"Bath Haus" starts with a kickstart. The reader follows Oliver into a gay bathhouse where he meets a handsome Scandinavian stranger. And this changes his life. He can't tell his life partner Nathan about what happened in the bathhouse and so Oliver has to tell more and more lies. Further, Oliver is a clean drug addict and is struggling to stay clean. It was a real exciting thriller and a page turner. Until the end I wanted to know who exactly would like to harm Oliver. A lot of (domestic) violence is told in this story, in a very detailed way. From time to time it triggered me a bit. Some content notes or trigger warnings would have been helpful. It is a fascinating cat and mouse games, with some unexpected twists in between. Als, the story dives deep into the characteristics of Nathan and Oliver's relationship. Nathan and Oliver told and experienced situations in total different ways and with different ambitions and goals.

But if you look for likable characters, this might not be the right fit for you. Both Oliver and Nathan are not nice characters, they are morally grey. I did not sympathize with either of them. The longing of Oliver for tablets and meds for his addiction was described very intense. Even though I have no addiction, I could understand why Oliver was craving for strong meds. Especially in this difficult situation.

I highly recommend this thriller.

The constant escalation of mysteries in this book was really frustrating--I was over halfway through the novel and we were still introducing new developments without solving or building on old ones, which makes the whole thing feel like it takes forever to actually set up. The dual perspectives were annoying because we often had to replay the same reveals twice, and they also make the twist conclusion annoying because I felt like, okay, you made me experience the same shocking developments two times in a row, but you're not giving me enough clues between the two perspectives to connect meaningfully to the twist?? Dumb.

The twist also gave me a glimmer of what this book wanted to be/what it was trying to say, and I thought THAT was interesting, but underdeveloped in the final product. If the book had fully been what it was trying to be, 5 stars for sure.

2/5

If you are looking for a bingable book with VERY messy characters - this one is for you! This book was really intriguing and at times the characters trauma was hard to read. I felt like the book loses steam a little bit and wished it had been a bit better paced but overall this one was great!

Why didn’t I read this book sooner? I can’t believe I let BATH HAUS sit on my shelf for almost a year before I picked it up. Holy crap! This book is absolutely everything I want in a thriller. It’s an edge of your seat story filled with tension, drama, and all the juicy details! I could not look away!

BATH HAUS is told through alternating narratives from Oliver and Nathan. While the story is largely told through Oliver’s eyes, it’s the pieces from Nathan that help to round everything out and add in extra drama. Vernon serves up some excellent twists that either left me floored or kicking myself for not paying attention to clues better. The chapters are short and captivating with nonstop action packed in. It’s definitely not an easy book to talk about the details of without giving something away, so just snag a copy and buckle up for a wild ride!

Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

Bath Haus is a book I've eagerly anticipated for a while now since the publisher was kind enough to approve me for a digital advance copy. Many bookish friends and trusted internet reviewers gave it good praise, and I have been excited about the recent boom of mainstreamed Queer genre fiction.

With that excitement in mind, I'm sure some diminished returns were in order; however, this one struck me as extremely ridiculous from the jump.

I get that a little situational hyperbole is to be expected in the thriller genre, and I am not an anti-thriller reader who jumped into the genre just to read a Queer work, but the premise here is extremely wacky to me. Allowing yourself to be stalked and blackmailed over attempted infidelity that led to actual assault seems way too far-fetched to me. If the affair had been consummated before the assault or without the assault, I'd have a greater acceptance for the premise, but the lack of consummation runs this one off the rails for me as a reader. I think the plot would have been better served by leaning into whatever shady gaslighting and power hunger was happening with Nathan.

I will also say that I found this one overly pandering to straight audiences. While I understand that choice in a straight-authored work like Razorblade Tears (a thriller with gay themes that I really enjoyed), seeing it in a Queer-authored work was disappointing. I would hope that a Queer author would be more willing to write for their people and leave straight readers to figure it out. Alas, it feels like there was some caving to publisher demands for accessibility.

i have no words, for this book, it was the most fun I've had in awhile while reading if you like horror pick this up the writing is so good, it's a must read.

I slept on this book for a while, but it was one of my favorites. As a gay man, I honestly don't read a lot of LGBT books. But this book resonates so well and is written with white-knuckle suspense. I am constantly recommending this book to people and can't wait to see what's next from this author.

I have my copy now and I couldn't be more excited.

Such a great and fun ride. PJ Vernon has written an amazing thriller that has now become one of my favorites. All of the twists and turns, plus the reveals kept me turning pages constantly. The center of the story is about the relationship of Oliver and Nathan. I was constantly glue to the page and kept turning wanting to find out what was going on. A great novel and I will definitely be picking up more from him in the future!

A stunning thriller that keeps you racing through the pages. This one has been very buzzworthy for a reason!

Gay gasp! This book had me 😳 the entire time! I was hooked from the start and the book didn’t let me go until I was finished. I spent far too much time thinking about people’s intentions and people’s actions behind the scenes. It was gritty and suspenseful - the last 50 pages are a wild ride all on their own!

What I love about this one is that I could tell a gay man wrote it. It was unapologetically queer in all the best ways, as it captured the life of a gay man living in a big city. From time on the hook up apps, nights out at bars, and to the chaos of weekend getaways with the “girls,” this book was gay af and I loved it.

This was a real thrill! Oliver's panic seeped through the page, causing my own heart to race as I turned the pages. I enjoyed the steady build of suspense, a speeding train that reaches a climax that managed to excite and surprise.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

this book was TERRIFYING. not in the typical "ooooh i'm on the edge of my seat!'" thriller type way but like legitimately terrifying. this was on track to be 5 stars for me but the ending felt suuuper underwhelming. i still highly recommend this as a unique and gripping thriller.

This was a fun page turner. Perhaps a bit forgettable after it was done, but worth a read, and a good recommendation for fans of thrillers.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Bath Haus was a great thriller that kicks off with Oliver visiting a gay bathhouse where things go... wrong.

I listened to this one more than I read it and that really worked for me. Oliver's voice in the narration sounds scared, which added to the suspense; and his husband Nathan sounds a little pompous and like he needs control, which also added to my reading experience.

I don't want to give the story away, but I thought author P.J. Vernon's exploration of fidelity was interesting -- how much do you need to tell your partner? How much do they need to know? And how do the answers to those two questions differ?

And yet: It was the plot that drove me forward. I did find that it slowed down a bit in the middle, but am glad to report it picks back on up.

This sounded intriguing but I had to push to get through it. Silly and pretentious with a denouement that was inevitable.

This book so deeply unsettled me because it felt so relatable; the desperate desire to cover up a single mistake leads to a landslide of events spiraling out of control until one day your life no longer resembles anything even remotely normal. While there was explicit sex throughout the book, this one read like a thriller and was a compulsive page-turner, and it kept me guessing until the end.

If you’re looking for your next thriller look no further friends this a must read story filled with lies, betrayals, twists and turns. I had this in print but once I tried the audio I ended up completely binging it- the 2 narrators were a great fit for this story.

I moved this to the top of my tbr for pride month and I can only hope we get to see more queer fiction thrillers in the coming months because as an avid mystery/thriller lover this was one of the most refreshingly original thrillers I’ve read in quite awhile.

What do you need to know- Oliver & Nathan are a couple in love and living together, when Nathan is out of town, Oliver visits Haus, a gay bathhouse in NYC where his encounter with another man goes very very wrong & although Oliver barely escapes with his life, things go from bad to worse as the roller coaster of cat & mouse games begins….this is all you need to know friends but buckle up because just when you think you know where this story is going- you don’t!!

I’m going to have my full thoughts on an upcoming episode of @booktalketc but just know this is one you’ll definitely want to add to your summer must read list!

Thrillers are my most read genre, but in recent times, I have found myself feeling a bit underwhelmed by the ones I pick up. Bath Haus is exactly what I needed! This was an intense and dramatic thriller full of unreliable and untrustworthy characters. There were times when I actually gasped out loud during the book, shocked by the plot twists and introduction of new information. I am feeling the itch to pick up more thrillers now because I just loved the atmosphere and was so gripped by everything about this story. The switches in point of view made my experience reading this book so captivating; I couldn't put it down. I absolutely loved everything about Bath Haus and already want to reread it.

Content warning for drug addiction, murder, graphic violence, attempted rape.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC of Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon!