A Dangerous Thing

A Dangerous Thing (2002) Josh Lanyon

The second Adrien English book finds Adrien tired of dealing with Jake being firmly in the closet, so he heads off to his grandmother’s ranch–only to discover a disappearing dead body.

He also can’t find the caretaker of his property–who seems to be taking liberties with Adrien’s absence.

You’re the one paying that no account Ted Harvey to sit around and smoke dope all day.”

“I’m paying him to look after my property.” Smoking dope was a perk.

As usual, things go poorly for Adrien.

“How long have I been here? Where am I exactly?”

“Almost forty-eight hours. You’re in Calavares County Hospital running up a sizable bill even as we speak. I hope you’ve got health insurance.”

I hoped I had enough. I’ve known solvent, gainfully employed people bankrupted by a hospital stay.

…

Shaky but stubborn, I sat there peeling off the lime-green plastic hospital bracelet, demanding an “Against Medical Advice.”

“We can’t hold you prisoner,” the man of medicine admitted when pressed.

I delivered the coup de grâce. “My insurance won’t cover another day.”

Open sesame.

Mind you, she does a very good job dealing with the concussion, even if Adrien prehaps recovers a little too quickly.

trying to convince myself I didn’t feel so bad, it struck me that I had really underplayed this concussion thing in my own writing. Jason Leland was routinely knocked on his noggin and an hour later was back to chasing bad guys backstage, upstage and all around the town. The reality was a shattering headache to end all headaches, blurred vision, a touch of nausea, and pulverized neck and shoulder muscles.

Considering how much we’ve discovered in recent years about concussions, I appreciate this in a book published in 2002.

As much as I like the mysteries, I just don’t get why Adrien puts up with Jake.

It’s actually why I skimmed the third book–just to remember what happened and to re-read the scenes where Adrien meets his mother’s fiancee and his daughters.

Publisher: JustJoshin Publishing, Inc
Rating: 7/10

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