If you love detective novels, then you'll enjoy the online dating mystery of The Verifiers by Jane Pek. Claudia works for Veracity, a company that helps online daters verify if the person they've met online is really who they say they are. When one of Veracity's clients winds up dead, Claudia takes it upon herself (much like her favorite fictional detective Inspector Yuan) to find out what really happened.
The book focuses a lot on dual identities, whether that's through a man claiming to be single in his online dating profile but really being a married father or through Claudia trying to navigate being a good Chinese daughter while also staying true to herself. Pek also has a lot to say about the way internet companies use our data, envisioning a world where we are unknowingly influenced to like or do certain things, and we blindly follow. (Not that far off from the way the world currently is, right?) In Pek's world, dating sites and apps are the ones doing the influencing.
This was such a unique story, and I really enjoyed following Claudia around on her stakeouts and interviews. This would make for a great book club discussion, especially for those of us who have used dating sites before!
The Verifiers is published by Vintage and will be available to purchase on February 22, 2022 (tomorrow!). I received a free e-ARC in exchange for this review.
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