Book Review: The Chicken Asylum

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Chicken Asylum     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Fred W. Hunter
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Gay / Lesbian
Series: Alex Reynolds # 5
St. Martin’s, Oct 2001, $23.95, 272 pp.

Alex and Peter are a happily married gay couple living in Chicago with Alex’s mother Jean. Alex is a free lance graphics designer while Peter is a salesperson at a clothing store. Jean stays at home looking after her "boys". From time to time they take jobs for the CIA that appear seemingly harmless but turn out to be hazardous to their collective health. Yet when Agent Laurence Nelson asks for their help, they eagerly take on the new assignment.

The trio is to play host to James Paschal, an Iraqi defector while the CIA agents debrief him. Jean, Peter and Alex are drawn to the troubled and vulnerable young man and feel a sense of betrayal when he disappears on them after making a mysterious phone call. They are told that he has links to the Red Jihad and he is bait to draw the members out into the open. Nobody wants to believe this of James and they go to extraordinary lengths, risking their own lives in the process, to prove that the Iraqi is a victim.

Although this is a very serious mystery, there is enough levity that allows the audience to feel as if they are reading about real people who care about each other. The repartee between Alex, Jean and Peter is hilarious and feels very genuine. THE CHICKEN ASYLUM is by far the best of the Alex Reynolds mysteries due in large part to an Iraqi defector who steals the hearts of the audience.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner