I started writing a draft of a dark romance that ultimately became, “In Love with the Hot Suspect” back in 2022 when I was editing erotica for a popular fiction app. I have always been intrigued by both activists and “bad boys” (fictional and IRL), and wanted to tell a story about a woman who finds true love and discovers her own strength when she gets tangled up in someone else’s crime. I’ve been itching to write something kind of smutty along these lines ever since “Hot Felon” Jeremy Meeks’ mugshot hit the interwebs many years ago.
I mean…
DAYUM!
Then, on December 4th, the entire United States became enraptured with the mysterious hooded gunman who shot the CEO of a much-despised health insurance company on the streets of New York mere hours before the CEO was scheduled to present his company’s abundant annual profits at a shareholder meeting.
Shocking the media and the police, Americans were not horrified by this crime. Instead, the buzz on social media was appreciative. Although the sentiment on social media opposed murder as a means of solving problems, a long-overdue dialogue began about the health insurance industry in the United States. People began sharing heartbreaking and frustrating stories about being denied care, being bankrupted because health insurance companies refused to cover care even when it had been, in some cases, pre-authorized. They described being given the run-around. Having phone representatives cruelly laugh at their health care conditions and financial circumstances. Even doctors chimed in, complaining about how corrupt and impossible the system is to navigate, sometimes preventing them from providing the medical services their patients need.
People outside of the United States were utterly shocked by how much Americans pay for basic care, as well as by the grotesque systematic denials issued for claims (in the case of UnitedHealthCare, using AI to deny an extraordinarily high volume of claims). What was revealed was not only a strong sentiment of support for the suspected shooter, but a sense of national outrage that our government has let the health insurance industry rip us off and let so many people seeking medical treatment suffer (and in some cases die) in the name of profitability.
The nation watched with bated breath for days as the NYPD and FBI joined forces on a massive manhunt that extended far beyond the city of New York. Once again, Americans were incensed at the expense and excessive effort put into this manhunt purportedly due to the victim’s executive role with a hugely powerful business organization and pressure from large corporations to bring the suspect to justice. NY Governor Kathy Hochul was widely roasted for considering a special hotline for CEO’s who feared that they might be targeted by a coordinated effort or by the suspect on the loose.
And then the case became even more fascinating. When the NYPD shared security photos of the suspect, taken both from a Starbucks location where he bought water and KIND snack bars the morning of the shooting and from a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side where he was alleged to have been staying…social media lost its collective mind over the suspect’s winning smile.
The suspected killer of the CEO of UnitedHealthCare’s actions and appearance had revealed beyond any sort of doubt that Americans were furious…and horny. Desperate for universal healthcare…and the hottie in the hoodie.
Like everyone else, I was glued to my phone during this entire manhunt. When police in Altoona, PA arrested a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate named Luigi Mangione in connection with the shooting, I was a little heartbroken that he’d been caught…but still shocked at how much energy law enforcement had put into finding this man. I felt like it was a bit of an insult to the many, many Americans whose loved ones have been murdered without any suspect ever being apprehended. At least in my opinion, it was clear right off the bat that rich and powerful people in the United States are granted significantly more access to justice than your average citizen. That is not how a democracy is supposed to work.
I don’t know Luigi Mangione. I don’t know anyone who knows Luigi Mangione. I would never base a spicy romance novel on an actual, living person. I want to make that abundantly clear: this is not a book about Luigi. I haven’t gone down rabbitholes online reading about his personal life because I consider all of the information available about him online to be an invasion of his privacy.
But I thought of my abandoned manuscript and modified it to capture some of the elements of the events of December 4th that I think are vital for us, as Americans, to address:
The matter of Luigi’s innocence or guilt is irrelevant to me; what is important is that the media immediately began reporting on him upon the moment of his arrest as if he had already been convicted. The police in PA who booked him took humiliating photos of him. Health insurance companies pressured the Department of Justice to slap Luigi with federal charges to deter potential copycat killers (a detail included in my book: a first-degree murder charge in NY State can only be issued in certain kinds of cases if a charge of terrorism is tied to it).
All of these things should concern Americans because innocence until being proven guilty is the cornerstone of our justice system. It is a dangerous precedent to allow corporate companies (most of which will stop at nothing to keep earning record profits as the government does nothing to enforce fair business practices or industry standards) to decide who is guilty and how they should be punished.
That’s my very long-winded way of telling you that this book is not based on or about Luigi or “the Adjuster,” but hopefully those of you who stan Luigi will find elements of the story sufficiently similar.
I won’t be posting anything specifically about the legal issues of his trial to my blog because I’m not an attorney. But I plan to suggest ways you can support Luigi (like the link below!), supoprt other incarcerated persons, learn about the Bureau of Prisons, and (of course) find other great dark romance novels in future posts. I will also be donating a percentage of sales from “In Love with the Hot Suspect” to both Luigi’s GiveSendGo fund and The Innocence Project.
More info:
From NBC News: “We believe every person is entitled to due process in a court of law — not in the court of public opinion,” Alex Shipley, GiveSendGo’s communications director, said in a statement. “To be absolutely clear, we do not support or condone vigilante justice. However, people have a constitutional right to a strong legal defense, and access to that defense should not be reserved only for the wealthy or those who fit a particular narrative. Our role is to give individuals and their communities the opportunity to fundraise for that defense, because true justice is served when everyone has equal access to a fair trial — regardless of the verdict.”
Donate to Luigi’s Give Send Go: https://www.givesendgo.com/legalfund-ceo-shooting-suspect
by Mia Messina
available as an e-book or paperback
He’s suspected of killing a businessman in broad daylight. As the investigation closes in, should Emmy turn him in, or give him her heart?
MIA MESSINA BOOKS 
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