Bath Haus is a pulpy fun thriller that examines the lies and secret desires in relationships. When Oliver grows bored with his prosaic relationship, he looks for a little spice at a gay bathhouse. Quickly he realizes that he has made a bad decision, he runs from the place after being assaulted and struggles to cope with what happened to him. Bruises force him to come up with a lie to his partner about a mugging. The dominoes that fall from that decision echo throughout both of their lives. Just when Oliver thinks he’s gotten away with it, his assailant appears again taunting him and he needs to find a way to end this once and for all. The twists and turns this story takes are wholly unexpected.
I definitely enjoyed the roller coaster drama of the story and the mystery of what was going on kept me guessing with a lot of great red herrings. It was easily readable and I felt like I flew through the pages thirsty for more.
My issue is that it felt like none of the gay relationships were ones that normalized those relationships in a healthy way. I appreciated the drama of it, but we needed an example of a healthy gay relationship to balance all of the disharmony in Oliver and Nathan’s relationship. Even their friends were all caricatures and while this was entertaining, I’d like to see a thriller with a little more social responsibility to show balanced representations of these relationships. Perhaps, I’m asking for too much in this era of “woke” but it was distracting for me.
Definitely a great beach read if you’re looking for lots of drama, a good mystery and a few moments that will raise the hairs on your arms. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
What’s the last thriller you couldn’t stop thinking about?
openmypages 