Karla's Literary Korner: The Gentleman's Choice by Blake Rudman

Rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Noir Crime/Erotic Suspense

Format: eBook

Pages: 369

Read: 07/15/23

Synopsis:

Caught in a whirlwind of adverse publicity following a viewer’s death, the streaming show, The Gentleman’s Choice becomes the target for a sadistic killer – and it’s up to PI Vanessa Young to put a stop to it before more young women are murdered.

A sleazy internet dating show blamed for a viewer’s death, a host with a dark, secret past, and a killer with a sadistic grudge…

Someone is kidnapping and murdering previous contestants from the popular streaming show The Gentleman’s Choice – a strictly-for-adults hybrid of The Bachelor and Love Island. Private Investigator, Vanessa Young, is hired by a victim’s family to infiltrate the show as a contestant to expose and capture the killer.
Vanessa and Cole Gianni, the show’s charismatic star, begin to fall romantically for each other, until Vanessa’s plan goes terribly awry when they’re drugged and taken to a remote location to take part in their captor’s own brutal, ultimately fatal, version of The Gentleman’s Choice.
With the clock ticking toward their fateful final night, Vanessa and Cole are forced into a battle of wills to survive their tormentor and escape with their lives before it’s too late…

Review:

"The vibrator looked much smaller than it did on the show, but for Tracy Hickersley, that wasn’t the most important thing at all."

"...every single one a man, all middle-aged or older; she’d guessed most of them to be married—made their way to what was purported to be a whole different, unpleasantly grubby world of glory holes and anonymous mutual relief."

The Gentleman's Choice, an underground streaming dating show. 5 nights with the star of the show, where the sex flows freely, and the contestants want to be voted in to achieve that last night with the star.

The creator of the show is always looking for ways to up the ratings and gain more viewers, he incorporates what he believes the viewers want to see. He makes it spicey, but the man is also very dicey. He does not really care about the contestants, he only wants the viewers and the money. When the contestant's start showing up brutally murdered, he also sees this as an advantage. More controversy, more viewers, more money, that is his ultimate goal.

Cole is the star of the show, he is hot, sexy, and the women want to be the pick for the last night with him. As much as Cole loves being with the women, he is not truly happy, he has dreams for something bigger but is unable to achieve it. He also wants to find love and everytime he gives his heart away that also seems to fail. When he and a contestant are drugged and kidnapped, their lives hang in the balance. They must fight to survive or become the victims of the murderer.

The premise is so unique and creative. The detailed descriptions throughout awakens the senses of the mind, delving into a spicey and very dark atmosphere. The characters are well developed along with some of them being likable and others detestable, irksome characters. The underbelly of society is a very dark, seedy place, and this story depicts it very well. It also being a noir thriller adds the element of excitement and an adrenaline rush. Dark secrets revealed along the way that adds to the mystery of the characters.

Edgy and suspenseful with intense body horror, graphic scenes of gore, and a thrilling build up to the satisfying climax.

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Purchase Link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/

Author Website:

https://blakerudman.com/