Outlaw Reviews

Deconstruction by Kit Zheng

06 Jul 2011 at 18:53

Rating: 7/10
Title: Deconstruction
Author: Kit Zheng
Genre: mystery, erotica
URL: Aspen Mountain Press
Price: US $6.99
Other Information/warnings: violence, domination, humiliation, explicit sexual content
Summary [from the publisher]:
Escort Tomas and homicide detective Vic have been together three years and expect many more–until Vic’s case, a string of hustler murders, hits too close to home. While Vic grows more tense and distant, Tomas finds himself increasingly tangled in the erotic games of a client, Jon, who plays on Tomas’s most secret needs. When the killer strikes at the club where Tomas works as a dancer, everything spins into a dizzying mix of sex and love, miscommunication and murder.

Can they stop the killer before things go horribly wrong? Or are they already too late?

My review (spoilers ahoy!):

Tinseltown by Barry Brennessel

06 Jul 2011 at 18:28

Rating: 7/10
Title: Tinseltown
Author: Barry Brennessel
Genre: Humour/romance
URL: MLR Press
Price: US $6.99
Other Information/warnings:
Summary [from the publisher]:

Film student Micah Malone learns the hard way that when life sucks, you can’t just yell “Cut! Let’s do another take!”

His grades are a box-office bomb. His friends create more drama than a soap opera. And his love life needs a laughtrack. While there’s no script to dictate what happens next, can Micah find the direction he needs? Life, after all, is no film school project. But it is great source material. The only source material.

Let the cameras roll. Micah’s quirky story has begun filming.

My review:

Zombielicious by Timothy McGivney

21 Jun 2011 at 09:12

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 9/10
Title: Zombielicious
Author: Timothy McGivney
Genre: Horror, Erotica
Publisher: MLR Press
Price: US$ 14.99
Other Information/warnings: Explicit sex and violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
Amidst a zombie outbreak, Walt, athletic and confident, meets shy and quiet Joey, the attraction between them both instant and electric. With strength in numbers, they band together alongside fellow survivors; Jill, an ex-porn star turned nurse who’s made a startling discovery about her past; Ace, a disgruntled security guard who just can’t live up to certain short comings; and Molly, the fiery redhead unwilling to give up on her dreams of stardom. In this apocalyptic new world of the dead, an anything-goes attitude has become the law of the land and lust, betrayal, true love and redemption are all just a gunshot away.
My review:

Katrdeshtr’s Redemption (The Night Cat, #1) by Red Haircrow

07 Jun 2011 at 09:49

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 9/10
Title: Katrdeshtr’s Redemption (The Night Cat, #1)
Author: Red Haircrow
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher URL: Smashwords
Price: US$ 1.99
Summary [from the publisher]:
Ancient, brutal beauty, Katrdeshtr the Night Cat, Russian vampire and incorrigible mischief maker turns to old pleasures to relieve his eternal boredom, yet when his sometimes partner finds a new love, satisfaction takes on new meaning. This change of events can only end in someone’s eternal death and Kat doesn’t intend for it to be him!
My review:

Lola Dances by Victor J. Banis

04 Jun 2011 at 12:09

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 9/10
Title: Lola Dances
Author: Victor J. Banis
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: MLR Press
Price: US$ 15.99
Other Information/warnings: incest, rape, some violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and often bawdy, Lola Dances ranges from the 1850 slums of the Bowery to the mining camps of California and Montana, to the Barbary Coast of San Francisco.

Little Terry Murphy, pretty and effeminate, dreams of becoming a dancer. Raped by a drunken profligate and threatened with prison, Terry flees the Bowery and finds himself in the rugged settlement of Alder Gulch, where he stands out like a sore thumb among the camp’s macho inhabitants–until the day he puts on a dress and dances for the unsuspecting miners as beautiful Lola Valdez–and wins fame, fortune and, ultimately, love.
My review:

Finished by Christian A Young

03 Jun 2011 at 10:35

Rating: 10/10
Title: Finished
Author: Christian A. Young
Genre: science fiction
URL: Smashwords
Price: US$0.99
Other Information/warnings: none
Summary [from the author]:

A life of larceny in a half-wrong body isn’t what Aldin hoped for, but right now it’s all he’s got and he’s making the best of it. When an unwelcome surprise sends him running, his prospects hinge entirely on his wits and an unlikely ally.

