Narrated by Gary Furlong

Object of Desire is Dal Maclean’s second book and the second part of the mystery/suspense trilogy that also comprises Bitter Legacy and the forthcoming Blue on Blue (out in audio in May). It’s not absolutely necessary to have read or listened to Bitter Legacy in order to fully appreciate Object of Desire; the stories are self-contained, although some of the characters from that book appear in secondary roles here – and Bitter Legacy is fantastic, so you’re missing out if you don’t read or listen to it!

Tom Grey had finished his chemistry degree
and was planning on doing a Master’s in forensic science when he was ‘spotted’
by Pez, a booker at Echo, a London modelling agency. Now a successful, highly
sought-after model, Tom’s job is, literally, to be an object of desire, and
he’s very good at it, gorgeous, aloof and unattainable both on and off camera. His
life is exactly how he wants it – he has a boyfriend, Nick, he maintains a
friends-with-benefits relationship with Pez, and has casual hook-ups whenever
he feels like it; he’s in control, always keeping the upper hand in
relationships and never allowing anyone too close.

He’s just finished a shoot when he receives
a panicked phone call from Nick, listening in disbelief as Nick tells him that
his (Nick’s) estranged wife and business partner Catriona is dead, that she
killed herself and that he found the body. He begs Tom to come over – and on
the way, Tom can’t fight off his rising sense of fear and trepidation. He can’t
think of any reason why Catriona would have killed herself… although he can’t
deny the possibility that his relationship with Nick might have had something
to do with it. Five months earlier, Nick left Catriona, to whom he’s been
married for almost a decade, to be with Tom, but surely that can’t have driven
the coolly efficient, poised and collected woman he knew to such a drastic act?
Or is that guilt making excuses?

I don’t want to say too much more about the
plot, which is incredibly intricate, brilliantly constructed and utterly
gripping. Catriona’s death is the catalyst for a chain of events that send
Tom’s carefully ordered life spiralling out of control and almost destroys him,
starting when a friend of hers comes forward and accuses Tom of harassing and
stalking Cat, effectively driving her to suicide. Tom, still reeling from the
shock of Cat’s death and from only now realising quite how unaware he’d been of
the fact that she’d been depressed over Nick’s desertion and struggling at work,
and still trying to come to terms with the death of someone he’d considered a
friend, is horrified… and scared because the police seem intent on pinning
something on him. The solicitor Nick has hired engages a private investigator
to look into the stalking allegations, assuring them that the guy is the best
in the business, and arranges for them to meet. It’s only after the meeting is arranged
that Nick’s sister Jena rather sheepishly tells Tom that the investigator is
former detective inspector Will Foster – the man with whom Tom had a five-month
relationship two years ago – his one foray into exclusivity – and had cruelly
dumped when he realised he was in deeper than he wanted to be.

Tom had hoped never to see Will again, and
in spite of his insistence to himself that he has no regrets about ending
things between them, can’t deny that seeing him now is stirring up a mass of
complicated emotions he doesn’t want. Unfortunately for Tom however, Will and
the memories he evokes are the least of his problems. The police have
determined that Catriona was murdered – and Tom is their prime suspect.

Gah! I was so engrossed in this story that
I’d have listened to all (almost) thirteen hours of it in one sitting if I’d
been able to. The suspense plot is brilliant; gritty, full of twists and turns,
it’s a dark story of obsession and betrayal, and the author does a fantastic
job of ratcheting up the tension by slow degrees – it’s there on the very first
page, never lets up until the end, and I’m sure I was holding my breath at
various points as things got worse and worse for Tom. Whoever is targeting him
is devious, clever and always one step ahead; whatever Tom does only seems to
enmesh him further in the killer’s web until he can’t see any way out of it.

While the mystery is truly compelling, the
relationship between Tom and Will is equally so. As with Ben Morgan in Bitter Legacy, Dal Maclean has written
a central protagonist who isn’t always easy to like, although as Tom is the PoV
character here, he’s definitely easier to understand. Coolly self-contained on
the outside, on the inside he’s a hot mess; petrified of love, he sees it as
weakness after years of watching his father being impaled on the dagger of unreturned adoration for his flighty
mother. Determined never to be like his dad, he’s become like his mum instead, flitting
from partner to partner and getting out the minute the other person starts
wanting more than Tom’s prepared to give. There were times I wanted to smack
some sense into him, but even though he’s frustrating and sometimes makes unwise
choices, it’s hard not to root for him or find him endearing, something I put
down – in part – to Gary Furlong’s highly sympathetic portrayal.

We only see Will from Tom’s perspective,
but it’s clear from his words and actions – and the things Tom shows us but
doesn’t see – that he still cares
deeply for Tom, and together, they make a great investigating team.

Gary Furlong delivers another absolutely
outstanding performance here. He adopts a wide range of vocal characterisations
to portray the fairly large secondary cast, all of whom are distinct from one
another and easy to identify in group conversations. He voices female
characters appropriately and convincingly, and gets to display his facility
with accents from all over the British Isles, from a Northern Irish brogue to a
Welsh lilt (Welsh accents are HARD!), to accents from the Midlands and
Lancashire (actually, if I do have a small grumble, it’s that that character
sounds more like a Yorkshireman – a heinous crime to anyone from either of
those parts of the country!). Yes, I’m picky, but if you know me from these
pages, then you’ll know that about me by now!

His portrayal of Tom, however, is truly fantastic
and the real stand-out feature of this audiobook. Dal Maclean has written an
incredibly complex, rounded character, but Mr. Furlong takes it one step
further and breathes life into him in way that brings him into sharp, vivid
focus. Tom’s growing sense of fear, anger, devastation and despair are all
right there in Mr. Furlong’s voice, as is the overall sense of encroaching
dread that permeates the novel; and his obvious engagement with the character
and the story makes it easy for the listener to become invested in Tom’s fate
and in his relationship with Will, whose solid dependability is reflected in
his considered delivery and even tone of voice.

Object
of Desire is clever, sexy and edge-of-your-seat
thrilling, and once again, Dal Maclean has achieved a perfect balance between
the suspense plot and the romance. Add in Gary Furlong’s insightful, nuanced performance
and you’ve got one of the best audiobooks of 2020, no question.