Between The Lines

Jimmy Booker is living on borrowed time. An erstwhile private eye, he has lung cancer brought on by Aids. He’s struggling massively with everyday life and has help from Numi, his gay Nigerian friend, who has feelings for him. Jimmy finds Numi’s feeling hard to accept and relate to even though he accepts all the help Numi is willing to give.

An old friend Eddie, who hasn’t been to see Jimmy since he became ill, wants his help in finding his wife, Olivia. Jimmy and Olivia have a platonic history so, of course, Jimmy will do what he can. He’s also in mental turmoil because his brother was murdered when he was a young boy.  Jimmy was supposed to be looking after him and has blamed himself ever since. 

He manages to solve the murders and makes his peace with himself and his mother, who also blamed Jimmy for the murder of her younger son and hadn’t seen him since. He even acknowledges he can feel platonic love for a man.

Performance

Phil Gigante does a great job, his voice is perfect for narration. The character portrayals are excellent, dramatic and energetic.

Thoughts

The story is told in the first person from Jimmy’s point of view which is interesting, listening to his internal dialogue. He’s in a horrendously bad place, I get that, I really do and who knows how a person would react in a similar situation. The only gripe I have is the continual repetition of certain feelings and thoughts, mostly about him not being gay and feeling uncomfortable with Numi’s affection, but if you can get past that it’s a good story even for all the darkness in there. Great (if that’s the appropriate word) ending.