I found this story to be so unbelievable and insane that I just could not give it a good rating. Sometimes, while reading, I can understand... the protagonist is just a kid, teenagers make dumb mistakes, sounds legit... This book? Oh. My.

The premise started off great, but then devolved into utter buffoonery. I felt like almost every chapter I was screaming "And THAT'S why you call 911 already!!!" but the MC was so wrapped up in himself and never made a practical or sensible decision the entire time. Every choice he made left me thinking "but WHY would you do such a thing???" By the end I was completely over him and if he died, good riddance. I mean, it's not like his family would miss him, because let's give him the absolute worst people on the planet as parents as well as the most absurd terrorist entanglement in the history of fiction.

Also, the FBI were portrayed in this book as utterly incompetent fools that literally watched a terrorist organization doing their thing and did NOTHING to help, while at the same time breaking numerous laws and giving zero Fs about it. I know it's a common YA trope where the adults are useless and the kids know better and win the day, but this was insanity. Every new piece of story introduced was so preposterous, I'm honestly astonished that I finished this.

Sorry, but I like my crime drama to be more realistic than what I got in this book.

Let me first say that horror, suspense, and gory books are not my typical reads but I was still really interested in giving this book a chance. I thought that the cover of this story looked really intriguing and even though I thought I was going to have a harder time reading this one because I thought it was going to be a little freaky for me, the cover still made me want to give it a chance anyways.

Overall, I thought the writing style was really good. Derek Milman can definitely set up the settings really well and can make his readers feel like they are there. He has a good grasp on showing his readers what is going on versus telling them everything.

This story however, was just not for me. While I connected with the settings of the story and the overall writing style of the story, I did not connect to the characters at all. I felt like the relationships were a big let down for me. No one really seemed to understand our main character, not his family nor his friends. And while his friends did try to help him towards the beginning of the book, I felt like they were really judgmental towards him and his being gay and using a dating/hook up app. I don't feel like they were ever really supportive of him. We also didn't see much of the main characters family either and I felt like there was a big disconnect between them and it felt like nobody really cared about him. Although there was one moment with his sister that was slightly heartwarming but it was over pretty quick so I didn't really get to feel that connection.

The actual plot of the story had a lot of potential and I liked the idea behind it but I don't think the execution lived up to what I was thinking. I never really felt that heart racing moment that I expected and since I never read anything really suspenseful I figured that this would be a hard book for me to put down at night because I needed to know what was happening next from the suspense. There were also a couple of scenes that were actually pretty gory in detail which I did not really enjoy, though that in no way affected my overall rating of the story, it was just something that took me by surprise.

I think I would be willing to read a different book by the author and give them another chance to see if I can connect more with the characters or if it's just how he writes his characters typically. But I think the writing style has promise and I think he is a good author, this story just was not for me.

I loved this book and also enjoyed that it has a gay main character. It brought in a suspenseful tale stemming from social media and how you just never know what kind of situation swiping right might get you into!

A quick paced book that was definitely written for a round adult audience. Many key elements of the LGBTQ community that sheds light onto the truths of what is felt.

Thank you to Netgalley & JIMMY Patterson Books for providing me with an e-ARC of Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman in exchange for an honest review!

Content Warnings: Suicide Mentions, Drugs, Terrorism, Sexual Abuse of a Minor & Animal (Rabbit) Harm.

Can we take a second to look at that cover & that color scheme? I will openly admit that I requested Swipe Right for Murder on Netgalley because that cover had me SHOOK. However, after opening the YA Thriller, I found that there’s much more than meets the eye & I was in for an exhilarating ride.

Right away, I was attracted to the very chill & casual writing. Derek Milman’s wording made Aidan’s character come to life in a realistic fashion. Aidan felt like someone who’s leaving high school & entering college; exactly as he should. Admittedly, I don’t know much about Derek Milman (note to self: change that), so I’m unsure as to if this is own voices — but I really did enjoy the LGBTQ+ representation in Swipe Right for Murder. A GAY THRILLER? Yes, please.

There is a lot of homophobia mentions in Swipe Right for Murder; such as a parent’s reaction to their son coming out & the fact that the terrorists are attacking those that are anti-LGBTQ+. This is also where Aidan deals with an internal conflict (on top of his million other conflicts, because wow, this book is filled with conflict) — because, COOL WE HATE HOMOPHOBES, but also, murder is bad, mmmmmkay?

Swipe Right for Murder is extremely fast-paced & is jam-packed with action. Which is cool, great, fantastic! But unfortunately this is where I had to dock a star, because at times it felt like a Mess & it took me a second to get my bearings back. Throughout, you find yourself questioning who to trust & believe, including our protagonist, Aidan. For me, I found some of the reasoning behind actions & actions, in general, to not necessarily make sense.

However, this little gripe didn’t break the story for me & I still found myself enjoying it to the end.

I found Aidan to be a fun character to follow around. He’s a sarcastic sonnuvagun, especially in times of distress & those are my favorite kinds of characters. He definitely has 99 problems — in regards of the story & his past. There’s a lot of grief he’s forced to deal with; his brother & someone he was sexually involved with both dying & he continued carried this weight on his shoulders.

There are a couple of settings that really held my interest. One, being at a pool party with everyone wearing bunny masks & another being at an amusement park. I love thrillers & horror that takes place at amusement parks — so this was a definite win.

Derek Milman definitely earned a spot on my radar with Swipe Right for Murder & I am definitely looking forward to reading his debut YA novel, Scream All Night. If you’re looking for a fun & fast thriller, I strongly recommend this one.

First, thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A lot of people seemed to enjoy this book....I did not. The plot was entirely too chaotic for me and after awhile nothing was making any sense and honestly it felt like the goal wasn’t to tell a story, but to see what the author could write next to top himself. The premise was great and even the delivery was good for awhile. A boy on the run, framed for murder trying to figure out how the hell he got into this mess? Even the undertones of mental health, suicide, self destructive behavior gave the story an interesting take and some depth. I just think some of that depth ended up getting lost in the chaos, which is extremely disappointing. The shock and awe was not the way to go, in my opinion.

Breathless! I like feckless protagonists, but poor Adam takes the prize for "Wrong Place Wrong Time Wrong Man Actions Have Consequences" competition. Snarky adolescent repressed-WASP heritage Gay Adam, Rhode Island, prep boarding school, angst-ridden Adam: a boy just wants to have fun. Instead, he's running for his life. By the way: it isn't Paranoia when "they" really are after you.


SWIPE RIGHT FOR MURDER is a rollercoaster romp. It's a Jimmy Patterson YA imprint.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Pedophilia, Drug Use, Underage Sex, Murder, Mentions of Homophobia, Infidelity and Death.

I’m so happy to bring to you today my review of Derek Milman’s sophmore novel, Swipe Right For Murder. If you weren’t aware, I was given the opportunity to read and review his debut novel, Scream All Night which I adored and rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. It was such a wild, chaotic and fantastical ride that, given the opportunity to read his second book, I jumped straight away at the chance.

Swipe Right For Murder is a Hitckcokian LGBTQIA+ Young Adult thriller that focuses on seventeen year-old Aidan Jamison who finds himself accidentally involved within a domestic terrorist plot by the group The Swans, who target homophobic people in power who advocate/legislate anti-LGBTQIA+ rights, or ordinary people who refuse their services to LGTBQIA+ individuals. Aidan literally gets placed in the middle, and after hooking up with an older gentleman named Benoit on the app ‘DirtyPaws’, doing the sex, and then waking up the next morning to find that Benoit was shot in the head by a sniper – Aidan runs the fuck out of the hotel room and keeps on running.

What confuses the hell out of Aidan and the reader, is that The Swans think that Aidan is actually Mr. Preston. A man who seems to have something they want. Aidan of course, does not know what this actually is because he is not Mr. Preston.

Or is he?

What follows is an actual insane story mistaken identity – but not really – and governmental shenangians (THE FBI REALLY PLAYING GAMES WITH AIDAN) and a terrorist group on his tail. The situations Aidan gets involved in are completely and utterly ridiculous – but I believe that’s the point. It is an action-filled novel that also explores morality, LGBTQIA+ history and, though briefly, mental health.

The premise of the story was interesting and I was extremely excited to read a YA thriller that situated itself within this sort-of conspiracy between the government and terrorism. Aidan was in interesting narrator who demonstrated extreme emotionality and intelligence. He was able to explore the moral and ethical ambiguity of the farcity of the government in lying to him and using him for the taking down of a domestic terror plot (Yes, you read that right) without his consent and knowledge in contrast to the cult-like terror group who were killing anti-gay legislators because of their degredation of LGBQTIA+ rights. It was interesting to read how Aidan’s internal thoughts acknowledging his feelings – in that, he wasn’t sad about those people being killed but he was sad that people were being killed. It started a conversation that could have been powerful and interesting within the story – but did not deliver in that sense, as when you find out the actual motivation and grand plan of the ‘leader’ of The Swans, it was a disappointment. I think it may have supposed to be highlight the insanity and illogical mental perceptions of terrorists, who believe in their ‘mission’ – but it was underwhelming. Scott, who is the leader of the terrorist group, did what he did for the grand plan of targeting a Carnival full of kids because his partner, Ken, committed suicide. Scott broke up with Ken prior to him taking his own life, because Ken wanted children with Scott:

“Scotty sighs and leans back in his seat. “He wanted children.”…
“He was basically straight.” Scotty gives me a wistful smile….”I wasn’t interested in conformity,” he says. “I wasn’t intersted in breeding. But Ken loved the world. He loved it too much, and that was his problem.”

p. 222

When Ken’s family rejected him, and cried about not being able to see his family, his only connection with them was through Instagram photos. Scott broke up with him because he couldn’t “put up with pathos…I’m not attracted to weakness” (p. 222). So, Scott targeting the Carnival as his grand plan was to get back at the ‘Traditional American Narrative” of being “burdened by children” (p. 222). He then claimed that he was the superior race – even though being ‘gay’ is not racial identity. I do think though that this constant monologuing by Scott was to emphasise his ‘evil’ ways, and how unhinged he was – but it just made his character not a very interesting villain because of his two-dimensional nature.

One of the other aspects of the narrative, moving away from the terrorism and the murder and the being-on-the-run from everyone, Aidan’s backstory in an interesting one. I keep saying interesting because it was and it had the capacity to be an incredibly powerful conversation about the effects of death in the family, mental health and how a family heals or tries to, in such a tragedy.

Though it did this briefly, I felt that the fact that his brother Neil’s death, and that impact on Aidan and his family and the way that influenced Aidan’s decisions and growth through his adolescence. Because one of the major concerns I had with the narrative itself, is Aidan’s understanding of his past ‘relationship’ with his best friend Shane’s, father. I say ‘relationship’ in quotation, because it is never explicity stated, but the fact that this story occurs when Aidan is seventeen, one can assume that Aidan’s ‘relationship’ with Shane’s father, Tom, occurred when he was either sixteen or younger. So basically, it was statutory rape and Tom was a pedophile? Rhode Island’s age of consent is 16 years old, where this occurred, but still. It was just not handled well at all. Aidan also then has sex with Benoit who was described as a ‘silver fox’, so I’m guessing he was at least in his late 30s the least – and again, this type of behaviour seemed destructive as a result of Aidan’s past. If that makes sense. I don’t want to seem like I’m judging the sexual behaviour of Aidan, I just think that there was trauma involved as a result of his relationship with Tom that needed to be explored and considered.

Moving on to characters, Aidan was a solid character though I found him to be lacking in common sense most of the time. I get that it made the story more interesting because it would have lacked the ‘adventure’ if Aidan just went straight to the police, like most people would, but his actions throughout were not the smartest to do in the scheme of things. Again, I felt that Aidan was not an extremely strong character in terms of his personality as I did not connect very well with him, or his friends who disappeared halfway through the story or his family. Though it was very engaging and I read it within a few hours, it didn’t have the same panache as Scream All Night did.

The writing itself was amazing. Milman’s talent really is conveyed through how he weaves his story together. Although the dialogue and scenes, at times, seemed choppy, there were some incredibly beautiful sentences and imagery. The quote used at the beginning of this review, was one that I found to be incredibly beautiful and simple. I adored it.

Milman is an author who I will always be on the lookout for, because I find his writing to be easy to read and stunnng in its easy ability to weave the reader into the world. But I found this book to be lacking somewhat, and I’m sorry if that is offensive I don’t mean to be insulting, but that’s how I feel. Though I loved, and I mean loved, the snippets of LGTQIA+ American history that is scattered throughout and Milman’s writing, the rest of the actual story, the characters, etc., fell flat. For that reason, I would rate Swipe Right For Murder a 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it though, if you want an action-packed, fast-paced Young Adult thriller. Swipe Right For Murder by Derek Milman is out now.

Aiden uses a hook up app to find a Spring Break fling. After hooking up he wakes up to find his date dead and he finds himself wanted for cyberterrorism. He soon finds himself targeted by an extremist gay rights terrorist organization which targets homophobic individuals and institutions. Thrillers require a level of suspension of disbelief in order to work but this book takes it to a whole other level. Aiden and his friends are supposed to be 17 or 18 years old yet they don’t act like any human, let alone any teen, would in the real world. Aiden is supposed to be this damaged individual and the other characters keep on pointing out how damaged he is but he doesn’t display any discernable personality. There are times where Milman attempt to address serious topics like suicide, grief, and sexual abuse but his handling of such issues is in contrast to the absurd plot. This book just does not work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book early for an unbiased review.

First, the premise of this book sounds pretty good. A boy wakes up next to a dead man, whom he hooked up with earlier that night. He goes on the run and tries to solve the mystery of what actually happened .

Secondly, this book is a James Patterson presents book. Well, he just lost a lot of respect from me.

The writing of this book was terrible. Extremely childish and extremely immature. I read YA all the time, so that’s not why if that’s the argument you want to make with me.

Secondly, this 17 year old boy is constantly talking about hooking up with way older men. In fact, he moved to a boarding school because he hooked up with one of his friend’s dads. And when their relationship ended, he couldn’t be around him. So I’m guessing he was 16 or so when he is going around screwing a much older man. I’m sorry, pedophilia much?

I just can’t fathom anyone who read the beginning of this book and decided to continue on. I was disgusted.

Also, if I believe that I’m wanted for murder and I am on the run, I would do probably the opposite of everything this kid does.

Sorry, folks. This just isn’t good, therefore I did not finish it.

My overall rating for Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman is 3/5.

Going into this I was interested in the plot, but found it to be slow moving at times, because I flew through the first half of the book. The second half where we learn how our main character (Aiden) gets caught it the middle of this terrorist group taking over drones and killing people with homophobic views/opinions. I found myself frustrated with certain plot points because they weren't as believable as they should have been, because this is a contemporary story.

One of the things that I found really enjoyable was Aiden's friend group and how supportive and willingness to help him get through everything he's been through(which is a lot). I can understand what it's like when after the death of a love one those around them may shut down and out things that remind them of that individual.

Would I buy this book or suggest this to someone else? I would have to say yes, but I would put a lot of consideration into another readers taste before suggesting it.

I don’t think I can say that I LOVED this book. Did I hate it? No. Was it just ok? Yes. It’s definitely possible that I just didn’t appreciate a good thriller/adventure novel because I don’t read them an awful lot. Will people like this novel? Definitely. However, I just felt that the content was pretty “meh” and not all that awe inspiring.
My biggest complaint comes from the resolution of any conflict. Most of the situations were resolved out of convenience and pure luck rather than any major effort of the protagonist - this set up bores me. We have a preppy main character with loads of money so that’s never an issue. He just happens to have survivalist knowledge because of a “survivalist uncle” having taught him stuff YEARS ago. He just happens to run into people that can save him from every situation. He just happens to know that one, random piece of information that allows him to connect all the dots. I was bored with the ease of it and found myself having difficulty in suspending my disbelief so often.
Beyond the story though, the writing was pretty good. Milman can write an action scene pretty darn well, so I wasn’t disappointed with those. I did want a bit more of the emotional past of Aiden (the protagonist) - there is a LOT of information to work with there and I wanted it more flushed out but that’s hard to do when people are trying to kill you. I’d be curious to hear what people think about the many references and accounts of a minor sleeping with adults. It bothered me and I think Milman does a good job of bringing some of that to light (takes awhile, but he does it eventually).

This is the first time I’ve ever put off writing a review and I’m typing this up 12 hours after finishing and I’m still not sure how I feel.

What I liked:

• the LGBTQ history
• the fast pace and non-stop action of the story
• all of the double crossing that kept me guessing

I struggled with Aiden’s inner monologue. I couldn’t ever settle into it, partly because the writing felt choppy and partly because I’m not sure I ever really cared enough about Aiden to care about his journey.

Plot wise, there were a lot of moving parts and I don’t know if all of them were needed. Towards the end, it seemed like everything that could happen did happen.

Overall, I’m wondering if my rating of 3 stars is too high, yet I can’t disregard that it was a story that kept me reading.

FYI: drug use, talk of suicide, adult and teen sexual relationship

**Huge thanks to Jimmy Patterson Books for providing the arc free of charge**

A binge-worthy read that reads like modern cyberpunk. Extremely funny--legit laugh-out-loud moments. Definitely recommend!

Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman, 336 pages. LGBTQIA+
JIMMY Patterson Books (Little, Brown and Company), 2019. $18.
Language: R (265 swears, 46 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NO
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Aidan finds himself alone at a hotel in New York during spring break as he waits for his family to show up the following day. So he decides to look for a hookup on an app. He falls asleep in his hookup’s hotel room and wakes up to find that the guy is dead. Shot through the head. And now the dead guy’s cell phone is ringing.
This story was enjoyable to read because it moves quickly through twists and turns without being choppy or disorienting, which kept me immersed the whole time I was reading. Going through the unexpected with Aidan was exciting and up until the end, like Milman didn’t know how to make resolutions interesting to the reader, but everything up through the climax was well done. I even found myself laughing aloud at some of the snarky and random thoughts Aidan had. However, despite all of that good, I felt that the outrageous amount of swearing put a damper on all that was fun about the book. If I wasn’t reviewing this book, the swearing would have deterred me enough to put it down without finishing. The mature content rating is for drug use, masturbation, sex, and statutory rape; the violence rating is for criminal activity, murder, suicide, and acts of terrorism.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

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 <strong>BIG EVENT</strong> 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!

17 year old Aidan is staying at the Mandarin Oriental NY for the night when he gets bored. He checks out the gay hookup app, DirtyPaws, and see’s that this hotel has lots of options for fun. He responds to a request from a guy named Benoit and heads up to his room. A little nervous, even after a couple of drinks, Aidan figures he and Benoit are on the same page for a quick fling. When he wakes up to Benoit’s dead body and a laser target moving around the room Aidan realizes he’s fallen into an alternate reality. A reality where he’s been mistaken for someone else. His life changes from hookup to hunted.

Swipe Right for Murder starts fast and never stops. A really fun, politically charged action novel, our hero has to make a decision to get involved to save not only his own life, but the lives of his friends and family. Filled with intrigue, red herring’s, sexual innuendo’s, and fear filled encounters, Aidan is forced to grow up and face his questionable past decisions that led him to this place in his life. He also starts to question a world where what he is, a young gay man, makes him obscene to conventional society. His eyes wide open he needs to choose a side when both sides look wrong.

Aidan’s history made his story unique and interesting and his decisions very personal. A brother who dies suddenly of an enlarged heart, a sexual relationship with a friends father, and his parents questionable response to his being gay have altered his life’s path. He’s made a ton of mistakes and relives those memories over and over, shaping the decisions he makes while on the run. His psychoses led him to react in a way that was surprising, engaging, and made him more sympathetic a character than what we see at the beginning of the novel. By the end of his run, I’m all in, fingers crossed that he comes out ok.

Without giving anything away I’ll just say that Aidan’s a character you learn to like more as the book goes on and you learn more about him. The flimsy layers of Aidan’s personality peel away to reveal a delicious pulp that is real and about mid way through Swipe Right for Murder I settled in and gobbled his story up.

Through Aidan’s eyes we see how faulty society and our government is to those who live on the outside of societal norms. Or at least what society considers the norm. Derek Milman makes an interesting point by comparing our government to this made up terrorist faction. The outcomes may be slightly different, one protecting citizens, and the other harming them, but how they get to those points are pretty similar. Both factions maneuver and take advantage of everyone to get what they want, bulldozing over innocents to get the outcome they’d like. In the end I think Aidan grows enough to see this reality doesn’t make a world that he’s happy to be in and he makes decisions to improve his circumstances for not only himself but those like him. I liked this self discovery and Aidan more for having come to that conclusion.

Seriousness aside, Swipe Right for Murder, while delivering a lesson on what’s right and wrong in our world also delivers a hell of a story. It’s fast pace, interesting hero, and even more interesting side characters made this a fun novel to read. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest!

Unrealistic? Sure. Absurd? Of course. Entertaining and thought-provoking? Yes. I just had a lot of fun reading this, and I was so pleased with the fact that Milman fully explored the moral dilemma within. There are so many things I want to know more about especially since the Swans seemed to only care about one specific type of gay man. What about literally anyone else in the LGBTQ community? Obviously they were very self serving, but I would have liked to see that addressed.

Overall this book was a really interesting read and a fun ride. While there were a few times where it seemed the story got slightly convoluted, I would definitely recommend this book. The author really unfolds the story pretty well. I haven't read mystery in a long while and YA mystery is something I pretty much never read. Reading this book may have just changed my mind. It wasn't typical of what you'd expect from a YA novel. It was much more mature. I think both teens and adults who read it will appreciate that. I loved Aiden and his heart. I thought he was a really great character and narrator for the story. I hope you all love him as much as I did!

When I went to read this book, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. All I knew is I kept seeing it everywhere and the cover was stunning. When I dove into it, I was in for a ride. The MC is adorable, sassy and badass. The plot was intriguing. Plot twists, betrayal, heartbreak. It had it all. I truly enjoyed this book.