Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Review by Brenda Sorrels

                                                      DEADLY PLEASURES

If you want a great ride, something exciting and fast paced, then this is the perfect book to read. Things heat up right away in the opening scene where a drugged-up prostitute, Sherrie, (red garter belt and lace) is having sex with her trick, George. George is a member of the Bayside Yacht Club where our protagonist, Megan Riley and her three rich girlfriends hang out. Between grunts, groans and lots of sweat, George studies a framed photograph of Sherrie with her close friend, another prostitute named Allison, who was brutally murdered six months prior. George dies in ecstasy having an orgasm with Sherrie and the women of the Yacht Club are about to be pulled into a murder mystery! As prostitutes continue to turn up dead, things ramp up even more and the Yacht Club ladies, as an antidote to their cheating husbands and boring lifestyle, hire a boy-toy. Megan, a struggling real estate agent and recovering alcoholic, is a breath of fresh air in the group and goes along only because of their friendship. There is a taste of reality TV in the superficiality, the cattiness, the whining. I could picture all of the women, except Megan, on “The Housewives of Orange County!” The boy-toy thing was amusing and a gutsy turn on the double standard. The plot thickens when their boy-toy turns out to be the suspected killer.
    Enter Matt Donovan an LAPD detective, widower and all-around good guy who is determined to find the horrific murderer….(victims are mutilated, their right breasts cut off) Megan and Matt are soon an item. The ride continues… on and off yachts, into the world of sadomasochism - scenes all vividly described and well rendered, very real. I admit I did learn something here. There was one “club” that was located in a house on top of a hill and people had to take a tram and have a password in order to get in. It was a party like I’ve never seen and reminded me of that Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman movie “Eyes Wide Shut.”
The story never loses it’s roller-coaster pace and there is a thrilling scene in the end set on one of the yachts that left me on the edge of my seat. The ending was my favorite part of the book. All of the loose ends came together and all of the scenes paid off in a satisfying way. So, take your e-reader on the plane or grab your towel and hit the beach. Let “Deadly Pleasures” engage and entertain you in a really fun way!

1 comment:

Liesel K. Hill said...

This is not the sort of book I generally care for, but your review makes it sound awesome. I'll add it to my TBR list. Thanks for the review!