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Friday, June 17, 2011

MONEY SHOT



A fantastic crime novel from Christa Faust.

Angel Dare is an ex-porn star – not really close to being past her prime, really, but retired from the biz anyway. She’s contacted by a former associate, porn director Sam Hammer, about coming back (just this once) to do a shoot to help Sam’s career from tanking.

Jesse Black, an up-and-coming (ahem) porn star, is thrilled to be working with Angel, but not so thrilled that it keeps him from beating her. At some point, Angel is shot and stuffed into the trunk of a car. Of course she escapes her fate but in the course of events winds up implicated in Sam’s murder.

Tense, tight writing here and a wicked sense of humor, too. Plus, the author has made her admiration for the late, legendary “Shell Scott” creator Richard S. Prather well known with her dedication of MONEY SHOT to him. Wow, could Ms. Faust be any more perfect?

Incidentally, Mr. Prather is loved and admired in my household, too – he signed some books for me in the years before his death (“Have Gat, Will Travel”, anyone?). Not every woman in the modern reading public would appreciate Mr. Prather’s admittedly misogynistic private eye storytelling skills (but what tough guy PI writer in the 40’s and 50’s WASN’T misogynistic to varying degrees?). There are some, like Christa Faust apparently, who can see beyond all that and dig it for what it is. Chalk up another point in the “win” column for this lady.

“The Splatting Nun” says: by all means gets your genuflecting done and then go out and find this one!

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