Wrong Train, Right Time (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-01-13 05:04 pm
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-01-13 05:04 pm
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The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by by K.J. Charles
Charles, K.J. The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal. KJC Books. eBook.
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal is exactly what it says on the tin. Simon Feximal is a well-known ghost-hunter whose exploits have been documented by his loyal assistant, Robert Caldwell. After publishing several casebooks to acclaim, Caldwell decides -- as his last work -- to write for his editor a secret casebook. This one describes what he was forced to write out of the public casebooks so they would be suitable for publication: the fact that he and Simon had been, and still were, devoted lovers.
The book is structured, similar to the previously published casebooks, one assumes, as a series of cases. Nearly each one details Simon being called to investigate some supernatural problem. However, while there are certainly mysteries that are solved, the greater emphasis is given to the development of Simon and Robert's relationship. The first chapter of The Secret Casebook depicts their meeting, and the subsequent chapters detail how they fell in love and settled into their life with each other.
Overall, I found The Secret Casebook to be a great and riveting read for many reasons. One is the relationship between Simon and Robert. I enjoyed the progress of their relationship, with all its awkward misunderstandings. I liked how they came to work in sync, I liked reading about how they became comfortable with each other. Their sex scenes were super hot (and, yes, there is explicit sex in this book, in case that's a concern).
Robert has a great voice and one can see how his previously published casebooks would have been riveting bestsellers. in writing, he's lively and engaging, even when discussing the most mundane of concerns. In The Secret Casebook, that lightheartedness extends to how he talks about the persecution he and Simon face as gay men. He's not flip, and he doesn't sugarcoat the reality, but he doesn't dwell on it. And yet, but the reality of the threat that homophobia poses to them seeps through the book nonetheless. For all the supernatural horrors that Simon and Robert face, the worst of them are always those inflicted by men upon others for power, and homophobia is tucked right in alongside the horrors of Dr. Berry and the Fat Man. There is a terrible cruelty in how their government is pleased to use them for politics and war but never to give them freedom or peace. Who can blame them for their choice in the final story?
In talking about Simon and Robert's relationship, though, I have to talk about The Secret Casebook's obvious inspiration: Sherlock Holmes. (In fact, this book was pitched to me as "Sherlock Holmes meets Mononoke", which proved an apt description.) Given the similarities, it's impossible to read The Secret Casebook without seeing some reflection and commentary on what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. The entire premise of The Secret Casebook makes the reader achingly aware of the gulf between what is published and what is reality. It forces another way of looking at the inspiration material: what might Watson have left out? What might he have been forced to leave out? Even more broadly, I feel like The Secret Casebook is a reminder to look beyond the texts that made it through history -- because there's more to what happened than what was lucky enough to be recorded.
This brings me to the last thing about The Secret Casebook that I really want to talk about: stories. Simon is described as a "ghost-hunter" but in truth he's nothing like that. In his approach to settling ghosts the emphasis is firmly on the idea of the ghosts as stories in need of an ending. Not as monsters or evil or otherwise a thing to be vanquished. Simon himself literalizes this understanding of ghosts with (mild spoiler alert, though it shows up in the first chapter) the way that the ghosts communicate through the ink on his skin. The necessity of a mirror to interpret the ghost's communiques is a nice touch. The ghosts' writing isn't enough; every haunting is, in a way, the ghost trying to communicate. But the mirror makes it possible for what the ghosts are trying to say to be read. It's not enough for them to speak, they must also be heard.
This is what I think is the really great thing about Charles' writing in The Secret Casebook. Much in the same way ghosts are framed as unfinished or forgotten stories, so too is the The Secret Casebook and the great love between Robert and Simon a ghost. It haunted the previous casebooks, a ghost unseen and unheard -- deliberately squashed out of the narrative, for palatability and the fear of persecution. Just as Simon and Robert allow ghosts' hurts to be spoken and witnessed, so too is The Secret Casebook a ghost speaking -- and we the readers, both in-universe and out of it, are the witnesses required to set the ghost to rest. And, just as the ghosts find rest but not always justice, so too is The Secret Casebook the story of Robert and Simon's happy ending, but not of the wrongs against them being righted. The Secret Casebook is Robert and Simon's relationship finally acknowledged and brought to a final conclusion. It's a truly lovely and neatly done trick of narrative structure, and I was deeply impressed by how smoothly K.J. Charles pulled it off.
I will admit, The Secret Casebook is rather far out of what I consider my reading wheelhouse these days. That is to say: it's a romance. I should have remembered not to be so prescriptive; with any genre, it always comes down to finding the right writer. I very much enjoyed this first foray into K.J. Charles' work.
