, I had lost interest in who dunnit.I've seen reviews here and there wondering if Lear had been listening to his critics and had done too much erotica in TBP, and decided to tone it down. I'm not sure. I don't think Lear would care tuppence for that, because TBP was such a runaway success, garnering acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic.All that being said, if you like Lear's work, then you will very probably like this. Mitch is still a great character, Boy is still a hot horny cuddlesome bundle if married, (although if infidelity bothers you, then you shouldn't read Lear at all, but I'm sure I've made that clear already.) The ending - I think - makes it clear that Mitch will be back again, and I hope so.

Ok but not his v best

superb construction and content

Ok read.