Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Dirty Secret 
SERIES: Cole McGinnis #2
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
NARRATOR: Greg Tremblay
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2014
LENGTH: 8 hours, 4 minutes
BLURB:
Loving Kim Jae-Min isn’t always easy: Jae is gun-shy about being openly homosexual. Ex-cop turned private investigator Cole McGinnis doesn’t know any other way to be. Still, he understands where Jae is coming from. Traditional Korean men aren’t gay-at least not usually where people can see them.
But Cole can’t spend too much time unraveling his boyfriend’s issues. He has a job to do. When a singer named Scarlet asks him to help find Park Dae-Hoon, a gay Korean man who disappeared nearly two decades ago, Cole finds himself submerged in the tangled world of rich Korean families, where obligation and politics mean sacrificing happiness to preserve corporate empires. Soon the bodies start piling up without rhyme or reason. With every step Cole takes toward locating Park Dae-Hoon, another person meets their demise-and someone Cole loves could be next on the murderer’s list.
REVIEW:
These books make me happy. I love the snark, and banter the awesome characters. Then you have the even more fabulous narration that brings it all to another level.
Once again Cole is asked to look into a case as a favour. Once again, he finds himself knee deep in Korean culture and secrets. And these secrets are a bit more salacious than most. To the point where it is difficult to keep track of who was who, was sleeping with who and so on. But you know what, I didn’t mind that, I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.
Cole and Jae’s relationship isn’t easy. Jae is struggling with having two worlds collide. In Korean culture, being gay will get you exiled from your family and nothing is more important than family. At the same time, he grows closer and closer to Cole. Watching him struggle and juggle responsibilities is heartbreaking you just want to see him being happy without him losing his family.
At the same time, Cole is struggling with his past. We learn a bit more what happened with Ben and Rick. Each book unravels another layer and we get to know more about everyone and their pasts. As for the relationship with Jae, there’s no doubt in his mind that they belong together, no hesitation on his part. Understanding Korean culture and how it sets limitations on their relationship isn’t always easy.
In this book we also get to see more of Cole and Mike’s family situation, in the form of a family dinner. A dinner where Cole meets his youngest half-sister for the first time. For the first time in years being in the same room as his father and the woman he’d grown up calling mother. I hated it how he was treated by these people, they don’t deserve being called parents. The only thing that I liked was that Mike finally stood up for Cole. Truly accepting all of him for the first time.
Greg Tremblay is an amazing narrator – which is nothing new. He was made to narrate these characters, this series. He manages to capture each and every one of them, their differences, similarities and feelings are all there in the words he speaks. There are so many colourful characters in this series, from Bobby the best friend with no filters and Claudia the take-no-nonsense assistant to Scarlet transvestite extraordinaire. Not to mention our two main characters Cole and Jae. Each and every one of them is unique and the voices match them perfectly.
I’m loving my revisit with these characters, this is a series that sure holds up to many re-reads and listens.
RATING: 
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