The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

True Crime (Drop Dead Book 1)
BY Peter Styles
Four stars

What if you fell in love with someone you’d never even seen?

George Durand and Alex Fletcher are best friends, and have been for years. They each have day jobs, but together they have a successful online podcast called the Creep Corner—during which they chatter about true crime stories.

Thing is, neither Geo nor Lex has any idea what the other looks like.

It takes a horror convention in Detroit to finally bring Lex and Geo together, and Geo’s big fear is that his feelings for Lex will ruin their friendship.

“True Crime” is a really cute, cleverly written story about the kind of intimacy that should be at the foundation of both love and friendship, but is often shunted to the side in gay romance in favor of obsession about physical attributes. Can you love someone truly, without knowing what they look like? Will understanding another person in every possible, personal way make other things unimportant?

The book is written from Geo’s perspective, encouraged and annoyed in equal parts by his straight fraternal twin brother Mark. There is nothing radical or particularly edgy about the action or the romance, but it is all handled so well, and with emotional acuity, that it becomes a great beginning to a series. I loved Geo and Lex, but must note that, at the end of the day, Styles has to fall back on traditional romantic notions of attraction to make his story work.

I’ve already bought book 2 in the Drop Dead series: “Doubts.” I can’t wait to see where the boys go from here.