Frustrations, Silver Linings, and Small Joys

This blog is a dead zone because I haven't been reading. I'm in a slump and it's a slump born out of work stress and a general feeling of malaise that seems to hover over me like a marine layer that just won't burn off. 

This past Tuesday was really not a good day for me, born entirely out of work-related frustrations. I didn't hit a wall so much as hit a series of them one after another like Wile E. Coyote. I was emotionally bankrupt once I returned to the Bat Cave and something, who knows what, made me get online instead of just crawling into bed. That's where I found it, the silver lining. After a 14 hiatus, I'm finally getting Book 3 in Christa Faust's Angel Dare series for Hard Case Crime.  14 years people! I've been waiting for as long as my niece Lemon Drop has been alive!

The Get Off by Christa Faust 

Coming (heh heh) March 2025 and added emphasis in blurb is all mine.

WILL THE CHANCE FOR A NEW LIFE BE ANGEL’S LAST SHOT?

Tagged as a cop killer when a mission of vengeance goes wrong, Angel Dare finds herself on the run, with an unexpected burden: she’s pregnant. Her desperate flight takes Angel across the American west, where cattle barons lock horns with rodeo bullfighters and life can end suddenly and brutally. A renegade couple living off the grid near the border might offer a chance of escape – but can Angel reach them in time…?

Now, let's refresh our memories on Wendy's reaction to the second book in this series (published all the way back in the more halcyon days of 2011), Choke Hold.  

However the author makes some choices in this novel that drove my inner romance reader batty.  First, there's an unprotected sex scene.  This sex scene happens after a break in the action where our fair heroine literally escapes with her life.  Adrenaline is surging towards the OMG, We're Still Alive!  Let's Celebrate With Hot Sweaty Sexy Times! spectrum.  I get that.  But the romance reader in me?  She sees "unprotected sex" and immediately thinks, "That bitch is going to end up pregnant, I just know it."

Granted the chances of Angel ending up with a bun in the oven strain considerably - but stranger things have happened.  All I'm saying is if there's another book in this series down the road, and she's either 1) knocked up or 2) has a baby in tow.....

Wendy Mad, Wendy Smash!

Gentle Reader, after the day I had on Tuesday, and reading this old review that evening, I laughed near borderline cackled.  

Look, am I still annoyed Angel does end up pregnant? Yeah, mainly because it's not what I want in my noir vigilante heroines. But 14 years is a lot of water under the bridge and I'm just so happy Faust finally decided to come back to this series. Plus news of this what-is-surely-going-to-be-a-Dark-AF book lightened my epically dreadful mood on a day when I just wasn't feeling very good about much of anything. I'll take it - bun in the oven and all.

Sometimes it's the little things....

When Being A Romance Reader Gets In The Way

Nothing gets my goat more than when a book is criticized for not being what it never intended to be in the first place.  For example, when I see a mention of a suspense novel where the reader (or reviewer or whomever) says: "The mystery was good, but the hero and his wife are getting a divorce!!!!"

OK, here's the thing cupcake: It's a suspense novel.  The author has one job, one requirement they have to meet - and that is solve the suspense thread.  Period.  End of story.  Personal relationships can be left twisting in the breeze.  Authors can even kill off beloved secondary characters (readers probably won't like it - but the author can still "do it" without breaking The Genre Code).  What the author cannot do?  Is not solve the suspense.  They have to give readers the whodunit. 

The romance genre is a bit different.  Yes, you have to have the happy ending - but fans of the genre also despise loose ends, as a general rule.  So while mystery/suspense authors can get away with leaving personal character relationships "messy" - romance authors?   It's a short leash.

I was a mystery/suspense reader long before I was a romance reader, so I'm pretty good and flipping the genre switches in my brain.  When I sit down to read a suspense novel, I expect certain things.  When I sit down to read a romance novel, I expect other things.  I've always had pride in the fact that I can keep my preferred reading hats in separate boxes in my reading closet.

That is until I read Choke Hold by Christa Faust. 

I thought I had bound, gagged the romance reader in me, and locked her in the attic - but apparently not.  That sneaky witch somehow managed to slip her bonds, remove her gag and start screaming to beat the band. 

