SICKO

In Grady’s novel, a middle-aged pornography scriptwriter navigates messy relationships, questionable life choices, and unresolved romantic entanglements.

Jamie Katz is 40, divorced, and writing adult-film scripts for Scorch Studios, which happens to be owned by his ex-husband, Paul Loretto (who calls his writing “esoteric”). Jamie’s life in the Los Angeles enclave of San Fernando is a patchwork of dysfunction, whether he’s dealing with a frozen laptop, rewriting sex scenes, or drinking too much with friends from work. When Paul is found shot to death in the alley behind Scorch, Jamie becomes the prime suspect because he was fired that morning, smashed a glass wall in a rage, and has a documented history of torching Paul’s property. Determined to solve the murder before the cops pin it on him, Jamie investigates suspects at Scorch while navigating a complicated personal landscape. Joe Russo, his ex-boyfriend living in Miami, resurfaces after seven years of silence as a possible suspect; he also encounters Edgar Beaumont, a private investigator who may be connected to Paul’s murder as well. Grady’s novel is an unvarnished portrait of queer desire and the messy work of becoming accountable to the people you love. She’s crafted a protagonist who’s simultaneously self-aware and self-sabotaging, his sardonic narration cutting through sentiment with brutal honesty, especially when he reflects on his pattern of destroying relationships before they can destroy him. The prose shifts deftly between graphic sexual content and genuine emotional intimacy, never letting either overwhelm the other. Jamie’s relationships—with Paul (whose sex-toy experimentation gets memorable mention), with Joe (whose seven years of silence speaks volumes), and with Edgar (whose dangerous allure Jamie can’t quite shake)—reveal layers of longing beneath the main character’s self-destructive armor. The novel’s structure occasionally meanders, particularly in extended conversations that circle similar emotional territory. But Grady compensates with sharp atmospheric details, from the air at work to the humidity of Miami’s streets, that ground the narrative’s wilder moments.

A raunchy but emotionally raw contemporary novel.