Someone You Know

by Gary Zebrun

Newspaper columnist Daniel Caruso has a wife he loves deeply, a daughter who means everything to him, and a secret that could destroy them all. At a conference in Seattle, he meets and spends a passionate night with Stephen Hart, a handsome firefighter. Awakening alone and deeply conflicted the next morning, Daniel once again resigns himself to the hollow pleasures and tainted joys of his dual existence.
But on the journey home to Providence, R.I., Daniel receives a bizarre and frightening sign from someone who knows the most intimate details of his deception. Soon after he reunites with his family, another message makes it chillingly clear that Stephen Hart has been murdered.
Through macabre communications the killer paints a brutally accurate portrait of Daniel's sexual obsessions, leaving no doubt that he observes every move Daniel and his family make. Even as Daniel desperately tries to shield his wife and daughter from the truth, he succumbs to the diabolical manipulations of the killer and is dragged deeper into a netherworld of bathhouses and S/M clubs.

Genres: Gay, LGBT, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

232 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Bruce MacKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable. My willing suspension of disbelief, necessary for so many fictions, was not fully engaged.
But I had a good read, whipped through it. 3 stars, maybe 3.5.
I feel no desire to know the characters any better, but the plot kept my attention.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here:

https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...

It held my attention, but the engagement ended not long after the final page and the last bit of trying to insert Jesus into the narrative.

[Jeremy Winnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a mixed bag for me...Daniel is forgettable at best and a cretin and coward at worst. What keeps this book from being rated even lower is the ending, which is anything but pat. There's absolutely no sense that anyone will live happily ever after or even live to see tomorrow. That would be refreshing if not for a poor wife and daughter who are next. Still, once I learned whodunnit (a surprise), I wanted to know a lot more about how the killer evolved into his lust for killing, particularly since there are parallel threads with Daniel's life, at least in the past. Basically, Daniel veered towards "thou shalt not bear false witness" as his commandment to break. How did the killer come to enjoy killing? We'll never know.

Also, I cannot believe that Daniel doesn't see the pattern when the second body turns up. Immediately he's off to the park doing his "He's handsome" thing. Actually I'm glad he did in this case, since it presents a technical challenge. The scene with trick #4 occurs under a starlit night, an event that is photographed! Without flash! And no loud shutters or AF assist! The killer could have made a killing as a low-light photographer instead. So to speak. 2.5 stars out of 5.

[Emre Erbatur · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whether your write a LGBT thriller or a straight one, it must be quite fashionable these days to write cool, almost nerveless narratives. This book seems to be another example of ironical literature exploring the world of gay men through the emotional turmoils of a thriller. Or vice versa. However, I'm not really convinced about the gay world as depicted in the narrative. I mean if the world of gay men is this, it must be really a forlorn world. If this is a criticism of "the heterosexual matrix" (see Judith Butler) imprisoning gays in an underground world on the part of the author, the critique doesn't reveal itself very comfortably or smoothly or subtly enough. I like reading ironical narratives. When it is done creatively irony is a great tool for an author to put a productive and critical distance between the narrative and readers. However, leaving readers with the book alone requires real expertise in opening up new perspectives on the issues through the eyes of different characters. (Reading Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy for example.) When Zebrun's book is concerned, I am not really sure whether his irony is well set because it is too minimalistic. This overminimalism suffocates his irony.

[Micha Meinderts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the last 100 or so pages in one sitting. Not because it was so suspenseful, I just wanted to be done with it, because I really had to make myself pick it up again. I was afraid I wouldn't finish it if I didn't this time.

What bothered me the most was the lack of insight in the main character and thus his actions seemed to come out of nowhere. As the reader I never learned why he did things, why he made the choices he made, only that he did and made them.

The ending was very unsatisfying and I knew who did it about 40 pages before the end. The killer's motives were muddy too, it seemed so random.

Quite clearly a debut and not exactly a "hugely impressive" one either, to be honest. The style of writing was okay, though a little repetitive, and I guess the plot was decent enough, if only it had made sense, but I really can't get over the lack of personality in each of the characters. I couldn't care less of his wife or daughter would die, and the writer missed a huge opportunity with the confrontation, where Dan comes out to his family.

Forgetful at best.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very quick read (completed in about 24 hours)and although it isn't a masterpiece, it was an interesting (but gory and gruesome) read. Daniel is a commentary writer for a newspaper in his home in Rhode Island. He has a loyal wife and teenage daughter who he adores. But he is a closeted gay man who occasionaly hooks up with strangers. While on a business trip in Seattle, Daniel meets a firefighter and has a night of passion with him. When Daniel returns, he discovers that the firefighter has been murdered, and soon every man he sleeps with find themselves brutally murdered. So, not only must Daniel hide his secret life from his family, he has to escape a murderer who is after him with threatening messages and actions. Surprisingly good book overall, but disturbing at parts. And I figured out the ending well before the book was over, but I was still ok with it.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving three stars mainly because the plot of this book was great: closeted guy has a one-night-stand with a guy, the guy he spends the night with is murdered, then some unknown man starts stalking the closeted guy. If Zebrun had stuck to the plot instead of going off on tangents about religion and throwing up all of these wild goose chases involving other journalists then maybe the book would have worked better. It's just too cluttered with the main character's stream of consciousness and plot points that didn't go anywhere. I also figured out who the killer was early on, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I do think the writing was good and I'd read something else by the author.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. I picked it up at a book sale at college. Daniel Caruso, the main character, is a middle aged man, married and has a daughter explores his homosexual tendencies and in doing so is then stalked/haunted by the thoughts of what he did. Though I did not love this book, I did generally like it.

[Will · Rating 1 out of 5]

A pretty lame queer mystery.
I figured out who the killer was pretty quickly, but kept reading because I was fascinated by the self-loathing of the main character. While the mystery sucked, this is a kind of interesting representation of the tragedy of remaining in the closet ...

[William Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a murder mystery goes a real page turner. I had my suspicions but had to find out. Not a cliched ending well written gay mystery. Would appeal to wide audience though do be warned there are some sex scenes

[Alessio]

I really didn't feel anything for this closeted protagonist and there are definitely better books out there dealing with queer themes, middle-aged ennui or weird psychopathic murderers, depending on which is your cup of tea. Highly unsatisfying ending. Meh.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thriller mystery with very graphic violence. About a married gay man being followed by a serial killer. Great ending.