Monday, August 9, 2021

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.  

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