Choke Hold is the second crime novel in Faust's series about ex-porn-star, turned vigilante on the run, Angel Dare.  Obviously when I read her books I expect 1) dark 2) characters with dubious reputations and 3) lots o' violence and dead bodies.  I'm not expecting Sunshine Happy Land.  I have to acknowledge the fact that none of the secondary characters are sacred.  Angel, being the main character, is probably safe from death - but the others?  Yeah, not so much.

However the author makes some choices in this novel that drove my inner romance reader batty.  First, there's an unprotected sex scene.  This sex scene happens after a break in the action where our fair heroine literally escapes with her life.  Adrenaline is surging towards the OMG, We're Still Alive!  Let's Celebrate With Hot Sweaty Sexy Times! spectrum.  I get that.  But the romance reader in me?  She sees "unprotected sex" and immediately thinks, "That bitch is going to end up pregnant, I just know it."

Granted the chances of Angel ending up with a bun in the oven strain considerably - but stranger things have happened.  All I'm saying is if there's another book in this series down the road, and she's either 1) knocked up or 2) has a baby in tow.....

Wendy Mad, Wendy Smash!

However, that wasn't what bothered me the most.  No, in this novel it was the feeling I had that Angel was being exploited.

Yes, yes - I know she's a former porn star.  I know me worrying about her being "exploited" sounds ludicrous.  I also understand that she makes the choices she makes in this book when her back is literally up against a wall.  She doesn't see any other way out. 

However, it didn't stop me from feeling like Angel was more reactive than proactive in this book.  Hence, exploited.

I have no idea if Faust is going to keep going on with the Angel Dare saga, but even with my misgivings with this book, I still appreciated the fact that we had a gutsy, gory, pulpy crime novel with a female lead.  That lead might not have always "behaved" the way I wanted her to - but she was still the star of the show.  That is something, especially in a fictional universe where testosterone has always been king.

Now it's your turn - Have you ever read a book that wasn't a romance, wasn't marketed as a romance - but you still couldn't silence your inner screaming romance fangirl?

Wendy Takes Crime Detour

I seem to be in an excessively cranky mood about...well...everything at the moment. And instead of subjecting my cranky, irrational mood on the Interwebs (see people, it's call restraint....) I thought I would embrace my crankiness by highlighting an upcoming crime novel filled to the brim with pulpy goodness that I'm tempted to sell one of my ovaries to get my hands on.

Choke Hold by Christa Faust, the second book to feature former porn star turned vigilante, Angel Dare, is due out March 2011. And the only thing keeping me from turning into a brainless, slobbering, fangirl-y mess is the fact that her publisher, Hard Case Crime (part of Dorchester) tends to send me books in advance here at work. Dear God, I hope this will be one of them.

Description:

INSIDE THE WORLD OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS—AND MURDER...

Angel Dare went into Witness Protection to escape her past—not as a porn star, but as a killer who took down the sex slavery ring that destroyed her life. But sometimes the past just won’t stay buried. When a former co-star is murdered, it’s up to Angel to get his son, a hotheaded MMA fighter, safely through the unforgiving Arizona desert, shady Mexican bordertowns, and the seductive neon mirage of Las Vegas...

I loved the first book in the series, and am beyond ecstatic that Faust has decided to return with another book featuring Angel. Of course like an idiot, I made the mistake of reading the sample chapter on the Hard Case Crime web site, and now I'm wondering if storming the Dorchester editorial offices and taking Faust's editor hostage until I get my hands on the full manuscript might be a tad excessive. Too much you think? Maybe? But seriously, what self-respecting crime lover could blame me after reading snippets like this:

"Look," Vic continued. "I know you got no reason to give me the time of day, not after the way I fucked everything up between us. But I just want a few minutes of your time, to make amends."

"Amends?" I looked over at the old guy at the counter, waiting for his pie. He was starting to look annoyed. "It’s ancient history, Vic."

"Indulge me, Angel," Vic said. "It’s part of my recovery."

The old charm was pretty threadbare but it still made me smile despite myself.

"Is a blow job for old time's sake part of your recovery too?" I asked.

He cracked a grin that took years off his weathered face.

