REVIEWED BY ALEXANDER
TITLE: Hidden Identity
SERIES: The Jimmy McSwain Files
AUTHOR: Adam Carpenter
PUBLISHER: Linden Corners Press
LENGTH: 5 hours, 47 minutes
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
BLURB:
When Jimmy McSwain is hired to find missing heir Harris Rothschild, he finds that identities can be altered and lives can be changed – or taken with the simple pull of the trigger. Jimmy McSwain is a New York City private detective, operating out of Hell’s Kitchen, the rough and tumble neighborhood he grew up in. At age 14, he watched as his NYPD father was gunned down. Now, at age 28, and gay, Jimmy has never given up pursuit of whoever killed him. But a PI must make a living, and so he’s taken on the case of missing heir Harris Rothschild, whose overbearing father doesn’t approve of his “alternate” lifestyle.
Tracking down Harris is easier than expected, but the carnage that follows isn’t. With a shocking murder on his hands, and a threat coming from some unforeseen person, Jimmy’s caseload is suddenly full, and very dangerous.
REVIEW:
I like many different genres and so coming across Hidden Identity, a murder mystery was a nice switch from the usual romance that crosses my path.
I really liked the characters, especially Jimmy who was certainly not a perfect character, haunted by the unsolved murder of his father, the event defines Jimmy and the path he is travelling. It may not have been a romance, but there was the prospect of a relationship, which fell apart as soon as it began.
Carpenter needed a broad variety of secondary characters as well, and was successful at developing them well, and using them to advance the plot, and never letting any of them take over an muddy the waters. Of note are Terry Cloth and Harrison’s mother who were woven into the story and exhibited distinctive traits and in the case of Harrison’s mother, an almost organic growth.
The murder mystery itself kept me guessing right up until the end, and that is all I’m going to say on the subject.
As expected (at least by me), Leslie brought the cast of characters to life and maintained each of their voices throughout the story. I am a fan of age appropriate narrators and got exactly that, and what’s funny is that it didn’t matter what the age or sex of the character was, Leslie made it work. I did have some issues with the production / editing / proofing. There were two places where Leslie repeated a line, and a series of awkward pauses before saying “he said” or “she said”, and as a result, I was pulled out of the story.
I get the impression that this is the first in a series based on what I have read, and I hope it is true.
A very well-written story with good narration makes me want to look for more, with the hopes that the next instalment is proofread.
AUDIO BOOK RATING: 
BUY LINKS: