The Big Switch:
A Brian Kane Mystery

Reviewed by Kevin R. Tipple
The Big Switch: A Brian Kane Mystery
By Jack Bludis
ISBN 1-891946-10-2
Publisher: Design Image Group, Inc

Rating: ****

Recently Oceania decided that book reviews should not be limited to just "erotica" titles. Variety is the spice of life and a little variation is a good thing. While erotica remains the focus, we will also be bringing you other worthy titles for your consideration. In that vein, The Big Switch: A Brian Kane Mystery is our first mystery pick.

This soon to be released title (as of early August) is written in the Mike Hammer style of P.I. and is a real pleasure to read. As the novel opens, Brian Kane is hot on the trail of the young movie star wannabe, Noni Light. Kane is your classic hard drinking, hard smoking, hard working PI that men fear and women naturally throw themselves at. Noni has noticed him following her and after confronting him on the street, takes him home to her apartment. There she tries various ways of finding out exactly who has hired Kane.

She desperately needs to know because she is having an affair with the very married Lester Randolph of her movie studio. She believes that she is up for a part in a planned musical, and in the year 1951, scandal would destroy her career. Kane never tells her who hired him, or the fact that she is just one of several that Lester is bedding on a regular basis. She offers everything, including her body and its obvious talents, but he refuses all offers.

Kane has all he needs after two weeks of tailing her and Lester and soon takes his written report to Charlotte Randolph, the wife of Lester Randolph. While beautiful in her own right, he realizes that this was not the beautiful woman that hired him posing as Charlotte Randolph. He keeps the report and when later contacted by the fake wife, gets her to meet him where she pulls a gun on him. He gives up the report because even being fake; she did pay for it, before taking the gun off of her.

Soon, Noni is dead and an elaborate frame begins to arise around Kane. As bodies begin to mount and the evidence piles up, Kane must also deal with the conflicting feelings over his relationship with his lover and high priced call girl, Kitty. While he has intense feeling for her, carefully avoiding the word "love," he battles jealousy over his feelings about her second profession. Kitty, a model by day and an expensive call girl at other times, also is conflicted over the relationship. She does not like his job anymore than hers. Not only for the danger it brings but also that he routinely slips into bed with the women he meets while working.

While this novel does contain some graphic sex scenes, it is more importantly about the evolving relationship between Kane and Kitty. While he works to untangle himself from the frame and find the killer of Noni, Kane must also untangle the very confusing threads and his feelings regarding his relationship with Kitty. This is a very enjoyable read and reminds me of the classic mystery type fiction that you just don't see that much of anymore