We've all read many, many times about the actions and methods of Serial Killers and sociopaths, whether they are real or fictional characters. And just when you start to believe that maybe the world is moving on from its fascination with murderous loners, along comes someone with a completely new take on the subject, and SLICE! You're right back in there again, wanting more. What author Barbie Wilde shows us in this riveting debut novel are the thoughts and motivations behind one such person's deeds. The 'Whys' that some of us have always longed to be shown. To me, this unique glimpse into every dark, moist corner of a disturbed mind is what makes this book unique, gripping and very powerful. And the inspired literary device that Ms Wilde uses with such skill to enable us, the reader, to peer inside the teeming, bloodshot head of her protagonist, Michael Friday, is that of the day to day journal. This is a magnificent choice. At last, how wonderful it is to be privy to the mental workings of a murderer! Let's be honest, wouldn't most of us really like to get inside the mind of a Bundy, a Dahmer, a De Salvo? C'mon, admit it! It's that prurient curiosity that attracts and repels us all at once. And using the diary format makes it a very easy book to read and absorb. Nothing outstays its welcome and as a result you find yourself eagerly turning the page to see what fresh audacity awaits you. Very clever!

Barbie writes in a fluid, almost conversational style that draws you straight in from the first paragraph of Entry 1. You sense Michael's vivid anger at his wife's admission of her betrayal and somehow as a result condone his spontaneous decision to send her on a one way journey through the car windscreen as he drives full throttle into a grove of trees." Bye, bye honey". Oh, this is irresistible stuff of the first order!
You're hooked into Michael's world from the get go. And you stay there. Because he is just so plausible. He's angry at EVERYTHING! And if we're true to ourselves a great many of us know exactly how he feels. And he articulates it all for us: the inanity of modern life, our true feelings about psychiatry, the fearsome inevitability of the male sexual urge, mindless TV, assembly-line music, Christmas, unrequited love, the stupidity of politics, religion, guilt etc, etc. The litany is almost without end. I personally would quite happily just read a book that solely consisted of one man's rage against the world if it were written with Barbie's concise and eloquent use of language. That would be like Bill Bryson's dark and evil twin having a very, very bad hair day and pouring it out onto the page.
But now, in Entry 6, Barbie's creativity takes flight in another direction at the same time. It's a very vivid and erotic description of a dream that Michael Friday has, that in essence charts the beginning of his descent (and his ascendance) all it once. It is one of the horniest things that I've ever read. It's an extraordinary moment believe me! Obviously I'm not going to go into detail because of the dreaded 'Spoiler' factor. But from here on in Michael makes that one decision that will implement the means to improve his life (whilst sadly destroying those of several others as a result). The astounding vision of a plan of action arrives bit by bit with clarity in a brain now poised for change. There will be no turning back from this moment on. As he says in a journal entry a short while later: " I want to be SOMEBODY. I don't want to be a big NOBODY." I think that a lot of us might well be in agreement with him on this.
The most extraordinary thing above all about this body of work (it's hard to think of it as merely a novel) is that IT WAS WRITTEN BY A WOMAN! I have never, ever read the writings of a female capturing the inside of the head of a male that has this level of accuracy and honesty to it. How she did it I have no idea, but what an achievement. Especially when she describes in detail the sexual acts in which Michael indulges.
Yes, of course I've read (and enjoyed greatly) the writings of the best female authors writing in the crime and dark crime genres. You know their names and their reputations are well deserved, but trust me, when you've finished reading 'The Venus Complex' you will be adding Barbie Wilde's name to that list without a doubt. Very highly recommended. ( )