Pursued

 

The first offering from freelance writer Joel Gomez-Dossi, Pursued, is set in upstate New York at Stratburgh University. The story is set against the backdrop of the disappearance of three of the university’s sorority sisters, whom the police say simply ran away. And while openly gay university junior, and lead character, Jamie Bradford is concerned about the unexplained disappearances, he’s more worried about not having a boyfriend.

When the “party of the year” rolls around, Jamie attends with high hopes of finding Mr. Right. However, the night doesn’t go as planned and Jamie becomes involved with two men, one of his dreams and one, as it turns out, of his nightmares, a cop. And, this is when Jamie’s hell begins as he finds himself pursued through the Catskill Mountains and New York City.

While Gomez-Dossi does a fairly good job of fleshing out his characters, and realizing his lead character is, indeed, being stalked, the 240-page story just seemed one of paranoia and unfortunately, horribly predictable.

Billed as a gay mystery by Bold Strokes Books, I found very little mystery within the pages. Perhaps Gomez-Dossi’s second novel, Deadly Guilt, released in August 2013, is a bit more suspenseful and mysterious.

You can order either book, in both e-book and paperback versions at BoldStrokeBooks.com. In addition, you can read an interview with Gomez-Dossi at the website.