The Sex Club

The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers is a well written, engaging police procedural. Sellers tackles controversial issues like teen sexuality, women’s rights, religious zealots, and the abuses humans inflict on one another without ever forgetting to entertain. Sellers introduces us to Detective Jackson in this first in the series. Detective Jackson works with Kera, a clinic nurse, to investigage a group of teenagers whose promiscuity has lead to a need to keep secrets. The fear of discovery impedes the investigation into the death of one of the groups members. As those secrets are revealed, people in powerful political positions have a lot to lose and create obstacles to impede the case’s resolution. Detective Jackson fears for his show more daughter’s safety, and refuses to let the case quietly grow cold. At the same time, a group of religious zealots have their own agenda for wanting to avoide the truth being discovered. Sellers creates well-rounded characters the reader wants to know better. The Sex Club has a tightly woven plot that keeps the reader intrigued until the last page. show less

The Sex Club L. J. Sellers

The Sex Club starts out with a sense that it's going to be preachy about pro choice, but it doesn't take long for it become a very compelling mystery. Detective Wade Jackson is a thoroughly real and likable guy. In my mind he appeared as Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman from Heroes). Wade, Kera and the policemen were all likable characters. Even the Mayor had something likable about him. The mystery was complicated enough to keep me interested and, although I had an idea, I didn't solve it before it was revealed. Sellers has an easy reading style that kept the story moving.

The only part of the story that bothered me, though it may not bother everyone, is the Christian characters. Most of them seemed one sided and I show more don't recall any but the victims being given a likable trait. Sellers needs the kind of character she painted to tell her story, but I wish she had also shown that there are some fundamental Christians who are caring and forgiving, and not merely of their brethren. The stereotypes do exist or there wouldn't be stereotypes, but not everyone is a stereotype in the reality of my experience. show less

To get the obvious out of the way up front - the title isn't quite as sinister as it first seems. Whilst this is a book which has some unsavoury elements to it, the point being made is more about the nature of peer pressure and the unfortunate consequences of denial.

When I was lucky enough to get a copy of THE SEX CLUB for my ereader I wasn't really too sure what to expect. The potential sexual elements of the book were certainly not an issue for me, but combine that with a fundamentalist Christian subplot and I became a reluctant reader. But I'm very glad that I was talked into putting my reluctance aside and found, once I started reading the book, I was very quickly engaged.

THE SEX CLUB combines the two main threads - the bombing of show more the Family Planning Clinic and the death of Jessie. Whilst some elements of the perpetrator of the bombing are known up front, there is less revealed about the murder. This means that the reader watches as, under pressure and under threat, Kera and Jackson must resolve everything - the bomber's identify and motives, the murder's identity and motives and whether the events are connected. And they must do all of that in time to stop any further bombings or murders. It's a well developed methodology, and the storytelling makes the interweaving of these threads believable, complicated but not complex, and engaging.

This book is a debut book and as an opening salvo in getting to know, in particular, Detective Jackson (who has his name on the ongoing series) it was a good start. There was a lot explained about both Jackson and Kera's backgrounds. Both characters do suffer a little from overtly damaged pasts (leading to much scope for mutual understanding and noble intentions), but overall Jackson, in particular, is an interesting character juggling the challenges of a demanding job and single-fatherhood to a teenage daughter. Of the supporting characters, perhaps the least successful is the perpetrator of the bombing - in whose head the reader spends a fair amount of time. It could be that the character was somewhat unconvincing, having said that, as I write this review I'm aware that it could also very well be that somebody that fanatical is.. frankly... completely offputting and impossible to understand.

In the main, THE SEX CLUB is a book that tackles issues that some readers are going to find contentious. For what it's worth, I thought that each of the difficult aspects were handled with sensitivity, although I should imagine that a slight tendency to "lecture" on some aspects might annoy some readers. Having said that, the sheer tackling of these issues alone is undoubtedly going to annoy some readers. On a personal level I was quite surprised that something built around perpetrators with viewpoints that I would normally leave to other readers worked as well as it did, and I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series. show less

Don't let the title fool you. This isn't erotica. The Sex Club is a well-crafted mystery/suspense story with an engaging, fast-paced plot. You won't find a typical serial killer or forensic play-by-play here. What you will find is an original story that could be pulled out of the headlines today. And, once you read it, you will understand why that is such a disturbing thought.

I loved Sellers' writing style. I immediately connected with the characters. Even those whose viewpoints I didn't agree with were portrayed in a way that made me understand their motives. Some of the answers are handed to us, others come about in a couple of great twists toward the end. The topic is controversial but, in my opinion, handled incredibly well.

The Sex Club by L. J. Sellers is a well written, engaging police procedural. Sellers tackles controversial issues like teen sexuality, women’s rights, religious zealots, and the abuses humans inflict on one another without ever forgetting to entertain. Sellers introduces us to Detective Jackson in this first in the series. Detective Jackson works with Kera, a clinic nurse, to investigage a group of teenagers whose promiscuity has lead to a need to keep secrets. The fear of discovery impedes the investigation into the death of one of the groups members. As those secrets are revealed, people in powerful political positions have a lot to lose and create obstacles to impede the case’s resolution. Detective Jackson fears for his show more daughter’s safety, and refuses to let the case quietly grow cold. At the same time, a group of religious zealots have their own agenda for wanting to avoide the truth being discovered. Sellers creates well-rounded characters the reader wants to know better. The Sex Club has a tightly woven plot that keeps the reader intrigued until the last page. show less

Very topical in its portrayal of the pressures girls and women face regarding their sexual relationships and their ability to obtain information on birth control and sexually transmitted diseases - and wrapped up in a good mystery. My problem with the book is that the author seems to paint "church-going" Christians as dangerous, right-wing ideologues. That is too easy. My political and social beliefs are probably identical to the author's, but this book felt too much like propaganda, which I don't like from either the left or the right.

This is such a good book with such a terrible name. The name leads you to believe it's about prostitutes or maybe BDSM in a "gentleman's club." It's not. It's a very good story about domestic terrorism, reproductive rights, teenage sexuality, parental love in various positive and negative forms, and abusive sexual relationships. Sellers says this is her most controversial book, too bad because she does it so well. I plan to read her follow up books, controversial or not. They're very inexpensive from Barnes and Noble downloaded to Nook.