There is rarely a Hard Case Crime book that isn't good. But this is one of the all-time best. Along with The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow, Money Shot is my favorite book of 2008. For my complete review, check out my blog: http://scottdparker.blogspot.com/2008... ( )

Action-packed, cynical, sad, ultraviolent, and even at times tender. Faust delivers a fast-paced tale with a detective's (or is that a criminal's?) eye for detail. I could see scenes in it as clearly as though I were watching it on the silver screen. Faust doesn't condemn the sex industry--far from it--but she also doesn't flinch away from its more sickening parts. I hope whoever uses it for a film (it'd make a great movie) takes great care to preserve the original tone and flavor. Great stuff!

Avenging Angel.

A retired adult entertainment star, now managing some of the same is called out of her retired state.

Horny, and asked to do a scene with the hot new stud she agrees, and walks straight into a trap.

A botched execution leaves her on the run, framed for murder, injured, and very angry.

Despite that, this is a lot better than it sounds, as Faust handles this very well, and with some talent as the main character evolve from someone who was concerned at the start of the novel with her appearance, to a gun-wielding revenge seeker.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/09... ( )

Okay, Money shot.

This is another of the hard Case Crime series, #40. It's the second I've read, and it's pretty good and well worth the $7 bucks paid.

the story is about the travails of Angel Dare, a former porn actress who is drawn into an awful situation and is forced to deal with it in a very convincing and human way. The plot is a bit formulaic, but the author takes time to flesh out the characters, and they come across as real people.

Christa Faust can write and she's selected a fairly interesting and (for most of us, anyhow) foreign world to set her story in. There's isn't any moralizing, but there is a short and a little too tangential discussion about the porn industry in general. I don't think she would have ruined the book by adding a more in-depth exchange on porn in general, but then again, this isn't fine lit and I got my money's worth. Not a bad way to spend an early May afternoon at all.

Since this is HCC, a part of the package is most definitely the cover and deserves at least a cursory mention: this one sucks, plain and simple. Naked women are good, women with guns are good, money is good, but value of the whole is not always the sum of the parts.

If you're interested, she has a trailer for her book up on the front page of her web site. It's not too hard to find, so I won't post the link here. ( )

if this book is the harbinger of things to come - that would be sex-soaked, female-authored neo-noir - then it portends well for this new sub-genre...

I didn't love it. My guess is that it makes what for me is a common yet still inexcusable noir mistake, which is to rely on stock characters.

With one key exception. Angel Dare, badass hooker with a heart, *truly avenges*. That means no 11th hour wimping out, no revelations that she'll lose a little piece of herself if she stoops to the same level as the thugs and yeah, blows them away.

I like this a lot. I do worry that it's a trend, though. I realize I'm asking to have it both ways: observing that coldblooded female vengeance is fresh and appealing - and decrying what looks to be its acceptance as a new standard.

well, what can I say. That just gets us back to square one: write a three-dimensional character.

As for the sex: I thought it was better than vicki hendricks', but I'm still not ready to say its the element that makes the book. I liked the offhand descriptions, it read genuine to me (as the reviewers all seem to appreciate) and I even learned a few things. Kind of like reading historical fiction...but not.