Back Passage Paperback – May 5, 2006

I really wanted to love this book. I read (listened to, really) it mainly for the following reasons:A. The naked dude on the coverB. Marshall Thornton gave it 5 stars.C. Mary Calmes also gave it 5 stars, but somehow I take that less seriously. Sorry, Mary, you're still my favorite I-need-it-like-crack author!D. If that guy on the cover moves his leg...just a smidge...I could totally see his peen.Also, though I love any type of novel that involves a cop or a PI,the slew of uber-staight-detectives whose overwhelming pheromones cause women to roll back on their heels, offering up the flower of their womanhood with little to no thought, exhausts me. (Yes, I too, would have that reaction -- show me a damaged man & I'll show him a good time, oh baby! -- but I find it massively annoying in my fictional sisterhood.)I picked this book up because I felt it only fair to read about a gay amateur sleuth (Mitch) who inspires the same reaction in men. And holy crap did this guy get a lot of butt (I mean that literally). I really wish I had kept track of all his conquests in ONLY 2 days. It would be impressive. If you read this book, please keep a tally, cause I'd like to know.Speaking of which, I think a sociological/mathematical study should be done of this (fictional) small British hamlet. I mean, how likely is it that so many men in such a small area are either gay or looking for Mitch to come along to show them the joy of their own anus? Not that this book should be read for its true to life qualities -- oh, no -- but I would like to see some research in this area.I'd also like to know more about lube in 1920s England. My extensive internet research (Google) tells me that Vaseline was first mentioned in 1876. What about olive oil? And wasn't castor oil popular then? My point is that everybody was using spittle in this book.Um, ow.James Lear does know how turn a phrase, though:"They would not trick me so easily again, not even with slim white bodies and man-eating anuses.""Premature baldness combined with heavy beard growth always seems to me to indicate a prodigious, unfussy sexual appetite.""How many more times would I have to thrust my way up & down that dark, dank tunnel..."Very funny stuff, but, and I never thought I'd say this, I was completely bored with the sex scenes about 50% through. They were extremely hot, but it was enough already.5 stars for the fap material.2 stars for the rest of the book (which I can't even remember).

Have to say I was left somewhat unimpressed with this on the basis of the main character's sexual exploits - I expected full out explicit porn and that in and of itself is not my gripe. The sex scenes were well done and duly hot, but after a while a pattern started to emerge that only dampened them...The story began to predictably unfold with a small portion of the mystery being divulged, only to go straight into a sex scene whenever a suspect or potential ally came into the picture. Most of it was relevant to the plot, although whenever Mitch wants answers from an unwilling confederate... you got it. Cue sex scene. And it was almost all casual sex, which again, I don't really mind, but an entire book based around that was sort of off-putting for me. I did have hopes there would be some romance with "Boy" Morgan to balance it all out, but what little there was devoted to that didn't seem too fulfilling after Mitch goes on throughout about how he wants something more with "Boy". In that regard, I was disappointed.The mystery was actually fairly good, and I found myself getting interested in the whodunit more than the porn, at times. But I felt like my attention was being jerked around with that pattern of porn/mystery/porn/mystery, etc. It would have been less annoying if the porn was spaced out better because honestly, the two didn't mix very well. So, you find yourself genuinely wondering what happens next and - WHAM - you're smacked out of the story by the porn. Which again, was very casual, and with so many instances of it just didn't do it for me after a while. Not to mention it was ridiculously unbelievable that a man could perform that many times in one day.The end result of all this was that I just got bored with both mystery and smut, and was just reading to finish it, not because I actually cared what happened next. This book did have its good points, was witty and had an original, fairly well done plot, but that wasn't enough to keep it afloat and because of that, I can't recommend it.

When this little mystery novel opens, Edward Mitchell, a Bostonian pursuing postgraduate studies at Cambridge University, finds himself in a steamy (in more ways than one) closet under the stairs of Drekeham Hall, "a stone's throw from the crumbly cliffs of the north Norfolk coast," with his best friend Harry "Boy" Morgan who has invited him down to meet the English upper class family of his fiancee Belinda Eagle. Although the ostensibly straight, sexy Morgan is engaged to be married, Mitchell wastes no time in his pursuit to bed him. Since this is a murder mystery, someone has to get killed quickly; and he does, a guest named Reg Walworth. Sir James Eagle, MP, Belinda's father, has his servant Meeks arrested for the murder.Mitchell is addicted to detective fiction; he reads Conan Doyle (his favorite), G. K. Chesterton, Wilkie Collins and a "new writer of promise," Agatha Christie (the novel is set in 1925). He apparently has read Oscar Wilde as well. Of course what this randy young American likes even more than solving real live murders (even though he eventually gets around to solving them), however, is sex with any male that moves. In addition to his trysts with "Boy" Morgan, Mitchell makes it with Sir James Eagle's brother, Leonard, "vampirelike, beautiful, just this side of effeminate," and Officer Shipton, a naive country police officer, et al.What we have in this novel is at once a comedy of manners pitting the British upper classes against the servant class, a first class murder mystery with the obligatory plot twists and turns and a hooty piece of erotica that is guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart on a bleak winter evening. I'd also like to have the Eagle family's recipe for rhubarb crumble.

