Swipe right for murder by Derek Milman

Aidan Jamison is staying at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City, waiting for his family to arrive so they can jet off together to see his aunt who has some seriously bad luck.  He has had time to catch up with some of his friends from boarding school, and should be happy just hanging out on his own - but he can't resist jumping on the DirtyPaws app to see if he can find a hook up nearby.  Despite his first hit being a miss, unsurprisingly Aidan finds someone in the hotel who meets his needs - a hot, older guy, named Benoit.  It is a little awkward, because Benoit seems to be expecting something from Aidan beyond a quick hook up, but it turns into an enjoyable encounter - until Aidan wakes up and discovers that Benoit is dead.

Finding a dead body should be the worst thing that happens, but it looks like some of his aunts bad luck may have rubbed off on Aidan because his day quickly goes from bad to worse.  He receives a mysterious phone call that threatens his family if he doesn't cooperate, that he has something they want - and for some reason they keep calling him Mr. Preston.  Determined not to put his family at risk Aidan goes on the run, trying to solve the puzzle while also staying alive.  His quiet trip to New York to meet up with his family is soon a distant memory, and Aidan has stumbled across something that he was never meant to see, and now might never escape.

I picked up Swipe right for murder for what must be one of the weirdest reasons - because I saw a review of the book that absolutely slammed it purely because Aidan is gay.  That was it, the person didn't even read the whole book because they read a few chapters and discovered that Aidan was gay, and that was the end of the book for them.  Knowing that just made me determined to read it and see what it was like - and I am very glad I did.  One of the hallmarks of a great character is that they grow and change as their story develops, that they are changed by the people and experiences they encounter, and are able to evolve.  Aidan's story is one of the better ones for showing this evolution of a person - he starts off rather shallow and self-centred, but the more time you spend with him the more you get to know him and why he is the way he is, and see what he starts developing into.  

This is not a simple story, there are different elements that make it difficult to categorise - crime, romance, thriller, coming of age, they are all here.

Thank you to the random hateful person who dismissed Swipe right for murder just because it was a 'gay' novel - you encouraged me to read what turned out to be a very good book.  

The house of killers by Samantha Lee Howe

Neva is walking death, a highly trained assassin who picks off her targets with calculated precision.  She doesn't let emotion get in the way, and her skills have not gone unnoticed.  Since childhood Neva has been trained and conditioned to follow her orders, to obey her handler and those above her without question and without emotion - and with her knack for disguising herself she could be right in front of you and you would never know.  She is a ghost, one that has hidden in plain sight for years with no one the wiser.  Michael Kensington is an MI5 operative working outside the mainstream in the Archive team.  His job is to help solve puzzles, to profile suspects - and not always on the cold cases that Archive supposedly works on.  One of those cold cases leads Michael to Neva, an assassin who doesn't seem to quite fit the mould.

When one of Neva's targets turns out to be another assassin who needs to be 'retired' it offers a glimpse into the future, and small cracks start appearing in Neva's carefully cultivated façade.  Following the rules and looking obedient will keep herself, but after so many years of being a tool she is starting to awaken to other possibilities.  When she breaks protocol and leaves her past behind, it is the beginning of the end for Neva.  Breaking away from the Network paints a target on her back, and she has no idea how deep the conspiracy goes.  When Michael stumbles across Neva and discovers who she is he discovers that she is more than just a cold blooded killer, she is also a victim of a conspiracy that has its fingers in lots of different pies.  Neva just wants to break away from the Network, but they can't afford to let her go.  When the team at Archive uncovers some startling connections between a cold case they are investigating and Neva, the walls start closing in for both Michael and Neva - who can they trust in a world where for some people, keeping secrets is like breathing.

I stumbled across The house of killers in a new books list for my local public library and the blurb seemed really intriguing - especially the line about it being Killing Eve meets Jason Bourne.  I tend to like my reads more at the thriller end of the crime genre, but every now and then a great blurb will tempt me to read books from the action genre and this was one of those times when I didn't regret it one bit.  Samantha Lee Howe has a spare writing style, she doesn't bury you with mindless details, and keeps the action moving along at a decent pace.  You get to see the world of Neva and Michael without drowning in minute details that don't really add anything - which means she is able to cover a lot of ground, and a lot of action in a 410 pages!  

Howe has created a believable world for her characters, one that should appeal to readers of the genre - as well as ring true to conspiracy theorists who would no doubt state emphatically that the Network is real!  The shifting perspectives between Neva and Michael are well handled and offer you a glimpse of both their lives and what they are going through, without resorting to using the 'voice of god' third person view that can get very annoying very quickly.  The chapters are fast moving, and it is easy to keep up with what is happening.  This was a great find, and hopefully I don't have to wait too long to get my hands on the sequels Kill or die and Kill a spy.

If you like this book then try:

• Sticks and stones by Katherine Firkin
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The runner by Stephen Leather
• The nowhere child by Christian White
• Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza
• Safe by S.K. Barnett
• Kill a stranger by Simon Kernick
• Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
• Breaking Creed by Alex Kava
• The Postcard killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• The killing kind by Chris Holm

Reviewed by Brilla