Adisakdi Tantimedh

Ravi's bosses know about the gods and complications have Ravi in LA doing some minor work while waiting for some heat to die down in London. His assumptions are shaken by someone else who sees his Gods but he has to keep going to escape with a car full of guns from fires in LA and staying alive against a variety of people. Sometimes allies and enemies are not easy to determine and depend on when you're dealing with them.

I like this series. It does show quite well how crazy his life is and how he's trying for ordinary but failing. His parents are also a hoot. I'm looking forward to more in this series.… (més)

I really enjoyed this story of a god-bothered man who works as a PI. Ravi sees Gods, many, from the Hindu pantheon. They keep watching him as he goes around his life, the particular god seems to be related to what's going on. Ravi isn't sure if it's mental illness or real but he works with it as best he can. At one stage he did study religion but he dropped out and became a teacher which failed when accusations somewhat caught him in the crossfire. Now the job he's doing is barely legal but it pays well and intrigues him. As he becomes more involved he has to learn about himself and about his job and make some tough decisions.

I liked this. Having just been in India this did make me think about that trip and how things worked.… (més)

CW: Sexual assault.

How does this book have so many positive reviews? I’m honestly flabbergasted. So let’s break it down, for the the author and folks in the back row:

1. This book was published in 2016. Playing a trans character for laughs, mystery, deceit, and clutching your pearls as you ask how a trans person could possibly have sex is not just passé, it’s ignorant and transphobic.

2. Women can rape men and when someone does it knowingly and repeatedly, they’re a rapist and a reprehensible person. Selling that character as a primary character’s love interest is insulting.

3. Bisexual people are not slutty sluts who will slut around with anyone, up to and including the person who tried to kill their romantic partner. FOH with that nonsense.

4. Bipolar disorder ≠ schizophrenia, mood stabilizers ≠ antipsychotics, and borderline personality disorder isn’t an adjective you can toss around instead of actually writing an interesting female character.

The author got so. much. wrong. here, and the way he was writes about sex in general is really creepy and off-putting. Of all the mentions of sex in this book (which included rape, videotaping unconsenting people, sex addiction, slutty bisexuals, pearl clutching and an oddly titillating voyeurism about different sexual practices, and a hapless man getting caught up in a false sexual assault accusation) I think there was one single mention that didn’t make me cringe. I don’t know if the TV show is still in the works, but I hope it gets a better writing staff because the core idea here has great potential, and we certainly need more diversity in media representation.… (més)