Product Description

While drunk at a party, Chad falls off a balcony and breaks his wrist. He comes to in a psych facility, under observation: His homphobic, obsessive older brother convinces the doctors that the fall was a suicidal jump... two other patients are dead... the police are invoved, and nothing is what it seems...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1372536 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 273 pages

From Booklist
Imagine yourself at a party, having had a few too many and leaning out from a balcony to talk to your brother, who insists on minding your business, on the street below--and waking up, arm in a cast, in a mental hospital. A fellow patient introduces herself, solemnly intoning that she carries death, which smells like asparagus, within her privates, and a cute young guy, another patient, befriends you. How cute? So cute that the 72 hours spent under observation aren't at all bad. Well, except for the murders your new friend is accused of, but if you are going to pick every little nit . . . . In Moore's engaging, fast-moving tale, brotherly hate crosses paths with gay love on the run because the love interest is the object of police attention for his unfortunate habit of propinquity to homicide. Witty, intelligent dialogue and characters distract the reader from the darker side of a situation whose uglier tones cast a pall over a facile ending. A promising debut. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Murder(s) most foul--and witty
I got this book because I thought it'd make a great beach read. How wrong I was.

I was so engrossed with the breakneck twists and turns of the plot, the deceptively dry voice of Chad, the narrator, which sizzles with witty venom, and the very sexy game of cat-and-mouse between Chad and Jonathan--the boy who may or may not be a mad killer, may or may not be the man of Chad's dreams--that I read the whole book in one sitting. If I'd done this at the beach, I would have washed out with high tide.

I don't want to go into too much detail about why I loved this book or why I think Marshall Moore is a wit so caustic and laugh-out-loud brilliant that he deserves his own cable show on Bravo (and he does!). Why not? Because I'm certain to give away the story.

And the many mysteries within The Concrete Sky are what make this book so engrossing: a surprise stay in a madhouse that leads to steamy encounters with a dangerous inmate; a stalker who's a Marine with an evil mission and a worse secret still; death by pepper flakes; a tight-lipped mother trapped in her own secrets and a double-wide trailer filled with cats and litter boxes; a gruesome death that is either the supreme act of poetic justice or derangement.

And all of it told in Moore's signature style: a low-key voice with a great eye for detail and dialogue and wit so acidic it could take flesh right off the bone.

Now the next mystery I want Marshall Moore to solve is when his next book will be coming out!

What does it take to get a good review?
I'm a bit mystified by some of the two and three star reviews here. Frankly, I found The Concrete Sky to be a refreshing change of pace, possessing an actual plot, and well-written. If I never read a gay coming-of-age novel again I'll die a happy man. I've long been a believer that a novel should be about the most interesting day (month, year, whatever) in a character's life and The Concrete Sky delivers on that score. I also found the first third to be the creepiest non-horror novel I've read in a long time. I felt a palpable sense of dread wondering if Chad was going to be trapped in the mental hospital for the long term--not to mention what his berserk older brother would do. I can definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more of Mr. Moore's work.

A Rollercoaster Ride of Passion, Mystery, & Redemption !!
THE CONCRETE SKY is a total winner and is INSTANTLY engaging. Chad is the long suffering hero. Jonathan is his enigmatic man/boy partner in adventure. Rose is the butch dyke roomie who is much more clever than she reveals. Mona is a mother who was taught parenting by an alley cat. Martin is the half-brother evil spawn homophobe. Cindy is Martin's redneck, cowering wife. Harry is the cleverest lawyer ever. These characters interact in a mysterious way to create a novel of intrigue and empathy. It most assuredly is a fast paced story; one that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotion; and one that is fulfilling. I HIGLY RECOMMEND this book.