Books with TG Characters:
Spooker & Cabal
By Elizabeth Parker
Welcome
to the second mainstream book column. I had so much fun
writing the first column, Ive had to keep myself
from inundating you with new books this month. But I need
to save material for future columns!
Last month I started out on a positive note, with two
books featuring transgender characters who are positive
role models. As I noted, that characteristic is
relatively rare in mainstream fiction. So this month
well look at two books with crossdressing villains.
The first book is "Spooker",
by Dean Ing. It reads fast and as the action escalates,
so do the disguises. I am also pleased to report that FTM
aficionados will not go away disappointed.
The premise of the book is that undercover agents of
all kinds keep a "spooker", a false identity
kit, handy in case they need to disappear rapidly. The
book starts by describing a male Russian agent who
disappears and then reappears through the years in
different identities. It turns out he is actually a woman
who was born with too much testosterone in her system.
The Russians train her to impersonate both sexes
effectively. She then vanishes and starts stalking
undercover agents all over the world to kill them and
steal their money and false identities. As time passes
she kidnaps a baby boy from a nursery to give her a good
cover as a single mother. She raises the boy in her image
to help in her work. He learns all about disguises and
become quite good at them. He is very adept with female
disguises and his personal spooker contains a female
identity. Alas, these are the bad guys, and there are
some distinctly unpleasant scenes described. But there
are also some very good gender and disguise discussions.
There is a particularly good seduction scene where an
actress the young man is infatuated with catches him as a
female, accepts him as a crossdresser, and offers to help
him.
This book is a lot of fun as a thriller, spy story,
and transgender book. It is still widely available in
both hardback and paperback.
The next review contains a spoiler. Unfortunately it
is not possible to tip you off to many good transgender
reads without ruining some surprises. I will do my best
to warn you ahead of time.
Arelio Zen is an Italian police detective in the city
of Rome with an unusual flaw in police fiction, at least
for a hero. He is a corrupt cop. He is quite pragmatic
and intelligent, but his efforts are oriented toward
surviving in a very political environment. In this book,
a suspect another detective has been trailing is killed,
apparently in an accidental fall. The only bystander is
an elegantly dressed woman. As Zen investigates, he is
asked to fix the investigation. Thinking to set up his
fellow detective, he discovers him dead in his apartment.
The detective remembers spotting a young woman leaving
the building ahead of his arrival. Later on, Zen travels
to Milan by train and meets a magistrate enroute. During
the meeting, an enticing blonde in a tight skirt and
sweater walks through the train car, trailing perfume and
drawing all eyes. After the meeting, the train goes
through a tunnel, the lights go off, and when they are
turned on again, the magistrate has disappeared. Zen
searches only to find the man has been thrown off the
train. The only person near was the blonde woman. As Zen
narrows in on his suspect, he begins to suspect the
truth, that the woman is a special kind of killer.
The book is "Cabal",
by Michael Dibdin. It is enjoyable as a
transgender read, and keeps your interest up enough in
other areas to make for a pleasant reading experience.
This book is out of print, but I've had no problems
finding it in my local library.
Your tips are appreciated! Keep them coming at
72117.571@compuserve.com.
Next month we'll look at some teen fiction which
contains cross-gender fun.
Bibliography
Ing, Dean, "Spooker", Forge, November 1995,
ISBN: 0312857403 (Hardback)
Ing, Dean, "Spooker", Tor, January 1997,
ISBN: 0812548426 (Paperback)
Dibdin, Michael, "Cabal/an Arelio Zen
Mystery", Doubleday, March 1993, ISBN: 0385468067
(Hardback)
Dibdin, Michael, "Cabal", Bantam Books,
October 1994, ISBN: 0553561731 (Paperback)
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