"Come on." He put his hand to his heart, mock offended. "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

"I know exactly what kind of guy you are," I told him. "That’s the problem."

"Just a few minutes, Angel," Vic said. "Please? The blow job is optional."

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Go talk to your kid," I told him. "I’m off at midnight, okay?"

Seriously. Can. Not. Wait. To. Read. This. Now to distract myself for the next 9 months....

Man, That's Harsh

"I'm sure you're wondering what a nice girl like me was doing left for dead in the trunk of a piece of shit Honda Civic out in the industrial wasteland east of downtown Los Angeles. Or maybe we've met before and you're wondering why it hadn't happened sooner."

The only way to describe Money Shot, Christa Faust's debut for the Hard Case Crime line, is brutal. Everything about this story is brutal. It's like Death Wish with a pair of boobs.

Angel Dare made a name for herself in porn, but was smart enough to not do drugs and get out before, in her words, her "p*ssy turned back into a pumpkin." She now runs Daring Angels, a talent agency of sorts for female porn stars, and has a good life. Then one day she gets a call from old friend, and porn director, Sam Hammer. Sam is in a jam, and needs a hottie to do some screen time with hot, young stud Jesse Black. Angel agrees, in part because she adores Sam, but also because she's got a girl hard-on for Jesse. But once she arrives on set, it all goes downhill quickly. Beaten, raped, shot and left for dead in the trunk of the Civic, all because of some underfed Romanian girl who walked into her office earlier that day carrying a briefcase full of money.

This is a revenge story, pure and simple. It's also compulsively readable because, as a writer, Faust has no sacred cows. Besides the dynamite first person narration, and the eye to detail, there are enough dead bodies in this book to make Hannibal Lecter choke. Angel has every reason to be pissed off, and shows a lot of gumption (her escape from the trunk of the car is great), but the long and the short of it is she's a killer. She shoots people. In cold blood. Not without cause mind you, and there is a certain amount of justice to it, but I'm not sure she'd rate terribly high on the Likability Scale. She works for me, but I can see her not working for some readers (oh, like say, 90% of my blog reading audience).

My only quibble with this story is The Man. No, not The Man, but Lalo Malloy. A former LAPD officer, he now works security for Daring Angels. This is all about my personal expectations, but I would have much rather had Angel carry this tale by herself. I can't entirely fault the poor girl. Once she escapes that trunk, she has to call somebody (who knew there were still pay phones in L.A.?) and Malloy is it. But instead of him riding off into the sunset, he rides shotgun for the bulk of the story. Basically I just didn't think Angel needed a man along for the ride. In the end, she handles it her way, but for a while I was kind of annoyed by his presence. I don't know. Maybe the feminist in me just wanted to have Angel do all the ass kicking.

I thought this was a crackerjack book, and it will be interesting to see how it fairs. Will it appeal to men? Will it appeal to women? Will it appeal to anybody who isn't bitter? Who knows? But I thought it was raw and gripping. Sure it holds true a lot of the conventions of the pulp crime noir genre, but dropping in a female lead (a pissed off one at that) is inspired. If you want different, look no further.

Final Grade = B+

Note: This book goes on sale January 29.

Damn, That's Hot

I love pulp mysteries. I'm not sure why. My father is of the generation that "grew up" on these - but he doesn't read fiction. Although, we did spend a lot of quality Daddy-Daughter time when I was a kid watching Perry Mason TV movies. Maybe that's where I get it?

I love everything about pulp - the tough guy characters, the femme fatales, the noir atmosphere, the cover art, just the whole style that goes with them.

But as much as I love them, there ain't a whole lot of pulp out there featuring female protagonists or written by women. No more! Those wonderful folks over at Hard Case Crime (very awesome, check 'em out) are publishing Christa Faust's Money Shot in February 2008. She will be the first woman that the line has published - so kudos to you girlfriend!

Description:

They thought she'd be easy. They thought wrong.

It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she’d been shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she’ll get to the bottom of what’s been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way...

Damn, that's hot. Seriously I'd be preordering this bad girl today if Amazon had it listed (which they don't yet - bastards!). I haven't been this happy since I discovered cheesecake. I can so not wait until February!