FreeForm

A gay noir thriller set in the criminal underworld of Glasgow, Scotland, FreeForm introduces a tough closeted gay cop, Detective-Sergeant Jas Anderson. A passionate, sometimes violent anti-hero, Jas is suspended from duty for assaulting a child molester, Jimmy Mygo. Jas shares a flat, and his life, with Leigh - a younger blond, nipple-pierced, pony-tailed, Slavic-featured man who urges him to come out. Jimmy's brothers, ne'er-do-wells at best, are suspected of plotting revenge for the beating ... but it is his lover who is found brutally murdered in Jas's bed. Now on the run and struggling to clear his name, Jas uncovers Leigh's involvement in a blackmail ring, and even his lover's identity becomes confused. Film-noir in inspiration, vividly characterised, and authentically exposing the raw nerves of 1990s Britain, FreeForm is pure suspense to its final pulse-pounding closing pages. Originally published in 1998, this edition includes a foreword by Clive King. "Intricate plots which combine elements of the hard-boiled and the intensely erotic" - Gay Times "FreeForm is excellently plotted, incorporating all the elements of noir, but without making it predictable. Indeed, I did not see that ending coming. A great read." - Oliver Bosman "A reflection of the darker side of our desires" - Gay Scotland "More than any other sleuth, Jas Anderson demonstrates the complex circuitry that connects brain, heart, and penis and exemplifies how the power of the last can sometimes short-circuit the other two ... In the course of his discovery, they become a projection of the darkness that Jas feels residing within himself, a darkness that he must confront before he can become a complete human capable of connecting fully with others. Jas's struggle to accept love and its obligations provides the heart of the trilogy." - Drewey Wayne Gunn, Gay Male Sleuth in Print and Film "One of the most promising talents in the recent crop of gay fiction authors" - Gary Bowen, Diary of a Vampire