The Tuxedo Society

Rudnick (What Is Wrong with You?) queers the action-adventure genre with this mix of The Dirty Dozen, James Bond, and Steven Rowley’s The Guncle. Young aspiring actor and scented-candle shop clerk Andrew Birnbaum is recruited by his best friend, Brock, to join the Tuxedo Society, an undercover network of elite LGBTQIA+ people called upon for covert counter-espionage missions. Andrew is selected for his skills at improv and ability to master a variety of accents. He strives to prove his worth to the group on an adventure that will have him posing as, among other identities, a waiter, a gym member, and an Olympic diver as the society seeks to retrieve the three gems of the Diadem of Apollo while also protecting a popular first lady, Reata Pershing, from danger. The storyline, like many action-adventure tales, skews toward the preposterous at times, but Rudnick’s wit shines throughout with laugh-out-loud one-liners and characters readers will adore.