Ready to Serve: Arresting Gay Erotica

By James Buchanan

Book Review by Vincent Diamond

From trailer parks in New Mexico to a forest ranger station in California to a Los Angeles fairground, the stories in Ready to Serve: Arresting Gay Erotica have the dry heat of the American Southwest in common along with the theme: cops n' robbers gone bad—and sexy. With three previously published pieces and three brand new stories, readers will enjoy this solid book.

There's always a risk with a themed collection. That the stories will be too similar and run together in a reader's mind. That the characters will be essentially the same two guys hooking up over and over. That the author will get lazy and just write to fill in the blanks.

None of this true with Ready to Serve.

Author James Buchanan portrays the cops and the criminals in these stories as real people. The cops vary from a grieving forest ranger who lost his crew in a blaze to a border patrol officer chasing down a suspect who surprises him, in more ways than one. These are grown-up, traditional, macho cops, not a twink to be found among them. Men with histories and baggage and issues, all rolled into very human and real people on the page.

Starting off with "Patdown", this story is the most traditionally erotica-flavored. Two strangers hook up and have a quick bout of hot sex, but these two discover they knew each other—and lusted after each other—from high school. With a casual voice and quick prose, the story moves from the chase to the oh-so-pleasant capture. Chris and Jeff totally work on the page for a story with a happy ending.

"Speed Trap" expands on the cop confronts a sexy guy theme. Pete runs a local store and has a sign warning motorists of an upcoming speed trap. Les, the small-town cop, gets fed up with the sign shenanigans until he realizes that it's Pete's way of getting his attention. Filled with jabbing dialogue and some cute puns, this is another well-written piece of erotica.

"Risk" delves into new territory, one I've never seen used in this kind of tale before. Trace and the narrator are a couple and business partners in a crime-scene cleaners business. When they have to work the a closeted transvestite's home, the sadness and grief of the victim's life colors their own. The dialogue here is rich and shows character:

Pinching up her café-a-lait face, she snapped right back. "You could tell him no."

"You gonna tell Trace no on anything?" I stared at her…hard. "Look, yeah, it bothers him. But he also knows it's his job." I sighed, went back to messing with the fan. "And if he lets his fear get in the way of this job then he ain't got nothing. Everybody dies. Some not as clean as others. He knows that. There are deaths that get to me. I seen you go all misty over a few. You work through it."

She kept on, although the nasty edge in her voice was gone. "I don't think it's good for him."

This is dialogue doing triple-duty, showing facets of all three characters, including the one not even on the page. The narrator's voice is revealing, and that the woman speaks up and cares about both of them is obvious. This is good writing, with energy and vivid people in each story.

As the book progresses, the stories lengthen and intensify. "Burn Zone" is a classic hurt-comfort theme with Tyson grieving over the loss of his crew in a fire. He retreats from his partners, Rick and Chris. They're younger firefighters, a little immature, a little hot-headed, but they both realize that Tyson completes them, steadies them, and makes their house together a home. Rain is used as a metaphor for tears and grief here, to great effect.

In "Coyote Crossing" the characters are once again long-lost buddies, but this time the stakes are higher. When Border Patrol agent Rick Franco picks up his best friend's younger brother, he gets surprises of all kinds. Augi has secrets of his own, personal and professional. Augi's feelings for Rick are much more than brotherly, and there's a nice balanced feel to their start-up. It's a happily-for-now that leaves the reader with hope there may be an ever-after for these two men.

"Fairground" is a novella-length story that closes the book. Pomona, California PD Sergeant Don Lo is assigned to the L.A. County Fair for a month-long assignment. A series of odd burglaries bring Lo and the fairgrounds maintenance supervisor, Vito Marzi, together. Vito is an easy character to like. His family is warm, Italian, loving, and open up to Lo. Unused to relationships more intense than fuck-buddies, Lo fumbles around emotionally with Vito's good-hearted and happy personality. Confused, but yearning, Lo finally gives into his own feelings and aims for contentment with Vito, on and off the job. It's the most romantic of the stories, leaving little doubt of the happily-ever-after in store for these two men.

Vincent Diamond
September 2009

Ready to Serve: Arresting Gay Erotica
(Lethe Press, May 2009; ISBN-10: 1590212053)
Available at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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© 2009 Vincent Diamond. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Vincent Diamond's short story collection, Rough Cut, was released by Lethe Press in 2008. "An erotic wordsmith," says noted editor Richard Labonte in the foreword to the book, "...erotic fiction that possesses story-telling heft." Diamond's stories have appeared in Screaming Orgasms, Sex on the Beach, Coming Together: Under Fire, Country Boys, Truckers, Best Gay Romance 2007, Hot Cops, Love in a Lock-Up, Best Gay Love Stories 2005 and 2006, in the e-books Feathers, Chance Encounters, Under Arrest, and Play Ball from Torquere Press, and online at Fishnet, Clean Sheets and Ruthie's Club.
More info, with free stories and excerpts, available at: www.vincentdiamond.com.

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