An intriguing, tense, and entertaining read, with a sturdy transgender protagonist…
Reilinger combines a baffling mystery with a memorable lead in this solid second installment in the Terry Luvello series, featuring the transgender private detective, Terry Luvello. When Terry gets a 3:00 a.m. visit from his thirteen-year-old neighbor, Allison West, who wants to hire him to investigate a false murder case on her father, he becomes deeply intrigued. As he begins to dig into the fake proof, he realizes there is more to the whole story than it seems on the surface. He teams up with his partner and girlfriend, police detective Hannah Page, to unravel the whole mystery, unaware of the dangers awaiting them ahead. Terry holds his own as a protagonist. His moral quandary is convincing, and his grit, resolve, and determination render him understandably human. His guilt about his transgender identity and his family’s easy acceptance of the whole thing add a realistic touch to the story, while his inner conflict about his hormone treatment lends welcome emotional depth. Crisply written first-person narrative in Terry’s voice moves the action briskly along. Intermingled with the sinister storyline are the politics, prejudices, LGBTQ/transgender issues, and human drama. The plot is sufficiently complicated, and Reilinger does an excellent job retching up the tension while keeping the clues subtle. He spins his multilayered plot into an unsettling story of sinister crimes of national consequences and their far-reaching reverberations, bringing it all to a satisfying ending. Fans of brainy, complex, character-based mysteries won’t want to miss this one.
Deepfake (Terry Luvello 2)
Joe Reilinger
Coming soon
