Outlaw Reviews

Melting Ice by D.J. Manly

13 Sep 2011 at 02:34

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 7/10
Title: Melting Ice
Author: D.J. Manly
Genre: Detective, Romance
Publisher: Mojocastle Press
Price: US$ 3.99
Other Information/warnings: explicit sex, light BDSM, violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
A young cop, in the closet and isolated, is transferred to the bikers squad, where he is betrayed by a higher ranking officer. When Brian Fuller finds himself in the middle of a field surrounded by a group of notorious outlaw bikers, he is in for the fight of his life.

He wakes up battered and bruised, only to discover that he is the hostage of the gang’s leader, the infamous, brutally handsome Ice. At first, Brian doesn’t understand why he is still alive. It turns out that the man who murdered Ice’s family, is the same one who left Brian for dead… and Ice intends on trading Brian’s life to get him as soon as Brian is strong enough. In the meantime, while Ice waits for Brian to heal, a raging sexual heat between them begins to fuel.

Melting Ice is a story of great passion, sizzling sex, and above all, a love story laced with the unexpected.
My review:

Color Me by Blaine D. Arden

10 Sep 2011 at 12:46

Rating: 7/10
Title: Color Me
Author: Blaine D. Arden
Genre: Contemporary romance
URL: Author’s site
Price: FREE
Other Information/warnings: explicit sexual content, ableist language
Summary [from the publisher]:
Jonah Fisher and Scott Eeley may both be Deaf, but they couldn’t be more different.
Scott is a color consultant who doesn’t interact well with the hearing. He watches his gorgeous new neighbor swim every morning, but has no idea how to approach him. He doesn’t even know his name.
Jonah is a bouncer with an ‘I’m Deaf, deal with it’ attitude. He doesn’t like the way Scott lets people treat him. So why can’t he stop thinking about him?

My review:

Rise Again by Ben Tripp

23 Jul 2011 at 05:37

Nancy Ferrer

GLBT Interest

Rating: 7/10
Title: Rise Again
Author: Ben Tripp
Genre: Horror
URL: Gallery Books
Price: US$ 15.00
Other Information/warnings: explicit violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
Forest Peak, California. Fourth of July.

Sheriff Danielle Adelman, a troubled war veteran, thinks she has all the problems she can handle after her kid sister runs away from home. But when disease-stricken refugees from Los Angeles overrun her small mountain community, Danny realizes her problems have only just begun—with the end of the world.

When the streets are choked with dead, the living grieve. When the dead begin to move, the living hope. And when the dead begin to feed, the living fight to survive. Because if you die…

You rise again.

My review:

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!):

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

07 Jun 2011 at 09:49

Nancy Ferrer

GLBT Interest

Rating: 7/10
Title: When Gravity Fails
Author: George Alec Effinger
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher URL: Orb Books
Price: US$ 14.99
Summary [from the publisher]:
In a decadent world of cheap pleasures and easy death, Marid Audrian has kept his independence the hardway. Still, like everything else in the Budayeen, he’s available…for a price.

For a new kind of killer roams the streets of the Arab ghetto, a madman whose bootlegged personality cartridges range from a sinister James Bond to a sadistic disemboweler named Khan. And Marid Audrian has been made an offer he can’t refuse.

The 200-year-old “godfather” of the Budayeen’s underworld has enlisted Marid as his instrument of vengeance. But first Marid must undergo the most sophisticated of surgical implants before he dares to confront a killer who carries the power of every psychopath since the beginning of time.

Wry, savage, and unignorable, When Gravity Fails was hailed as a classic by Effinger’s fellow SF writers on its original publication in 1987, and the sequence of “Marid Audrian” novels it begins were the culmination of his career.

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]:

Collected Veinglory: M/M Short Stories by Emily Veinglory

08 Feb 2011 at 19:57

Rating: 7/10
Title: Collected Veinglory: M/M Short Stories
Author: Emily Veinglory
Genre: Fantasy/speculative
URL: Smashwords See ETA
Price: US $2.99
Other Information/warnings: Violence, explicit sexual content
Summary [from the publisher]:
Emily Veinglory brings you fourteen tales steaming with her signature blend of dark fantasy and man-on-man romance. Starring princes of Elfland, creatures of myth, and all-too-human hunks, each story offers a window to a richly imagined world where two men strive for their elusive happily ever after.

My review:

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

13 Jan 2011 at 09:48

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 7/10
Title: Punkzilla
Author: Adam Rapp
Genre: Young adult
URL: Candlewick Press
Price: US $16.99
Summary:[from the publisher]
For a runaway boy who goes by the name “Punkzilla,” kicking a meth habit and a life of petty crime in Portland, Oregon, is a prelude to a mission: reconnecting with his older brother, a gay man dying of cancer in Memphis. Against a backdrop of seedy motels, dicey bus stations, and hitched rides, the desperate fourteen-year-old meets a colorful, sometimes dangerous cast of characters. And in letters to his sibling, he catalogs them all — from an abusive stranger and a ghostly girl to a kind transsexual and an old woman with an oozing eye. The language is raw and revealing, crackling with visceral details and dark humor, yet with each interstate exit Punkzilla’s journey grows more urgent: will he make it to Tennessee in time? This daring novel offers a narrative worthy of Kerouac and a keen insight into the power of chance encounters.
My review:

Rot by Michele Lee

16 May 2010 at 07:37

Paul G. Bens, Jr

GLBT Interest

Rating: 7/10

Title: Rot
Author: Michele Lee
Genre: Horror, GLBT Interest
URL: Horror Mall
Price: Trade Softcover: US$14.95 – Mobi/Epub/PDF: US$3.95
Warnings: Gore, Violence

Summary (from the publisher): Zombies Can Be Such a Burden. So you’ve raised your loved ones from the dead, but had no idea how difficult it would be to care for them. No problem! Silver Springs is a warm, peaceful facility equipped to handle all your zombie needs. Their friendly staff will ensure they have a safe environment with daily exercise and raw meat. Rest easy knowing they’re in good hands… as they rot. In Michele Lee’s Rot, you won’t find an apocalypse or Romero-style flesh-eaters. This is far more disturbing. In a world where certain people can will others back from death, Silver Springs Specialty Care Community caters to the undead for those who aren’t quite ready to let go (zombie milk available by special arrangement at the home office). Dean, retired from the military and looking for an easier life, runs security at this zombie-herding farm, but he learns that dark injustice is not unique to war. There’s a rotten core to Silver Springs. Now, Dean and a quickly decaying corpse named Patrick are on the hunt for a woman they both love and lost to a lucrative business that specializes in greed, zombies and never having to say goodbye.

Disclaimer: This is a novella length work. I purchased the PDF version of the book and it should be noted that the PDF version is not formatted correctly for Sony e-reader’s enlarged text feature and the normal view text size is so small it was not readable for me. Be aware that if you use a Sony e-reader and want to enlarge the text, nearly all formatting will be lost and paragraphs and dialog will run together. I have not examined the other available e-formats to determine if the same problems exist. I’d also recommend ignoring the tongue-in-cheek tone of the publisher’s blurb. While there is some dark humor in the novella, the blurb doesn’t really do justice to the work.

My Review: