The book is dark and often shocking, especially for readers who might be uncomfortable reading about the romantic lives of gay men. However, it is the psychological underpinning of the novel that mark this book as something more than a romantic story or even just a contemporary slice of life. The word diabolical comes to mind amid the poetic language and the brooding and pain Aaron illustrates.

This book is not a quick read. Sometimes I was a little confused about where I was in the sequence of action, since there were a number of flashbacks used, often without sufficient reader information about where they fell in the timeline. But tenacious readers like myself will soon find that it's well worth pursuing the story through to the last page. Everything is understood and readers come to full knowledge of who Aaron is and what he is capable of.

Readers should note that Bennett lives in the UK so the spelling and idioms are British.

It will be interesting to see what Bennett’s sophomore novel is.