Click Here To Purchase From Amazon The Dream Ender (A Dick Hardesty Mystery)

Author: Dorien Grey

Publisher: Zumaya Boundless:

ISBN-13: 978-1-934135-62-4:  ISBN-10: 1-934135-62-3

Dorien Grey started out as a penname as the author did not feel comfortable using his own while living in an area of the upper Midwest where gays usually felt it necessary to keep a low profile.

However after the publication of his first, second and third novel he found that Dorien became much more than just a penname, it also became his other personality.

Dorien left college to join the Naval Aviation Cadet program where he later spent his brief military career on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean. He kept a journal during this time which helped him with his writing skills and also provided him with material for his future writings.

Dorien returned to college after his service and graduated with a BA in English before embarking on a series of jobs that led him to the editing field. He worked for a Los Angeles publishing house and later edited a leading LA-based international gay men’s magazine. He moved to Chicago and now devotes his time to his writing. He has currently written and completed ten books in the popular Dick Hardesty Mystery series.

During the 70s not much was known about AIDS. While doctors searched for answers to this disease, many men were left to die leaving people in shock and wonder. Just what exactly was this new, horrifying threat?

This book, an instalment of the Dick Hardesty Mystery series, is set around the time when AIDS/ HIV was recognized as the new plague during the early 80s. It is a dark and very moving read that quickly sobers you as you read through this gay mystery.

Private investigator, Dick Hardesty, has been sent to a gay community where it is rumoured a male regular at an unrestrictive leather bar is deliberately spreading AIDS among the customers.

He is a clever villain who only dares to get intimate with his unsuspecting victims in sheer darkness and without the use of protection.

When suspects begin to spring up all over the area, Hardesty finds he is drawn deeper into this mystery especially when one of his close friends is later diagnosed with what was known as a “virus”.

He must solve this case and fast but what will he do when his friend is accused of  murder?

This book takes an intimate look at the gay community during the beginning of the AIDS outbreak. It also explores relationships, friendships and of course, the life of private investigator Dick Hardesty. 

This whodunit is well worth reading with a good plot and convincing characters that you end up feeling for. It also has a good douse of humour too.

The only thing I didn’t quite get was the ending, it wasn’t one that wowed me as much as I’d hoped. I was left feeling a little disappointed but even so, mystery buffs should still have no trouble enjoying this compelling Hardesty series.