Writers of Color 50 Books Challenge

Casanegra by Blair Underwood, with Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes.

I... well, this is certainly a case of "I can't believe I read the whole thing."

This is the first in (what is currently) a trilogy of stories about Tennyson Hardwick, who is a fairly Gary-Stu-ariffic character, described thusly on the cover: "A gorgeous, sexy actor and former gigolo...". The book follows Our Stunningly Well-Endowed (seriously, this is brought up repeatedly), Sexually Mind-blowing (also discussed repeatedly), Inheritor of a Lovely Home From a Satisfied, Now-Deceased Former Client as he attempts to discover who murdered a recently re-encountered (in the most Biblical sense) (different) former client for whose murder he is being framed.

Yes. This is a story about a gorgeous, preposterously-endowed black man named Hardwick who takes his sexual conquests to heretofore undiscovered new realms of ecstasy while bravely taking on corrupt Hollywood types, violent rappers, and the unjust scrutiny of the LAPD. Oh, all while caring for his ailing father, rescuing an under-age prostitute, and seducing a sexy reporter.

Not-so-incidentally, it's written by an actor (Blair Underwood)... with the assistance of authors Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. I'm not sure, exactly, how much worse this could've been if Underwood had been left entirely to his own devices, but I can't say that I detect any masterful authorial guidance going on here.

Um. In my own defense, it's a mystery and I couldn't stand not knowing who done it... but still. I'm actually embarrassed to admit to having made it to the end. I had the other two books in the series (In the Night of the Heat (!), and From Cape Town with Love) in my to-read pile, but all three are headed back to the library.

(Tags: a: Underwood Blair, a: due tananarive, a: barnes steven, african-american, murder mystery)