Adrenaline (novel)
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_cover_art.jpg) First edition | |
| Author | James Robert Baker under the pseudonym James Dillinger |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Gay love, drug use, AIDS, homophobia, hypocrisy of organized religion |
| Genre | Gay erotic noir thriller[1] |
| Publisher | Signet Books/New American Library (1985), Plume (1988), Alyson Books (2000)[2][3] |
Publication date | 1985 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 302 |
| ISBN | 0-451-13563-6 (Signet) ISBN 1-555-83565-1 (Alyson Books; reprint) |
| OCLC | 12303275 |
| Followed by | Fuel-Injected Dreams |
Adrenaline is the first novel written by James Robert Baker (1946–1997), an American author of sharply satirical, predominantly gay-themed transgressional fiction.[4][5][6]
After graduating from UCLA, he began his career as a screenwriter, but became disillusioned and started writing novels instead.[7] After the controversy surrounding publication of his novel, Tim and Pete, he faced increasing difficulty having his work published.[8]
Adrenaline was published in 1985 under the pseudonym James Dillinger.[9] A story of two gay fugitive lovers on the run, it presaged the satire and drug fueled violence so prominent in his later books.[10] Here Baker began developing the themes that dominated his following works: anarchy; angry and somewhat paranoid gay men; the dark underside of Los Angeles, juxtaposed with its sunny outward image;[11] the hypocrisy of organized religion; anonymous sex and its implications in the age of AIDS; and homophobia and the oppression of gays in a Republican-dominated America.[12][13][14] Its plot device of underdog characters forced into flight due to circumstances beyond their control was one Baker explored in all of his subsequent work.
Plot summary
A native Californian, his work is set almost entirely in Southern California, and the book is about two "lusty" gay lovers from Los Angeles named Nick and Jeff who at the beginning of the novel were having passionate sex when two "wildly homophobic cops" break in on them.[1][15] They fight back and while trying to defend themselves, they take one cop as hostage.[15] A SWAT team shows up and accidentally kills the cop hostage and blames the two lovers.[15] After that incident the two are on the run from the authorities throughout Los Angeles on the way to Mexico.[16]