The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal is exactly what it says on the tin. Simon Feximal is a well-known ghost-hunter whose exploits have been documented by his loyal assistant, Robert Caldwell. After publishing several casebooks to acclaim, Caldwell decides -- as his last work -- to write for his editor a secret casebook. This one describes what he was forced to write out of the public casebooks so they would be suitable for publication: the fact that he and Simon had been, and still were, devoted lovers.
The book is structured, similar to the previously published casebooks, one assumes, as a series of cases. Nearly each one details Simon being called to investigate some supernatural problem. However, while there are certainly mysteries that are solved, the greater emphasis is given to the development of Simon and Robert's relationship. The first chapter of The Secret Casebook depicts their meeting, and the subsequent chapters detail how they fell in love and settled into their life with each other.
Overall, I found The Secret Casebook to be a great and riveting read for many reasons. One is the relationship between Simon and Robert. I enjoyed the progress of their relationship, with all its awkward misunderstandings. I liked how they came to work in sync, I liked reading about how they became comfortable with each other. Their sex scenes were super hot (and, yes, there is explicit sex in this book, in case that's a concern).
Robert has a great voice and one can see how his previously published casebooks would have been riveting bestsellers. in writing, he's lively and engaging, even when discussing the most mundane of concerns. In The Secret Casebook, that lightheartedness extends to how he talks about the persecution he and Simon face as gay men. He's not flip, and he doesn't sugarcoat the reality, but he doesn't dwell on it. And yet, but the reality of the threat that homophobia poses to them seeps through the book nonetheless. For all the supernatural horrors that Simon and Robert face, the worst of them are always those inflicted by men upon others for power, and homophobia is tucked right in alongside the horrors of Dr. Berry and the Fat Man. There is a terrible cruelty in how their government is pleased to use them for politics and war but never to give them freedom or peace. Who can blame them for their choice in the final story?
In talking about Simon and Robert's relationship, though, I have to talk about The Secret Casebook's obvious inspiration: Sherlock Holmes. (In fact, this book was pitched to me as "Sherlock Holmes meets Mononoke", which proved an apt description.) Given the similarities, it's impossible to read The Secret Casebook without seeing some reflection and commentary on what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. The entire premise of The Secret Casebook makes the reader achingly aware of the gulf between what is published and what is reality. It forces another way of looking at the inspiration material: what might Watson have left out? What might he have been forced to leave out? Even more broadly, I feel like The Secret Casebook is a reminder to look beyond the texts that made it through history -- because there's more to what happened than what was lucky enough to be recorded.
This brings me to the last thing about The Secret Casebook that I really want to talk about: stories. Simon is described as a "ghost-hunter" but in truth he's nothing like that. In his approach to settling ghosts the emphasis is firmly on the idea of the ghosts as stories in need of an ending. Not as monsters or evil or otherwise a thing to be vanquished. Simon himself literalizes this understanding of ghosts with (mild spoiler alert, though it shows up in the first chapter) the way that the ghosts communicate through the ink on his skin. The necessity of a mirror to interpret the ghost's communiques is a nice touch. The ghosts' writing isn't enough; every haunting is, in a way, the ghost trying to communicate. But the mirror makes it possible for what the ghosts are trying to say to be read. It's not enough for them to speak, they must also be heard.
This is what I think is the really great thing about Charles' writing in The Secret Casebook. Much in the same way ghosts are framed as unfinished or forgotten stories, so too is the The Secret Casebook and the great love between Robert and Simon a ghost. It haunted the previous casebooks, a ghost unseen and unheard -- deliberately squashed out of the narrative, for palatability and the fear of persecution. Just as Simon and Robert allow ghosts' hurts to be spoken and witnessed, so too is The Secret Casebook a ghost speaking -- and we the readers, both in-universe and out of it, are the witnesses required to set the ghost to rest. And, just as the ghosts find rest but not always justice, so too is The Secret Casebook the story of Robert and Simon's happy ending, but not of the wrongs against them being righted. The Secret Casebook is Robert and Simon's relationship finally acknowledged and brought to a final conclusion. It's a truly lovely and neatly done trick of narrative structure, and I was deeply impressed by how smoothly K.J. Charles pulled it off.
I will admit, The Secret Casebook is rather far out of what I consider my reading wheelhouse these days. That is to say: it's a romance. I should have remembered not to be so prescriptive; with any genre, it always comes down to finding the right writer. I very much enjoyed this first foray into K.J. Charles' work.