Customer Reviews
No, not the Isis!!! - By: GODFREY HAMILTON, 07 Jun 2008 
Yes, it's entertaining & yes it's arousing & thus fulfils its own brief. But ... oh dear Mr Lear, on page TWO you identify the river that flows through Cambridge as the Isis. It isn't. The Isis flows through Oxford. The "old" name of Cambridge's river Cam is the Granta (like the literary magazine). In a confection such as "Back Passage", it's these details (easily checked on Wikipedia, for God's sake), that make the difference between a genre-subverting delight & a ho-hum "well ... it's sort of OK & ... sort of fun ..."
Louis LaSalle's cover photograph is, as usual with Mr LaSalle, drop-dead sexy.
The Back Passage - By: C. Gee, 15 May 2008 A Funny, sexy "Who dunnit" book, with quite graphic sexin every chapter.
The main character Mitch takes every opportunity (and there are many) to enjoy his sexuality. James Lear is on to a winner with this character & I hope he takes him further into his adventures as a detective. I can't wait to read more.
Giggle fest almost the whole way through! - By: Scary Biscuits, 03 Oct 2007 With the exception of a brief interlude of (appropriate to context) police brutality, I laughed the whole way through this book! I read it when working nightshift & my co-workers thought I was mad. Writtenin a great 1920's style it is very explicit & the sex scenes are very intense (and unrelenting). However, the humourin evident on every page. If you want a nice whodunnit buy agatha christie - want a whodunnit with wit & bite? Try this! Ok, as a straight woman I am maybe not the intended audience but as random purchases go, I am so glad I bought it. Hilarious.
5 stars for the cover! - By: Guy Mannering, 08 Aug 2007 
Is there a label for this kind of gay lit that has proliferatedin recent years? These romps are usually decently written & often quite diverting but their raison d'etre is the endless stream of graphically described sexual encountersin which just about every young guy the handsome hunky hero encounters is ready & willing. If you removed the continuous stream of sex fantasies nobody would be bothered to read these books & presumably the authors wouldn't be bothered to write them. This particular opusin totally anachronisticin the sense that the gay ethos of our modern age is transplanted to a 1920s setting. But it's all fantasy so what does it matter?
Now, are you looking for a dazzling example of a classic whodunnit from the Golden Age of the 20s & 30s? In which case do an Amazon search for the Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley.
Or would you prefer a porny read that's pretty good fun, capably written with a so-so whodunnit stitched on? I thought so. In which case the Back Passage will do nicely.
An Absolute Hoot - By: Organ Boy, 01 Jun 2007 
This is an absolute scream, a period piece setin the world of silent cinema & po faced between-the-wars-Britishness. The sexy bits are, ahem, not for the faint hearted, but are never gratuitous, & the plot itself is neatly put together. One of the funniest books I have ever read.
