Hal Isaly

Hello, queer readers! If you are anything like me and love to read something with more diverse characters and is a little spooky, then look no further! Do I have a book for you!

Christopher Murphy wrote “Where the Boys Are” that was released in 2019. It has a 4.3/ 5 on Goodreads, and here is the synopsis of it: “Love-cursed journalist, Quinn Harris, has a terrible talent for being at the wrong place at the right time. When a chance reunion brings him face to face with a flame from his past the sparks quickly turn to ice as evidence of foul play arises! He soon learns that it’s no coincidence his high school crush disappeared years ago, without a trace. It’s also no coincidence that his victims look exactly like Quinn… The body count and the stakes are high as Quinn works to unravel the truth behind a string of unanswered murders that hit dangerously close to home. Murder, martinis, and mayhem rule in this stylish LGBTQ thriller.”

Well, just in case you still are not sure if you want to read this queer thriller, I read it for you. Here are some of my thoughts and opinions on the novel written by Christopher Murphy “Where the Boys Are”.

This is queer thriller is following Quinn Harris and Adam Walker. Quinn Harris is a journalist at The Chronicle and Adam Walker has been on the run since 2006 because of his near escape of death. The only thing Quinn Harris and Adam Walker have in common is that they look almost exactly alike (brown hair, green eyes) and they had the same science teacher at completely different schools. The mystery behind it all was that their science teacher was a serial killer who went after boys who looked like Adam and Quinn. Yet both Quinn and Adam were lucky enough to escape his clutches. 

This novel had really good detail, strong character development, and a good switch between the two main characters. I have never read a queer thriller before, so it was refreshing to try a new genre and love it so much. This book gave so many twists and turns, I was gasping every few chapters. From beginning to end, I was engaged with where the story was going to go. I did not have hope after the first big climax took place that there was going to be anything more to write about. However, the author surprised me and took me such a unique journey that this book is definitely in my top ten! 

My favorite character was either Bailey, Quinn’s best friend, or James, Quinn’s main love interest. I loved Bailey’s character because he is so outspokenly himself and he was a queer model which was so cool to see within a book. I also loved James because I knew from the beginning of the book that he and Quinn would be a good match and I just love queer love. The characters felt so real to me that at the end of the novel I felt so bittersweet that it was ending. The story absolutely kept me guessing and it was all surprises until the last page. My favorite part of the book was finally being able to put all the pieces together to finally understand the line of where things started and where they were going to end. The scenes that were especially good to me were when the author explained the surroundings of the characters so we can imagine what they were seeing. I have a really hard time laughing or crying at books, but with this I was laughing a bunch because I kept guessing what was going to happen next. I did not cry, but there were definitely times when I teared up. 

There was a lot to love about this book, obviously it ended up being one of my favorites. However, there were some typos, word mistakes, and weird spacing throughout the book. I do not think this reflects on the actual story or author because everyone makes mistakes, but just something I wanted to point out while writing this review. I loved the way the book ended so I have no complaints about that, and the story itself kept me hooked. As a writer myself, I understand the difficulty in making things perfect. I appreciate this author for showing that sometimes things are not perfect, and that is something I do not see with other authors. 

All in all, this book is fantastic and I really hope you all decide to get it and read it. I really loved the detail this book had, the character development, and good switches between the main characters. I appreciate this author and his writing style. I loved every second of this book, and I look forward to more things from this author!