KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM SPY: An Original Jane Bond Parody

At the start of this wacky lesbian spin on the Bond books, it's 1962, and the cranky, conservative Sons of Britain Society are plotting to overthrow Elizabeth II. Unfortunately, the Secret Service isn't up to full speed: its best agent has suffered a nervous breakdown, just before an important royal audience. Tall, handsome and desperately in need of cash, Jane Bond accepts £1,000 to impersonate her brother James. She soon finds herself haplessly embroiled in a dangerous political conspiracy—and happily ensnared in a hot romance with agent Bridget St Claire of G.E.O.R.G.I.E. (Greater European Organization of Radical Girls Interdicting Evil), who is also on the trail of the SOBS. Maney (The Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend: A Nancy Clue Mystery; A Ghost in the Closet: A Hardly Boys Mystery) is known for her affectionately campy parodies of everybody's favorite teen sleuths, delicious burlesques in which these formerly chaste adolescents indulge in the love that dares not speak its name. There is an enthusiastic audience for this kind of fun gay fare, but Maney's latest book is short on fizz. Scenes both boring and pointless—exhaustive detailing of bureaucratic procedures, inane conversations between minor characters, a protracted argument over what to have for breakfast—keep the story from achieving an exciting pace. And the author's attempts to add psychological depth to her story are regrettable. Jane's recollections of her silent, difficult, depressed father—to cite just one example—have no place in what is ostensibly a sexy, saucy romp. (July)