Elite Desires

By: Adam McKim

Narrated by: Sam Rosenthal

It was supposed to be a routine homicide. A body in a back alley. No witnesses. Another forgotten victim in a city that knows how to bury the truth. But Detective Marcus Cole doesn’t let things go—especially not when something feels wrong. What begins as a simple case soon leads him down a dark path of hidden networks, whispered names, and power structures built to protect the worst kind of men. As he digs deeper, Marcus finds himself crossing lines that can't be uncrossed. With pressure mounting, allies slipping away, and enemies watching from the shadows, one question remains: how far will he go to bring justice to the people the system forgot?

Taut, atmospheric, and unflinching, Elite Desires is a gripping crime thriller about the weight of silence, the price of truth, and one detective’s fight to expose the darkness hiding in plain sight.

©2025 Adam McKim (P)2025 Adam McKim

Hook, line, and sinker ... this one snags firm

I'll be first to admit that listening to a realistic modern-day crime drama is far off track from my usual sci-fi, fantasy, LitRPG, non-fiction, and military styled lists. But, Adam Kim knocks it out of the park with Elite Desires. Despite its relative short length, the story felt deep and detailed, the characters familiar, the dialogue natural and unhurried, and the subject matter timely. Each step further into the dark and murky trafficking ring unveils additional conspiracy and coverup while leaders remain shrouded in secrecy. It's up to a determined detective and a rag-tag team of operatives to discover who is connected, and how to stop it. Sam Rosenthal performs narration and voices with clarity and cadence tuned to perfection. [Disclosure: I received this title for free and listened at 2.0x.]

Decent story, good twists.

Okay, it's a decent story, it has some good twists, it's got some punchy dialogue and it's pacing is well done. That said, this is not really a novel that will make you think. The characters are likable, but most of them are rather one dimensional. Some of the dialogue is stilted, and some of it is kind of ham-fisted. It's a great afternoon read if you just want the good guys to beat the bad guys.

There is also one hiccup in the audio about an hour in.

I did get this for free for review.

Great story

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the book. I found this to be a good detective story and was rooting for the detective in the story. The detective is worn down and and wanting to make a bigger difference in the community. He gets involved in a case that has a real opportunity to do this, but the case is bigger than he has anticipated. We follow the main character as he goes undercover to collect evidence to close the case and help a lot of people in the community and beyond.

The narrator did an excellent job.

Very good short crime drama/thriller!

This had all the components of longer (sometimes "overdone") thrillers but without all the fluff. It played out like a hard-hitting episode of SVU as opposed to a drawn out 7-part miniseries. 🤔

Although it's a shorter read/listen and without a 100 page back story like others in the genre, it was still extremely easy to care about the MC (a detective) bc he was a genuinely good guy -- definitely someone you'd want on an actual trafficking investigation. I also appreciated how the author wrote the details surrounding the subject matter of human trafficking (in this case it was young women). It's a sensitive topic, and he was careful to provide enough descriptors to get the point across to the reader while not crossing into crude/gruesome depictions of the victims traumatic experiences.

I was given this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent Story

Marcus Cole is a detective who is just worn down by not being able to stop or bring to justice crimes in his town. The author puts a lot of depth into this main character and the reader is cheering for him to succeed.
Narration is well handled and the entire storyline is excellent