The <i>Back Passage</i> is an unusual book—a mixture of M/M erotica and Agatha Christie style detective mystery. This combination is not, to be perfectly honest, entirely successful: it is original, and fun, but the erotica element renders the mystery unbelievable. This is in fact my criticism of erotica books in general; they are so sex-obsessed as to render the rest of the story tangential and weak.Still, I enjoyed this book. Part of it is of course guilty pleasure (that is the allure of the erotica genre). Part of it is that James Lear is a genuinely good writer; lesser writers produce cringe worthy sex scenes. And part of it is that the mystery side was given attention, and worked appreciably well, albeit not up to the standards of the masters (cough Agatha Christie cough).The weak element is, as I say, the believability of it all. Nearly every male character is gay or bisexual, and if they’re not one of those things, they’re gay-for-pay. (The female characters are all perfectly heterosexual, of course.) This is not credible in any society—even Theban or Spartan pederasty was more of an ideal, and didn’t always involve sex—and it’s especially hard to believe for a book set in 1925.Still: an enjoyable book, as I say. If you are a fan of erotica, you will probably like this book. The protagonist, a young Bostonian man with a flair for sleuthing as well as bonking, may even appeal to fans of the wider mystery genre (though the sex is kinky and voyeuristic even by M/M standards).The publisher and writer also deserve credit—for bravery. This is not an easy book to write nor publish, and would have certainly been censored in 1925. We ought reflect on how much things have progressed since then.<b>Rating: 3.5/5.</b>

Ok, this is the first gay erotic novel I have ever read; and, as such, I have to admit to expecting nothing but sex sex sex; and, while there is a lot of sex, this book is so much more. The mystery at the core of the book is excellent, with betrayals, blackmail, murder, mistaken identity, deceit and many plot twists. After a while I actually found myself wanting to skip the sex scenes to get to the next piece of the mystery - that's not to say the sex scenes aren't good. They are. They're well written and very erotic and there is a valid reason for each one within the bigger story; but I did find myself wondering how much better this had been if the sex was omitted. James Lear is definitely a very talented writer. The pacing is fast and furious and the characters well written and enjoyable. I read the book in a day and promptly ordered book two 'The Secret Tunnel' to see what happened next. Highly recommended for lovers of gay fiction or mystery writers. Just remember the extremely adult content.

I don't mean to sound like a whiner, but I didn't think this book was very praiseworthy. I loved the idea of combining a murder mystery with erotica, but I think in this case it just wasn't going to work.The sex gets in the way of the investigation, and the investigation gets in the way of the sex. At around 200 pages you're left with not enough of either, and feel slightly disappointed. I haven't read much professional erotica before now, and so I cannot say how it compares to other works, but I feel sure that this isn't a prime work of murder mystery. I won't spoil any of the story, but suffice to say that the plot ultimately seems to come together without very much help from the main character. One wonders if the plot would have been much different had he not been in the story at all - but then one remembers all of the sex he was having with virtually every member of the household, and one corrects oneself. Aha.It's a shame, really, because Rupert Smith, here "James Lear", isn't that bad a writer. He clearly has talent, but I feel that it's somewhat wasted on this story. If it had been lengthier then that probably would have improved it; after all, as it stands, most characters only come into the story for one brief chapter, and many others are mentioned but do not appear at all. Don't expect a Sherlock out of our chief protagonist, either; he relies almost entirely on conversation for his deductions (I use the word loosely) rather than physical clues and doesn't make many concrete inferences until the end, although I admit this does make the character more believable and approachable.In all, then, the book was amusing while I read it, and entertained me somewhat. But I don't think I'll read it again. And if this is indeed James Lear's bestselling work, I don't think I'm interested in looking further. Again, I don't mean to sound harsh, but although it's true that Lear is quite a good writer and is receiving decoration for his work in this field (that being the gay erotica field), I can't help but wonder if that's largely because there are so few other people trying the same thing.

Never fails to disappoint with his brand of sexy humour-filled mystery stories. The characters are always amusing and suitably the stuff of fantasy for a range of readers. If it can be ignored how everyone is corrupted and that all 'risk' supposedly present from the era that it is set in is seemingly mythical then these stories are always a great read.

Thoroughly enjoyable. This book very clearly makes the point that gay historical fiction needn't be po faced, full of deep meaningful literary merit and serious as hell. This is a romp, from start (hero found groping his friend in an understairs cupboard) to the finish which I won't spoil. Imagine how I squeed when I read the first page and found that it was set about 10 miles from where I sit right now, on the North Norfolk coast in 1925.There's a lot of sex in this book, and I mean a LOT. This is the kind of book where the reader can be happy that there's sex in every chapter and it isn't boringly escalated, you know what a mean, starts with a grope, moves on to a blow job, then a 69 and so on - the Hero "Mitch" takes advantage of every opportunity.And there's PLENTY of opportunity. Even though you must suspend your belief at the door, although, to be honest, a remote Norfolk aristocratic family - I wouldn't be at all surprised if this house set-up hadn't actually happened, so it's actually quite plausible and the reasons for why everyone seems to be gay are very cleverly explained. It's not just the power of Mitch's sex-appeal that gives him the sex-filled week of his life!It's a classic who-dunnit, too. Big house in the middle of no-where with a cast of larger than life characters, unexplained murder and it could be any one of the occupants, like all of Christie's stories I was hopelessly led down one blind alley after another, suspecting everyone in turn and happy doing so.What I particularly liked was the lovely little touches of the language. When Mitch talks he says ass, and when Boy Morgan speaks he says arse. I heartily approve of this.I also liked the fact that Mitch isn't some Gary-Stu private dick (although his that part of his anatomy is anything but private...) solving everything. He's just nicely curious, and is not averse to asking questions and using other methods to get what he wants. He doesn't get it right all the time too, in fact I loved the fact that when he's listening to one of the witnesses he frankly says "I couldn't help but think that Sherlock would have already grasped the salient point" (paraphrased)The sex itself is graphic, along the same graphic level as say - Alyson's short story collections.So all in all, recommended. I dislike asking an author for a sequel, but, in Mitch, he has a character who could cheerfully go on to other gay mysteries. I shall go and seek Lear's other works now, and will look forward to his next. A nice afternoon's read, which got me hot and made me smile too.And really - any writer who uses whence and glabrous is always going to win my heart...