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Seeing Strangers

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
NAMED ONE OF CRIMEREADS' MOST ANTICIPATED CRIME NOVELS OF 2022

NAMED TO THE MOST ANTICIPATED ADULT FICTION OF 2022 BY LGBTQ READS NAMED BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NOTABLE SELECTION, CRIMEREADS


A stylish novel of obsession and social satire set in a world where sex is just a swipe away.

Life is going well for Greg Kelly. He's married to the handsome and kind Cristian, a Spanish-born artist who is also a talented cook. Greg's work as a translator for an IT startup allows them to live comfortably in a stylish Bushwick two bedroom and enjoy just about all NYC has to offer—including sleeping with other men, since Greg and Cristian's marriage has been open for the past few years. This arrangement has been particularly appealing to Greg and his exceptional sexual appetite. Now approaching their mid-thirties, fatherhood calls and they enlist a friend to act as surrogate.

In order to focus on building a family, Greg and Cristian decide to close up the marriage when the baby arrives. Greg is going to miss his hookups, but at least he has the summer for one last hurrah. He methodically plans his hookups via Grindr and Tinder, carefully coordinates train routes for quick lunchtime hookups, and scouts potential candidates anywhere, anytime, like an old time Hollywood casting director.

As their baby's due date draws closer, anxiety sets in over Greg's impending parental responsibilities, the loss of his sexual freedom, and even his marriage to Cristian. But before he can sort out his feelings, a spurned hook-up reappears—Russell, an arrogant tv producer, who had wanted a relationship with Greg. And the problem is, Russell just won't go away, infiltrating himself into Greg's life in the worst ways possible, threatening his marriage and sanity. Greg is left asking, what does it mean to find happiness but still crave more?

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    • Booklist

      May 1, 2022
      Greg is a 34-year-old translator married to Spanish artist Cristian. Since the two, who have been together for 11 years, have an open marriage, Greg is no stranger to Grindr, the gay hook-up site. It's there that he encounters Russell, a successful TV producer. The two meet, have several dates, and then Greg breaks off the relationship, leaving Russell in tears. Since "my libido has a life of its own," Greg moves on, meeting 22-year-old Elijah and beginning an increasingly intense relationship. What he doesn't tell Elijah is that in three months, when his and Cristian's baby will arrive, the open part of their marriage will close. It appears there will be more tears before bedtime, but in the meantime, the abandoned Russell has begun to insinuate himself into Greg's life in increasingly dangerous ways that reveal-- to Greg, at least--that Russell is a psychopathic stalker. In his first thriller, Plata (Freak 'N' Gorgeous, 2018) has written an intriguing exercise in abnormal psychology with enough twists and turns to keep readers captivated to its teasing end.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 22, 2022
      New Yorker Greg Kelly, the sex-obsessed narrator of this niche thriller from Plata (Freak ’N’ Gorgeous), is in an open relationship with his husband, Cristian. Greg is addicted to hookup apps because of their unpredictability (“You can log into Grindr every ten minutes all day at work and get nothing but crickets”). Greg and Cristian have arranged for a friend, Amelia, to be their pregnancy surrogate, and once their child arrives, Greg is to stick to monogamy. But with Amelia in her second trimester, Greg leaps at every possible opportunity for sex, including a Grindr invitation from “a hot, muscly Latino.” When Greg arrives at the Brooklyn address designated for the meetup, the hunk doesn’t show and sends taunting text messages instead (“Better be more careful, handsome. Dick’s not worth losing everything over”). Greg eventually suspects who is behind the messages, but dozens of pages replete with graphic depictions of sex pass before the reader learns much of any interest. Elegant prose makes up only in part for the thin veneer of a suspense plot. The appeal of this one is limited. Agent: Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative.

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  • English

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