If 6 Were 9: A "Militant" Mystery

If 6 Were is an intriguing and suspenseful mystery read from Jake Lamar that I stumbled upon one cold, winter day. With a cup of hot chocolate, mild incense and soft music playing in the background, I cuddled up with this book and allowed Lamar to take me into the world of para-militancy, college politics, the world of the CIA/FBI and taboo issues such as incest, S & M and interracial dating. As I read and consumed this book, I quickly realized that If 6 Were 9 was not an ordinary read. The more involved I became with the read the more I felt that the mystery was just the backdrop for Lamar's cultural and political views. The storyline had so much going on that,at times, I wondered what was the focal point. It seemed as tho' every time I was on track regarding the mystery, Lamar would throw in some quirky, satirical element that unfortunately made me skip a beat. While the basic premise of the storyline was "Who Killed the White Girl"...the story so often veered often the beaten path that I was left wondering exactly what was the point . All-in-All, the story was suspenseful, the characters were colorful, and the plot twists and turns were surprising; however, I just wished it was a little more focused. Lamar appears to be a skilled and creative writer so I will check out other books so that I can hopefully gain a better assessment of this writer's style.

It took me a little while to "get into" this book. Alot of background history was given, that in the long run was needed to get the overall affect. But being inpatient as I am, I wanted it to hurry up and "be good". It was, at long last, a very good mystery. The person (or persons) that I thought had actually committed the murder were not the guilty parties at all. The actual murderer was a complete surprise. The story line was both interesting and completely different. It was indeed a militant mystery with a contemporary storyline.

This mystery is packed with twists that will keeping you guessing until the very end. The rich characters each have a distictive voice that beg to tell their own story. I finsihed the book in two days (although I tried to slow down to savor each page). Close to the Bone made me a loyal follower of Mr. Lamar. Can't wait until the next book.

I know this was supposed to be a mystery, but it had me laughing out loud. Never having read Jake Lamar, I didn't know what I was in for especially with the opening line being full of four letter words. Once past that we find out Pirate Jenny is dead found in a black professor's office who just happens to be his young white student and ex-lover. This doesn't look good for the professor who is not high on everyone's credibility list from being black-balled from his journalistic career for fraud. Whoa. It only gets wilder from there. Looking forward to more of Jake Lamar.