A Burning Desire

It is: a fictional tale of a grisly, gruesome murder in the world of gay porn... a saga of ego, greed, lust, and sexual obsession... a gay romance novel, complete with loving couples, jealousy, and possessiveness... a novel about gay porn stars in action, complete with fluffers, twinks, and directors... a look inside the world of gay-porn Internet websites and male escort services... a sexually explicit read—spiked throughout with sizzling-hot, gay love-scenes... a gay travelogue (Ft. Lauderdale, South Beach, San Diego, Blacks Beach, La Jollia)... a cleverly crafted, classical novel—reminiscent of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”... a police detective, RICCO, and FBI crime story... a court-room murder-drama with dueling high-powered attorneys... a real who-done-it, where the reader gets to decide who... a gay novel, written by a gay author, with gay characters, doing gay things... a real page turner—through to the end. At 8:34 p.m., on January 25th, 2009, the Fire Department responded to a residential blaze at 90 Mayberry Drive, Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, where a male victim—Brady Thomas Konner, producer and owner of Python Videos—was found deceased within. Konner was a director of internationally recognized, twink, gay-porn videos—with leading star, Jon Loghan, aka Scott Samuels. The victim, identified through dental records, had suffered twenty seven [post mortem] stab-type wounds to his body and torso, one slash-type wound to his neck (severing his hyoid bone, trachea, left carotid artery, and left jugular vein), and—due to a fire intentionally set to cover-up the deed—was burned beyond recognition. The Coroner reported the probable cause of death was a “slash wound to throat.” It is not a spoiler to say that—at the stories end—no one—no police official, detective, attorney, judge, or juror—can say with any certainty exactly who murdered Brady Thomas Konner. Two rival porn-stars/producers—hot and stylishly sexy Sancho Florez and Beau Stevens —have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the parts they may have played in the murder. But, both deny being the murderer, and neither confessed to the slaying. They both blame others, and each other, for the crime. There was no conclusive forensic evidence to positively determine if either Sancho or Beau actually wielded the knife. And both men gave differing accounts: what they said in private (to their attorneys, families, friends, and in tape recorded prison phone calls) varied considerably from their sworn (if inconsistent) testimony in court. The author tells how it may have happened, entertaining both men’s versions: in Chapter 15, you will find Sancho Florez’s version, wherein Beau Stevens is the one “who-done-it;” and, in Chapter 16, Beau Steven’s version, wherein Sancho Florez is the culprit. You may decide which version, if either, to believe; either way, the outcome will not be affected. Among the dominant characters in this tale is handsome Texan, Greg Rancher (and his loveable pooch, Samantha), who conspires with FBI investigators and eccentric attorney, Rendell Bringham, to help solve the case. Driving the plot to its exciting conclusion is Det. Donald J. Dove, whose incessant appetite for getting to the truth is only equaled by his excessive appetite for food. It’s a plethora of personalities and circumstances all coming together in a tale of love-affairs, lust, greed, and grisly murder, finishing with a riveting court-room drama. And like many a Greek tragedy, in this story, we learn to love the characters—and to hate the fate that seems destined for them.