Sunday's Child

Canadian author Edward O. Phillip's "Sunday" series, featuring 50-something gay lawyer Geoffrey Chadwick, begins with this darkly humorous suspense tale: Chadwick, alone on New Year's Eve and somewhat depressed about breaking up with his lover, picks up a young hustler and brings him home. When the man tries to rob him, Chadwick fights back, the hustler winds up dead - and Chadwick finds himself in a rather precarious situation. What he decides to do about it, and how this plays out, make up the majority of the tale; there's a feeling of vague unease shading to impending doom that reminds me of Highsmith, and poor Chadwick's nerves are tested to the limit. One of the things I like about Phillips' books is his ability to make this quiet, comfort-seeking, somewhat stodgy character so likeable, even when he's making decisions that the reader (and, to some degree, Chadwick himself) know to be risky if not downright wrong. Or maybe I just identify with a 50-something person who lives alone in relative contentment but who wonders - just now and then - what else might be out there... and if it's worth the risk to the status quo of looking for it.These are good books. Check 'em out. [The series: Sunday's Child, Buried on Sunday, Sunday Best, and Working on Sunday. Phillips has other, non-Chadwick novels too, but I haven't tried any of those yet.]

SINCE THE OTHER REVIEW PRINTED ABOUT THIS BOOKS IS SO VERY NEGATIVE, I THOUGHT I WOULD ADD MY TWO CENTS. THIS IS REALLY A FINE NOVEL. THE QUOTES ON THE JACKET ARE TRUE: IT IS ENTERTAINING AND WELL WRITTEN. IT HAS A VERY POSITIVE GAY CHARACTER INVOLVED IN A VERY UNUSUAL SITUATION -- DISPOSING OF THE REMAINS OF A BLACKMAILING STREET HUSTLER HE'S KILLED AND DISMEMBERED. HE'S POSITIVE BECAUSE HE SHOWS STRENGTH IN ADVERSITY, HE ALWAYS BEATS UP THE BAD GUYS WHO TRY TO HUSTLE, MUG, OR OTHERWISE HARM HIM, AND THE SIDE CHARACTERS AND HIS CITY, MONTREAL, ARE FUN. IF YOU LIKE RICHARD STEVENSON, JOHN MORGAN WILSON, MICHAEL NAVA, YOU WILL LIKE EDWARD O. PHILLIPS. HE IS SLIGHTLY DATED, A BIT FUSTY, BUT STILL VERY SEXY AND A LOT OF FUN.