Anthony Auswat! Remember this name if you are craving a gritty, thought provoking thriller with characters that defy the labels.
From the blurb:
A high school track athlete with a perverse hobby. A college heartthrob with a secret life. A dark gay m/m thriller that will stop at nothing until everyone gets exposed.
“Unsettling and surprisingly poignant. It explores sexuality, jealousy, shame, and moral compromise in a way that feels raw and unfiltered…. Hunter’s voice is sharp, self-aware, and darkly humorous…. A provocative and emotionally layered exploration of a young man spiraling under the weight of his own secrets.”
—San Francisco Book Review
Hunter seems to have it all: brains, biceps, and a bright future beyond the halls of his oppressive high school. He also has a private obsession that he knows is wrong: secretly recording his older brother, Nash, with a spy cam. It starts as a thrill and morphs into a power trip. But one day, the video footage reveals something so disturbing that it cracks Hunter’s life straight down the middle.
Now he’s trapped in a nightmare where desire leaves fingerprints, loyalty pulls triggers, and the brother he thought he knew might be the most dangerous person in the room. To survive what he’s uncovered, Hunter turns to his best friend, Oscar, who may also be the man Hunter never knew he needed.
When the family you’re born into puts you at risk, the family you choose may be the only thing that keeps you alive.
Hunter’s Hidden Camera is an emotionally charged LGBTQ coming-of-age psychological thriller about hunger, shame, and the brutal cost of exposure.
Perfect for fans of:
– campus thrillers tangled with forbidden gay desire
– taboo obsession and morally messy characters
– slow-burn m/m tension mixed with psychological intensity
– literary queer fiction for adults
– vintage pulp paperbacks
– genre storytelling blended with personal experience
– stories about gay men told from a gay male perspective
GaleM's review:
I wouldn't call it a Gay thriller because the focus of the story isn't sorely on the coming out aspect even though it's a significant element that colors the reading experience.
There is a quote from the book that has captured the essence so accurately with heart stabbing precision.
"I told you. I'm not gay. I'm not bi. And I'm not saying all this 'cause I'm in the closet or some shit. I'm not.
"But with you, somehow, it's different, I don't know, it's crazy. I'm kinda that way for you." I say ..."/Oscar/
"Society wants to label people, wants to shove people in a box, force them into a category. But it doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to be anything other than Oscar."
This is a thriller but the author has implemented masterfully very pressing mental health topics like self harm and the currently expanding social problem of people pushed into one and the same boxes, having to adjust to a certain social code expectations and be the citizens of a human society that has very twisted "ideals", "norms" and fading morals.
In such kind of society where every single person has to fit and conform, Hunter doesn't feel comfortable in his societal "box". Being unwanted by his family and cast aside to face life head on without emotional and family support has shaped his personality, thinking and even the choices he makes. The complex living situation is even harder to endure because he has an older brother, the one his family actually wanted. The author has brilliantly developed the story from one seemingly "innocent" and "harmless" thread - the Golden child against the Fallout of one unwanted pregnancy. Two brothers set on different paths from birth. And this Thread spins uncontrollably in a web of lies, fear, anxiety,self harm, doubt, pain and so much more. Once again I wasn't disappointed opening a book from this author. Mind the trigger warnings because this is the kind of story that worms its way deep into the heart and settles comfortably there while your mind tries to make sense of all the events unfolding on page like small Domino tiles hitting each other and falling down.
Hunter doesn't even dwell too much on the camera he installs in his brother bathroom. He is just set on pursing his goals and finding the money to achieve them. One simple act of defiance, anger and frustration that he is once again left on his own leads to a world of destruction and the reveal of what life truly is, exposing secrets, hidden in plain sight and showing the true faces of people he thought he knew. But nothing is ever what it truly is on surface level. There is depth and deception, far bigger than what Hunter thought.
Once again the author has delivered a top notch story that hits the reader with intensity, thoughtfulness and raw emotional impact.
Hunter's Hidden Camera is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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