Title: Swipe Right For Murder
Author: Derek Milman
Publisher: jimmy patterson
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
336 pages
4/5
Goodreads Review
On the run from the FBI.
Targeted by a murderous cult.
Labeled a cyber-terrorist by the media.
Irritated texts from his best friend.
Eye contact with a nice-looking guy on the train.
Aidan has a lot to deal with, and he’s not quite sure which takes top priority.
Finding himself alone in a posh New York City hotel room for the night, Aidan does what any red-blooded seventeen-year-old would do—he tries to hook up with someone new. But that lapse in judgement leads to him waking up next to a dead guy, which sparks an epic case of mistaken identity that puts Aidan on the run from everyone—faceless federal agents, his eccentric family, and, naturally, a cyber-terrorist group who will stop at nothing to find him.
He soon realizes the only way to stop the chase is to deliver the object everyone wants, before he gets caught or killed. But for Aidan, the hardest part is knowing who he can trust not to betray him—including himself.
Review
Howdy, friends! August is the month I will really be cracking down on my Netgalley ARC’s so my ratio will improve. I have been denied a lot lately so I feel like that is impairing my approval. Special thanks to Netgalley and jimmy patterson for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts off FAST. First 20 pages and you’re blasted off onto an epic adventure of a lifetime. Seventeen year old Aidan makes the GIANT mistake (we all make) of making some late night social media connections (wink wink) while in New York City for the night. Aidan is unapologetically gay (which is amazing). After having the most awkward encounter with a guy from his school (who doesn’t seem sure of his orientation) Aidan is left wanting more so he returns to the app. This is the problem, as a SERIOUS case of mistaken identity puts him in the middle of a murder, a hacker, a terrorist group, and he has NO IDEA what to do or better yet, who to trust.
Swipe Right grabs your attention immediately. There is no denying the action and thrilling drama that this kid is going through. You start to wonder how he is keeping his cool as well as he is. He also has secrets, which are divulged piecemeal throughout the book. They provide a new level of dimension to his character, so his arc is really cool to see.
Side characters are good, if not kind of generic. I wasn’t really connected to any of the characters who make up his friend group. But, this may be on purpose as Aidan really is the star of this show.
The last third of the book is a web that you have to try to untangle, because you have no idea who is telling the truth and who is lying. Aidan really struggles with this himself as these events that he should not have been a part of keep happening to him.
For the most part, I enjoyed this book. I read it all in one day (which is generally my baseline for telling definitively whether I’ve liked a book) so it definitely grabbed my attention and held it. The writing was a bit hard to understand and follow at times, but as this is the unedited edition I give it the benefit of the doubt that this will be improved before publication. The ending however, left much to be desired. After the BIG EVENT ending, there were still several chapters of wrap up. After each chapter concluded I thought to myself, “Okay, that’s a good stopping point”, but there would be a whole other chapter after that! This happened a few times. I definitely didn’t need that level of follow up. For these reasons, I knocked it down a star.
Swipe Right For Murder will be great for fans of action and thrillers. There is no slow build up, the book basically punches you in the face with plot. Buckle your seat belts and get ready for a wild ride!
Baltimore Bibliophile 