Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Hidden identity
SERIES: Jimmy McSwain Files #1
AUTHOR: Adam Carpenter
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Linden Corners Press
RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2016
LENGTH: 5 hours, 47 minutes
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 fourteen, he watched as his NYPD father was gunned down.
Now, at age twenty-eight, gay, Jimmy has never given up the 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 found that I really enjoyed this book. I don’t know that I would call this a romance as such. There were romantic elements and romantic interests, but this book didn’t have that feel of a romance novel. Rather it was a story about a private investigator that happened to be gay with a personal life outside of his case/s.
In Hidden Identity we meet Jimmy McSwain a private investigator with a hurtful past. He’s hired by the (very rich) parents to find their missing son. Their missing gay son. All isn’t good and well in the Rothschild family and Jimmy has to find out if something sinister happened to Harris of if the young man was keeping away of his own free will. Though, as things has a habit of in mysteries, things suddenly turn dire and much more dangerous than first advertised.
I liked Jimmy, he was an interesting character and I feel like we’ve only just begun to know him. A feeling that I highly enjoy. I like uncovering layer by layer, for things to take time. For me it adds depth and strengthens the connection to the characters and make me more invested in the events going on.
With mysteries it’s always a challenge to talk about the plot as you don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t yet read the book. So in the vaguest terms possible I’ll just let you know that I enjoyed it, some things played out as expected others not. There’s also an ongoing cold case Jimmy desperately wants to solve, and it’s one I believe will follow us for some time to come.
The story and characters were well rounded, not so few that you go stir crazy for another face and not so many that you couldn’t keep track. It all felt very balanced to me, both the plot and the pacing. Something I also really appreciated was the love interest. It wasn’t this “meet at page 2 and fall madly in love by page 9”. That wasn’t the case here, in fact, these guys might not end up together at the end of the day. They might, and might not, and I’m oddly okay with either way. It’s refreshing not knowing, it lends a certain credibility and relatability to it. Because relationships aren’t certain and sometimes it takes time to find the proverbial one. Some never do. Others don’t want to. So far it really works and I’m enjoying it a lot.
This book is performed by the one and only Joel Leslie. He jumps from one accent to another effortlessly. For me, adding those different accents really takes the book another level, it adds to the sense of place, to the people – and diversity. Just like always, it’s not only the accents he perfects, but also distinguishing between the different characters, making it easy for the listener to do the same. Once again, Leslie brought us a well narrated book.
Hidden Identity was a great start to a new series, because after finishing it I feel I need to know more. I’m not done with these characters just yet.
RATING: 
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