REVIEW: Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment (book) by Felice Picano

Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment is LGBTQ+ historical fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Addison Grimmins, a handsome, street-smart, omnisexual man ("omnisexual" is used on the back of the book but not in the text itself), is employed by the Earl of R. to do whatever needs to be done that he can't. Most recently, this includes tracking down Lord R.'s wife, who went missing after their son's wedding. Was she kidnapped, or did she leave of her own volition? Either way, Addison will find her and bring her back. However, as he learns more about her...kidnappers? associates?...he realizes he might have a more personal connection to what's going on than he thought.

The first half of this book is devoted to Addison's pursuit of Lord R.'s wife. The second half is a description of Addison's life up to the point when he was employed by Lord R. I found the second half much more interesting than the first. Unfortunately, the two parts didn't really come together well.

The first half of the book was surprisingly boring, considering it described a chase across Europe, as Addison searched for clues and, through various means, charmed locals into giving him information. It was impossible to get emotionally attached to anyone, and nothing that happened was particularly exciting or even very interesting, despite mentions of opium dens, casual sex, and a stiletto fight. 

In the second half, readers learned about Addison's childhood - his separation from his older brothers, being cast out onto the streets by his surrogate mother, finding employment picking through garbage, becoming part of an acting troupe (and being introduced to sex by the married couple in charge), becoming a prostitute, and eventually being offered a job by Lord R. 

Addison's story wasn't my cup of tea, but it was definitely more interesting than the first half. Unfortunately, the different parts of the book didn't form a very satisfying whole, and when things finally returned to the book's "present," I felt a weird form of emotional whiplash. It didn't help that, even with all that information about him, I was never able to bring myself to feel much for Addison. Stuff happened to him, some of it sucked, and only occasionally did any of it really seem to emotionally effect him.