P. J. VernonKirja-arvosteluja

Scary! Some really great plot turns, managed to pull me out of a reading slump which I always appreciate.

CW: assault, abuse (psych/physical), narcotic use

Meh.

That’s how I felt about this book.

I love thrillers, I love LGBTQ characters and stories, so I thought this would be magic. But nope, I was wrong. This was boring, the characters were dull and 2 dimensional and the plot was predictable. I’m honestly not sure if I even want to leave the second star there.

3.5

Soooo much anxiety at the climax of this one, good lord!!

From the opening page, this novel is edgy and thrilling, and filled with tension. It's a story about lovers, Oliver and Nathan, and what happens when Oliver visits a bath house. It’s a propulsive read with flabbergasting surprises that takes a jagged knife to their relationship and leaves the reader gutted and bleeding. The writing is other worldly in its brilliance. Don’t miss this one.

This murder mystery is a real humdinger. Lots of organic twists and turns and a superb ending. The use of multiple character perspectives drives the suspense of this page turner.

I know DID is all the rage these days, but really? Does it have to infest the trashy thrillers I love as well? If nothing else this book will prove educational to those who larp over social media as sufferers of DID. Can't wait to see an Annie pop up as part of a 'system' on TikTok!

This book started out okish and went downhill. I kept reading to see how absurd the story would become. In that regard it did not disappoint.

Not your everyday domestic psychological thriller I can assure you!

Heads up, don’t start the audiobook in the car with your kids like I did, because it starts off with an explicit sex scene in a bathhouse! During the sex, the guy almost tried to kill him with asphyxiation! He was lucky enough to hurt his killer and break free. However, his killer isn’t finished with him yet.

This is told from both partners point of view, the one who cheated and the doctor that wants nothing more than to get married.

Twists and turns galore in this book and if you enjoy unreliable narrators this book is for you!

It suffers from the typical flaws as any domestic thriller, but the "make it gay" gimmick may make it feel like something new to typical domestic thriller readers, including the the bathhouse shaming.

I picked this book up because of the great cover. The inner monologue of the main character was a bit repetitive at times, but overall this was a solid thriller that kept me turning the pages quickly.

Oliver and Nathan are partners, but not married. Oliver is feeling restless in their relationship and is tempted to try new partners. Nathan's wealthy mother is pressuring Nathan to drop Oliver, as he was a former addict, and she believes he is only with Nathan for the money. When an encounter goes wrong, Oliver is terrified, and begins lying to Nathan about what happened. However, Oliver tries to work with the police to find Kristian, the attacker, without telling Nathan too much. This continues until a very dangerous and explosive conclusion.
Beware that there is violence and a lot of gay sex, if that bothers you, this book is not for you.

This story has it all. Family dysfunction...substance abuse...old secrets...betrayal... madness... and a missing husband. This is a debut novel by this talented author. I just finished his second book Bath Haus and immediately decided to search to see if he had any more. This one is so different than Bath Haus but it is every bit as entertaining and absorbing. We quickly realize that this family has secrets that are as rich as their estate and deeply buried with the hope they will never see the light of day. I never saw the ending coming. P.J. Vernon has produced a chilling...twisted, and dark thriller that is very hard to put down until the last page is turned.

Warning: Explicit sex and foul language throughout. While the book was entertaining and the author knows how to pull his reader into his story, keeping me reading to the end, I can’t recommend a book that is this decadent. It made me feel a bit sick. It was very much like reading porn and that's not why I read.

“When it comes to lying there is a Golden Rule...tell as much of the truth as possible because the truth is easier to remember”.
From about the 3rd page of the book this becomes Oliver’s mantra. None of the characters are particularly likeable and they all seem to be caught in dysfunctional relationships. The two main characters.... Oliver and Nathan would have benefited much more if Oliver could have brought himself to have just told Nathan the entire truth...but then again, Nathan probably would have been too hurt to forgive him no matter how much he loved him. The author does an excellent job of showing how one lie...one deception... leads to more and more and more, until the entire relationship is built on nothing but lies, and it doesn’t matter the sexual orientation of said relationship. Nathan wasn’t stupid and he has stayed with Oliver through a variety of life traumas...if anything he was simply naïve. I didn’t dislike the book by any means... but it just feels that it was a deep pit of “dark” and there was no happiness to be found here. The author tried hard to jazz it up with so much unnecessary “flowery” language. It is exhausting to see Oliver continuously trying to cover his tracks...but continuing to keep working himself deeper and deeper. The story is challenging in ways that are completely outside the box of most readers perception and probably outside many readers’ comfort zone in terms of what you may think is happening and what you wish would have happened. What IS happening turns out to be heartbreaking. It’s a train wreck that you can’t stop watching.½

Lots of fun. Major surprise ending.

What a great book! I love a good thriller and the fact that this book featured queer characters was a big draw for me. Once I started reading this book, I found it impossible to set aside. The story was intense and I had no idea who was responsible for everything that was happening. The book took a lot of twists and turns and I loved the fact that I was surprised several times before turning that final page.

Oliver is in a serious relationship with Nathan, a doctor. They refer to each other as husbands but they haven’t actually legally married each other as of yet. Nathan is a bit older than Oliver and they both claim to be happy. When Nathan goes out of town, Oliver decides to visit Haus, a gay bathhouse, where things go terribly wrong. Oliver escapes the situation at Haus with his life but he has to figure out how to explain his injuries to Nathan without telling him what he was actually doing. One bad decision leads to a lie and things spiral out of control before you know it.

This was a great mystery. Things got more and more complex as the story progressed and I couldn’t wait to see how everything would play out. I loved that there were a lot of unexpected developments worked into the story. I thought that the pacing of the story was very well done. The characters were very well done and I really hoped that Oliver and Nathan would be able to get past everything happening within these pages. The secondary characters added a lot to the book as well.

I would highly recommend this book to others. I had a great time with this thriller filled with tons of twists and turns. This was the first time that I had the opportunity to read P.J. Vernon’s work and I was very impressed. I will definitely be picking up more of his books in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Doubleday Books via NetGalley.

Gray Godfrey and her husband, Paul, are visiting her family's estate in South Carolina. After waking from a night of heavy drinking she finds that she's alone in bed. In fact, Paul isn't even in the house and hasn't been all night. She remembers bits and pieces of their trip to the local bar, so maybe Paul went somewhere to cool off. But when their rental car is found abandoned on the highway Gray is relieved - Paul is gone. Gray receives a call from a stranger named Annie who claims to know his whereabouts. Gray reluctantly accepts her help, but soon Annie begins to reveal secrets only Gray knows. Nobody seems to know anyone named Annie. Who is she and what does she want? Paul still hasn't been found and Gray's world is falling apart.

The blurb sounded good, but it was the cover that made me request this - it's gorgeous! The story grabbed me from the start. The writing is good and it was easy to fall into the privileged yet damaged world of Gray. She's a drinker and as the story goes on we uncover what made Gray who she is today. What a big mess - poor Gray. And poor Paul. What happened to him?! I couldn't wait to find out. At about 70% something happened that I really did not like and I couldn't get into the story again. I understand how it ties in to everything and I can appreciate it but I can't help it - I don't like when stuff like that happens. Overall though this was really good. It was compulsive, suspenseful and interesting to get into the mind of Gray.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC.

4.5 stars.

When You Find Me by P.J. Vernon is a chilling domestic mystery.

Gray Godfrey reluctantly agrees to spend Christmas with her family in South Carolina along with her husband, Paul. To shore up her courage, Gray begins drinking before their plane trip and ends up blackout drunk after she, her sister, Charlotte and Paul end up at a local bar after Christmas Eve services. Waking up on Christmas Day with a massive hangover, Gray has few memories of the evening before and she is rather stymied by Paul's absence. She and Charlotte are in the midst of calling local hotels to locate Paul when Detective Nina Palmer informs them Paul's rental car has been found abandoned on the highway. Gray has no idea what could have happened to Paul and the case takes a complicated turn when she receives mysterious voicemail messages from a woman named Annie. The investigation uncovers shocking information about Paul but are these revelations a motive for murder?

Gray is an alcoholic whose thoughts revolve around how she is going to get her next drink. Charlotte and their mother, Paula King, are well aware of her drinking problem and they have ensured she will have no access to alcohol at the family home. The invitation to a reunion at a local hangout is a godsend and Gray plots and schemes her way to downing as much booze as possible before Paul drags her home. Their departure is fraught with tension since Paul found her and a former friend-with-benefits in a scandalous clinch on the dance floor. This is the point where Gray's memories go dark and she absolutely no idea how she got home or who helped her to bed.

Nina and her Aunt Tilda have a rather fraught history with King family. Nina is mostly successful as she tries to remain impartial throughout the investigation. She is diligent as she chases down leads and follows the scant clues she unearths. Nina has reason to fear for Gray's safety when stunning information comes to light about Paul. She grows even more concerned when she finds out the King family's darkest secret. But Nina is ill-prepared for the scene that awaits her once she learns the complete truth about Gray and her past.

When You Find Me is a twist-filled mystery that is quite riveting. The novel is tautly plotted and the storyline is clever and brilliantly executed. Gray is a surprisingly sympathetic character and her confusion about Paul's whereabouts rings true. Nina is an excellent detective whose investigation into Paul's disappearance is thorough despite a bit of a slow start. With breathless twists and dramatic turns, P.J. Vernon brings this intriguing mystery to a stunning but very satisfying conclusion. I absolutely loved and highly recommend this phenomenal mystery to fans of the genre.

A story of small town South, families both wealthy and not, sleeping around, a missing person, one alcoholic police investigator and everyone knows everybody.