Mahu Surfer

By Neil S. Plakcy

Book Overview

MAHU SURFER, the second book in Neil Plakcy's Mahu Investigations mystery series, sends gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa'aka back to his surfing past. His new boss asks the former competitive surfer to go undercover on Oahu's North Shore to find the killer of three surfers. The catch: he can't tell any of his family or friends that he has returned to the force, causing him to lie, when he has just come out of the closet and begun to tell the truth about his life. In his return to the North Shore, Kimo discovers trouble in paradise, from an epidemic rise in the use of crystal meth to increasing pressure on real estate prices. He also rekindles an uneasy friendship with a man whose sexual assault drove him into the police academy, and further into the closet, six years earlier. Readers will enjoy an exotic locale, plenty of aloha spirit and a dash of surf culture, as well as a slam-bang ending.

Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for best gay mystery. Perfect for fans of Joseph Hansen, Michael Nava, and John Morgan Wilson.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DSM363MG
• ISBN13: 9798348237189
• Release Date: July 2019
• Publisher: Samwise Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Follow Up to Mahu

Mahu Surfer is a terrific follow up to Mahu and a solid mystery on its own. Neil Plakcy really gets the island talk, island sensibility and island locations. Having been to Oaha over a dozen times, and holding off on reading this until I was back in Honolulu, I felt as if I was living in the Hawaii of the book. Kimo is turning into a very likeable character with enough flaws and room for development to make him interesting. This time he is still reeling from his very public coming out and sent undercover to the North Shore - a much different Hawaii from Waikiki. He gets his man (and then some).

Mahu Surfer by Neil S. Plakcy

Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery) Mahu Surfer is the kind of mystery novel I most enjoy. The plot is coherent and credible and the characters are clearly defined. The main character, Kimo Kanapa'aka, is intelligent and sympathetic. We are given much insight into his motivations and internal conflicts brought about by his role as an undercover cop and by his frequent sexual relationships with the people he encounters in his investigation. Long a student of Hawai'i and Hawaiian culture, I found the description of Island life accurate. Reading the book is almost like a trip to the Islands. The geography is, as far as I can tell, real. Mahu Surfer is definitely an adult gay novel. It contains vivid sexual passages and language. Nonetheless, I would heartily recommend it to any reader who would be interested in this genre.

Excellent police mystery!

I finished Mahu Surfer a few days ago and thought it was great. I love how Kimo thinks about his family and interacts with them. I love how nice his father is and how bad his brother is, but he loves him anyway. I love the way Kimo always has to tell you what he's eating. His meals really frame his days. I expect Kimo to be in the movies one day.

A big talent gets bigger

With the 2005 publication of Mahu, Neil S. Plakcy was catapulted into the front ranks of gay fiction writers. With this book, the 2nd to feature gay Honolulu police detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, Plakcy evidences a talent too big to be limited by that genre label. Someone is killing the surfers on Oahu's North Shore, and Kimo goes deeply undercover to find out who, and why. What follows is a first rate mystery novel that should satisfy readers regardless of sexual orientation. Along the way, the author delivers complex and well-developed characters, smoothly shaped prose, and a sense of place to rival the best writing--not only is the reader transported to the islands, but to the very crests of the waves as the surfers ride them to shore. At the same time, Plakcy's detective surfs some emotional waves as well. Though he continues to struggle with his sexual identity, the real issues with which Kimo wrestles are Everyman's issues, questions of honesty and loyalty, responsibility and commitment. Like the waves rolling endlessly ashore, the story surges with beauty, mystery and excitement--and, always, the dangerous reefs threaten the thoughtless or the foolhardy. Highly satisfying. Victor J. Banis