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rgbrobbie.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2004-10-12 12:20 pm
rgbrobbie.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-10-12 12:20 pm
Entry tags:
The Goliath by Suzan Lovett (R)
Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: none (includes brief het sex scene between Hutch/OFC)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's website: http://partnersrmore.kixxster.org/Menu.html (Artwork only)
Why this must be read:
Suzan Lovett turns her considerable talents, both literary and artistic (five beautiful illos are reproduced online), to this classic novella from 1986, in which Starsky goes deep undercover to infiltrate and help bring down a mob family. The post-"Sweet Revenge" setting means not only that Starsky feels he has something to prove - that he's capable of handling the demands of this case - but that Hutch feels he must do everything within his power to keep his often-impulsive partner safe, leading him to make some supremely unwise choices with heavy consequences.
Suzan weaves together complicated plots and themes, populating them with not only most of our regulars, but a supporting cast of fully-realized, and in some cases heartbreaking, original characters. There's such reality to the Marruzzi crime family that it makes me wonder just who Suzan knows and what circles she runs in to capture that lifestyle so well. There's a sense of genuine fear and tension - especially as she builds toward the tumbling denouement - as well as quiet moments that include the humor and camaraderie the show was famous for.
While this is gen, there is a such an emotional as well as unselfconscious physical intimacy between Starsky and Hutch that all but the most hardcore slash fan should be satisfied with the obvious tenderness, concern and caring between the two of them. And the dialogue between "our boys" is among the truest representation I've seen of their world.
********
He didn't quite know what to do, almost scared to touch his partner, lest he precipitate something. "It's all right," he said again, then decided it might as well be his touch that set Hutch off. Something had to, obviously. He reached.
Hutch instantly backed away. "So the joke's on me." His voice was unsteady. "Again."
"Hey, it's all right, really." He was aware that he kept repeating himself, and doing even that inadequately, but he was at a loss.
"No, it isn't all right!" Hutch pushed away the hand Starsky reached out to him once more. "Goddammit, it isn't all right. I thought you were dead. I believed it, dammit, but there you are, and you think that's all right?"
Starsky was bewildered. "Uh...isn't it?"
"No. There you are, a fucking miracle -- again! What happens when yours runs out? Nobody up there owes me one, dammit, don't you know that?"
"Hutch, are you...mad at me?" For being alive?
"Yes! No. Yes! I told you to get down, damn you, why didn't you?"
It took some effort for Starsky to comprehend. "Hey, partner, that's ancient history."
Hutch whirled away and continued as if he hadn't heard. "No, you had to stand and face it. You always have to. How the hell can I cover you on all sides at the same time? I can't, and I'm sorry, but how long do I get punished for it?"
********
The Goliath
Pairing: none (includes brief het sex scene between Hutch/OFC)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's website: http://partnersrmore.kixxster.org/Menu.html (Artwork only)
Why this must be read:
Suzan Lovett turns her considerable talents, both literary and artistic (five beautiful illos are reproduced online), to this classic novella from 1986, in which Starsky goes deep undercover to infiltrate and help bring down a mob family. The post-"Sweet Revenge" setting means not only that Starsky feels he has something to prove - that he's capable of handling the demands of this case - but that Hutch feels he must do everything within his power to keep his often-impulsive partner safe, leading him to make some supremely unwise choices with heavy consequences.
Suzan weaves together complicated plots and themes, populating them with not only most of our regulars, but a supporting cast of fully-realized, and in some cases heartbreaking, original characters. There's such reality to the Marruzzi crime family that it makes me wonder just who Suzan knows and what circles she runs in to capture that lifestyle so well. There's a sense of genuine fear and tension - especially as she builds toward the tumbling denouement - as well as quiet moments that include the humor and camaraderie the show was famous for.
While this is gen, there is a such an emotional as well as unselfconscious physical intimacy between Starsky and Hutch that all but the most hardcore slash fan should be satisfied with the obvious tenderness, concern and caring between the two of them. And the dialogue between "our boys" is among the truest representation I've seen of their world.
********
He didn't quite know what to do, almost scared to touch his partner, lest he precipitate something. "It's all right," he said again, then decided it might as well be his touch that set Hutch off. Something had to, obviously. He reached.
Hutch instantly backed away. "So the joke's on me." His voice was unsteady. "Again."
"Hey, it's all right, really." He was aware that he kept repeating himself, and doing even that inadequately, but he was at a loss.
"No, it isn't all right!" Hutch pushed away the hand Starsky reached out to him once more. "Goddammit, it isn't all right. I thought you were dead. I believed it, dammit, but there you are, and you think that's all right?"
Starsky was bewildered. "Uh...isn't it?"
"No. There you are, a fucking miracle -- again! What happens when yours runs out? Nobody up there owes me one, dammit, don't you know that?"
"Hutch, are you...mad at me?" For being alive?
"Yes! No. Yes! I told you to get down, damn you, why didn't you?"
It took some effort for Starsky to comprehend. "Hey, partner, that's ancient history."
Hutch whirled away and continued as if he hadn't heard. "No, you had to stand and face it. You always have to. How the hell can I cover you on all sides at the same time? I can't, and I'm sorry, but how long do I get punished for it?"
********
The Goliath