Title: Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants

Author: Paul David Gould

Genre: Mystery/Fiction

Publisher: Unbound

Publication Date: 8th June 2023

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

The venue was the canteen block of the Red Hammer Cement Works. It was the usual set-up: way out of town, secretive directions to get there, and disco lights blazing…

Moscow, 1993. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union have brought unimaginable change to Russia. With this change come new freedoms: freedom to travel abroad and to befriend Westerners, freedom to make money, and even the freedom for an underground gay scene to take root.

Encouraged by the new climate of openness, twenty-one-year-old Kostya ventures out of the closet and resolves to pursue his dreams: to work in the theatre and to find love as his idol Tchaikovsky never could. Those dreams, however, lead to tragedy – not only for Kostya, but for his mother and for the two young men he loves, as all three face up to the ways they have betrayed him.

Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants is both a gripping mystery and a poignant, very human tale of people beset by forces beyond their control, in a world where all the old certainties have crumbled and it’s far from clear what will eventually take their place.

Review:

I was really curious about the premise of Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants as soon as I heard of it – I have always been fascinated by Russia’s turbulent history but haven’t read anything set just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is a layered and compelling look at the time period and at the struggle facing gay men of that time. It also feels especially relevant today, despite being set decades ago, because of the climate of control in Putin’s modern day Russia. Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants is a murky mystery intertwined with an emotional story of consequence, uncertainty and the human condition. It did initially take me a while to get to grips with all the characters at play and the flashbacks but overall I found it an engrossing and evocative read that I would absolutely recommend.

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Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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