{"id":27818,"date":"2026-09-18T19:49:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T23:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=27818"},"modified":"2026-09-18T19:51:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T23:51:01","slug":"mirage-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27818","title":{"rendered":"Mirage City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mirage City<\/em> (2025) Lev Ac Rosen<\/a> (Evander Mills #4)<\/p>\n

\"Mirage<\/a>Set in San Francisco in 1953<\/p>\n

It’s been a year since Andy began working above the Ruby.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been here over a year now, the matchmaking business, pairing up queer people in heterosexual-looking relationships to appease work or family, and crafting stories for them: how they met, how they ended it. It\u2019s half my business at this point. I like it, it\u2019s easy and helps people out. But it\u2019s not especially interesting these days.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story revolves around two things: the Mattachine Society and the early fight for queer rights, and conversion therapy.<\/p>\n

The second part of that was horrible, but not nearly as awful as it could have been, considering what historical medical “treatments” could consist of for the past couple centuries.<\/p>\n

Things start with a missing persons case: a woman wants to find members who have not come to recent meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want me to drive to LA and ask them if they\u2019re kidnapping members in San Francisco?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026\u201d She looks down. It\u2019s exactly what she wanted. But out loud, it sounds absurd.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Except, it’s a secret society so she has nothing but first names and descriptions. But it’s what Andy does, so he heads down to LA–where he grew up and his mother still lives–to see what he can learn.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Mattachine Society we also get to learn about gay biker gangs and Hollywood fixers.<\/p>\n

Most of my business is setting up fake relationships for folks to keep their jobs or fool their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I do, too!\u201d Leo says, thrilled. He sits on the arm of the chair I\u2019m in and leans down. \u201cIsn\u2019t it fun?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make up relationships, too?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work for a studio. Mum\u2019s the word on which. But creating lavender couples for tabloids is my raison d\u2019\u00eatre!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Past stories have given us a little about Andy’s time in the navy during WWII. Here we have vets from the war that came after.<\/p>\n

We all served. Me, Tommy, and Stan in Korea. Russ and Will were in the Ninth Army. All of us kept our motorcycles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Be warned, there are some awful bits here, mostly related to conversion therapy but also a good deal of homophobia, as you’d expect from the time period. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about swishy men, or men who dress as women?\u201d asks a man in his forties after the lecture is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr the women who wear suits?\u201d asks a woman next to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a different pathology entirely,\u201d Dr. Bryner says. \u201cThough interlinked with homosexuality in some cases, it speaks to a deeper deviance. One that should be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone smiles, relieved. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here, as with the previous books, nothing is black and white, and bad actions can end up seeing far more forgivable than “good” actions.<\/p>\n

Sadly for me, this is the last published book in the series, and I don’t see a new book listed, so I’m sad about not having another Evander Mills book to read.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Evander Mills, Gene Manalo, Lee, Elsie Gold, Mary Mills, Daphne, Edward, Hank, Ava, Myrtle Bolton, Dr. North, Samuel Blanchard, Leo, Marie, Ethel, Vera, Vera, Mannix, Mattie, Russell Klein, Javi, Russ, Stan, George Quaintance, Henry Nolton, Marge, Will, Marianne Nolton, Virginia Nolton, Helen, Pat, Pearl, Shelly, Dr. Bryner<\/p>\n

Cover illustration by Colin Verdi<\/p>\n

Publisher: Minotaur Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mirage City (2025) Lev Ac Rosen (Evander Mills #4) Set in San Francisco in 1953 It’s been a year since Andy began working above the Ruby. I\u2019ve been here over a year now, the matchmaking business, pairing up queer people in heterosexual-looking relationships to appease work or family, and crafting stories for them: how they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,292,204,33,8,43,148,936,934],"tags":[979,978],"class_list":["post-27818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-ebook","category-good","category-historical","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-queer","category-single-point-of-view","category-trigger-warnings","tag-evander-mills","tag-lev-ac-rosen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-7eG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27476,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27476","url_meta":{"origin":27818,"position":0},"title":"Rough Pages","author":"Michelle","date":"September 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Rough Pages (2024) Lev Ac Rosen (Evander Mills #3) Set in San Francisco in 1953 Andy is finally accepted by the community, and slowly coming to believe in his own worth as he solves problems for those who can't turn to the authorities. 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Caught--quite literally--with his pants down. Now with no job, and no home (he was thrown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lavender House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lavender-House.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lavender-House.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lavender-House.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27431,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27431","url_meta":{"origin":27818,"position":2},"title":"The Bell in the Fog","author":"Michelle","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bell in the Fog (2023) Lev Ac Rosen (Evander Mills #2) Set in San Francisco in ~1952 The story takes place several months after the events of Lavender House. Evander Mills is trying to make his way as a queer private detective, but as he was once a copy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Bell in the Fog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Bell-in-the-Fog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Bell-in-the-Fog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Bell-in-the-Fog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27852,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27852","url_meta":{"origin":27818,"position":3},"title":"The Lights on Knockbridge Lane","author":"Michelle","date":"September 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (2021) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run #3) Adam had never once regretted forgiving someone. 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Now they've moved to Veilport and Aria has a scholarship to The Grimoire Grammar School and Vivian is even more overwhelmed. She wasn\u2019t weeping. 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