Bath Haus: A Thriller

Bordering psychological thriller, love story, back stabbing, relationship troubles- all in one. Brilliantly written and suspenseful.The author must, however, learn how to use the apostrophe correctly. It really is annoying.

Bath Haus was a very engrossing read filled with diabolical messy queer characters - just the kind of thing I love. It is a solid contemporary thriller and I would recommend anyone whos looking for a thriller to check it out.I'm rating it 4 stars cause I have come to realize that contemporary thrillers are not my thing anymore. As much as I enjoy the suspense and thrill of reading one, I am also fine with not reading them at all. I prefer my thrillers with pretentious prose and slow suffocating atmosphere (a la TVD by Micah Nemereve) - which is why I'm gonna explore more gothic horror in the future.Point is, great thriller. not for me. would recommend!

This was one of those reads where I really liked some bits and didn’t others. Hence the rather limp, unsatisfactory 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for effort).At first, I was immersed and keen to get back to it, the main characters flawed and strong, the pace rapid. It was breathless and a tiny bit sexy. The story succeeded as a thriller because it made me want to stay with it. The setting was vibrant and evocative - a monied gay couple and their life. The author paints a picture of a complex, possibly toxic, relationship where power, control, money, and lack of communication are all insidious components.But the last third of the book I started to get a bit fed up. I guessed the ending. A little twist was shoved in just before but yeah. No surprise.I wonder if a stronger book would have come about if it hadn’t been a “whodunnit” thriller but a purely character-driven thriller. By which I mean the villain would be known from the start, but the character machinations would be the driver. Sort of like Muriel Spark used to do. Tell us the end, then let us work out how we got there. I felt it was trying to do both - whodunnit and character - and it was too much.Related note on “too much”. Too many similes and metaphors, goddammit. Space them out a bit! The author is great on the visceral, but we don’t need to have every feeling or experience given a tangled metaphor to describe it. It’s counterproductive for the reader. Hold back sometimes.These dev. ed. and style issues should really have been picked up by an editor. Perhaps they were. I don’t think they’re mortal sins, though. They can be smoothed out and improved on in Vernon’s future books, which I will certainly give a go.I didn’t hate this book by any means. I particularly liked the musical references (any book citing the magnificent Ace of Base gets my vote). With the issues above resolved, it would be excellent.

I could say so much about bath haus but the best advice I can give is to read it! You will not be disappointed, by far one of the best thrillers I have read.

Wow! The twists and turns! I could see this as a Netflix series! Cliffhangers aplenty.Finally a real book worth its hype!

This book was purchased on a whim to read more lgbt themed literature. I was hooked after the first chapter. It was such a great read. It had tension at times It had me second guessing what I read. Thoroughly enjoyed it

A complete page-turner with well crafted characters.