My review:

When I was younger, this was the kind of story I would inhale like air. Tightly written, clever, thinky science fiction with masses of ideas, interested world building and commentary packed into spare, punchy prose.

And then I discovered m/m, where the art of the short story is confined to stroke fic and PWPs. Because short fiction is hard, and you need to be more than just a decent writer to make it work. You need to be really good. And Mr Young is really, really good.

Aldin is an art thief, looking to complete one last job so he can finish his sex reassignment surgery and live in the body he knows he belongs in. But his partner has other ideas. Just when all seems lost, help comes in the most unexpected form.

That short summary doesn’t do justice to this. For heaven’s sake, risk the whole buck and buy this, and enjoy it. It’s rare enough to have a transgendered hero in any story, but even if you haven’t the slightest interest in that, this is still a short, cracking read. Science fiction as it should be. Highly recommended!

Life Lessons by Kaje Harper

02 Jun 2011 at 18:26

Rating: 9.5/10
Title: Life Lessons
Author: Kaje Harper
Genre: Contemporary, mystery
URL: MLR Books
Price: US $7.99
Other Information/warnings: Violence, explicit sexual content
Summary [from the publisher]:

Tony Hart’s life has been quiet lately. He has good friends and a rewarding teaching job. Then the murdered body of another teacher falls into the elevator at his feet, and Tony’s life gets a little too exciting.

Jared MacLean is a homicide detective, a widowed father, and deeply in the closet. But from the moment he meets Tony’s blue eyes in that high school hallway, Mac can’t help wanting this man in his life. However Mac isn’t the only one with his eyes on Tony. As the murderer tries to cover his tracks, Mac has to work fast or lose Tony, permanently.

My review:

The Case of the Cockamamie Killer by David M Brown

29 May 2011 at 12:24

Rating: 4/10
Title: The Case of the Cockamamie Killer
Author: David M Brown
Genre: satire, mystery
URL: Smashwords
Price: $2.99
Other Information/warnings: violence, homophobic language, rape, torture, death of a child
Summary [from the author]:

When a colleague is slain in cold blood, tough-guy word processor and private detective Chak Charon investigates—and soon finds himself out of a job, snatched from his apartment, and audited to within an inch of his life. Pursued by a vicious IRS agent, Charon takes refuge in a Chinatown boarding house and proceeds to discover the tax agency’s dirty little secret…at great cost.

My review:

Trammel by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

29 May 2011 at 11:57

Rating: 7/10
Title: Trammel
Authors: Anah Crow and Dianne Fox
Genre: paranormal, horror
URL: Samhain Publishing
Price: US$5.50
Other Information/warnings: copious gore, violence, reference to horrific accidental deaths, explicit sexual content
Summary [from the publisher]:

In the relative security of Atlantic City, Lindsay feels safe for the first time in his life. He and Dane even sneak away from their mage “family” for the occasional date.

All that ends with the arrival of Noah, whose magic is a pure, wild fire fueled by terrible grief over the loss of his wife. To Lindsay’s great surprise, he is assigned to be Noah’s mentor, protector and healer. Of course, his efforts to help Noah master his immense power aren’t without a few fiery slip-ups.

Just as Lindsay is rising to the challenge, word comes that Moore, the scientist who once imprisoned Lindsay, holds a young girl who has manifested a powerful new magic. The desperate mission to free her leaves Noah severely wounded, Dane captured…and Lindsay in charge of those who remain.

The fate of Dane and the lives of the family rest on Lindsay’s untested shoulders. He must trust in himself and his growing connection to Noah to save his lover, his friends, and everyone else who will suffer if Moore’s plans go unchecked.

My review [warning - many spoilers]: