Lies with Man: A Henry Rios Novel

In Lambda Literary Award–winner Nava’s impassioned ninth novel featuring criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios (after 2019’s Carved in Bone), it’s the fall of 1986 and, as California voters consider a proposition to forcibly quarantine AIDS patients, a bomb planted at Ekklesia, an L.A. evangelical church, kills Daniel Herron, a pastor who endorsed the measure. The police arrest Theo Phillips, a member of Queers United to End Erasure and Repression, a nonviolent activist group, for the crime. When Theo is charged with first degree murder, Henry agrees to defend him. Theo claims he was acting under the orders of his boyfriend, Freddy Saavedra, who has mysteriously disappeared and is not who he appears to be. Henry later uncovers a scheme involving both Ekklesia and the LAPD aimed at decimating the queer community. Flawed characters readers can care about, including Daniel, who was protecting his gay son from the church, complement the twisty plot. This realistic, gritty mystery set during the AIDS crisis is an eye-opener. (Apr.)