Bath Haus, P.J. Vernon 
Book
Contemporary
Mystery
Thriller
Book
Contemporary
Mystery
Thriller
Updated: January 1, 2024
No rape or sexual assault
Rape or sexual assault mentioned in passing (in discussion and/or implied)
Sexual harassment (e.g. verbal or non-consensual touching/grabbing)
Sexual relationship between adult and teenager
Child sexual abuse
Incest
Attempted rape
Rape strongly implied/details surrounding a rape discussed in detail (i.e. the events before/after)
Detailed/vivid description of rape

Description

The first chapter features a scene where a character is trying to murder one of the protagonists (protagonist 1) while both are naked and in a private bath house room in a way that reads reminiscent of rape, even though there is not any. In protagonist 1's backstory, we find out that he was once in an abusive relationship where his partner at the time attempted to rape him. Protagonist 1 escaped the same night as the attempt. He hitchhiked, and the driver who took him where he wanted to go demanded that protagonist 1 show him his genitals. Protagonist 1's abuser kept trying to contact him for years, eventually showing up in the town where the former lives and inviting him out for coffee. In the climax of the book, the abuser shows up in the protagonists' social circle with a different name, and only Protagonist 1 knows who the abuser really is. It's a very tense set of scenes. Protagonist 1 often experiences other queer men leering at him and touching him without his consent. Protagonist 2, Protagonist 1's partner, is very controlling. We find out over the course of the book that he monitors Protagonist 1's finances, location, and phone activity. Towards the end of the book, he wakes up Protagonist 1 in the middle of the night for sex. Protagonist 2's internal monologue indicates that he wasn't going to give Protagonist 1 a chance to say no and that he was using Protagonist 1's body to masturbate. An antagonist of the book reveals that he was sexually assaulted by adult men while a child, and that his foster mother facilitated these assaults.

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