Lust Demented

by Michael D. Subrizi

A trashy pulp writer caught up in a love triangle and publishing scam loses his mind and vows to take revenge. Lust Demented is a style-driven twist on the classic American noir. Falling somewhere between absurd literature and gratuitous pulp fiction, the saga follows a writer who has both his book and unborn daughter stolen from him by his mentor. Bloodshed and chaos take hold of the New York literary scene. No writer in the five boroughs is safe. Gothic scribes with cult followings are bleeding under stained glass. Golden child authors are swandiving from the top of New York Public Library defiling their legacy. Scumbag cops are goring their way through the shady deals. The world they together enter just keeps moving faster and faster… it seems that only their own deaths can slow it down... until they discovers that something greater than words were stolen… something more beautiful than they’ve ever run into before… something that inspires them to dig deeper into their own souls… something alive…

143 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2011

Reviews

[Camilla]

((Freebie on Kindle/Amazon))

Umm.. So… WTF just happened?

I swear to tiny Baby Jesus, that I have never been more confused in my life, after finishing a book..

For real.. W.T.F just happened?!

This has got to be the most confusing book… ever! Seriously.

If you are reading this review, and haven’t read the book, and you somehow still end up reading it, then I dare you to come back here and tell me otherwise. And also the name of the book you think is weirder than this, thanks.

So why is it confusing, you ask?

Well, that is a good question actually.

I read another freebie by this author, and that one was… weird.. And when I first started reading this book, I went: “Oh, ok, this seems better than the last, I guess”

There was a plot! An actual plot! But then it quickly went downhill..

Let me start off with the plot though..

It starts off with a murder, and we quickly learn that the #1 suspect is our main guy, also known as Farrow. He’s a writer, and… Umm.. Yeah, he’s a writer..

Age? Don’t know. What he looks like? Please, is looks all you think about these days?

What you do get to know is that he likes.. lions? And maybe, also have a Chinese fetish?

Wait.. What? (Seriously though, that’s my own idea, the word ‘fetish’ isn’t mentioned in the book.. ;)

Throughout the book, Farrow meets the police, lions, Chinese people and apparently every woman he meets wants to bang him.. So there’s that, I guess..

Remember, I told you he was the #1 suspect right, so does it makes sense that the woman police officer, kinda, almost jumps him in the middle of a murder scene, the first time she meets her new #1 suspect?? I mean, for reals people, does that make any sense?!? And that is only one of the “Meh, I guess that could happen” scenes. Then we have ghosts (I think? Or was that the lion? O_O) More Chinese peeps, writers dying, books flying everywhere, people jumping, stabbings with pens (?) and so much more.. The problem with all of this?

Metaphors!

Holy, mothereffing, hell… You will never, and by God, I mean never find another book with as many metaphors in it as there are metaphors in this book.. I mean, it’s quite literally impossible, because there are metaphors in every. single. sentence.

Every Goddamn sentence! And it’s ridiculous. Sorry, but it is. I don’t know if this is some special kind of writing, or if this is actually how the author writes, but seriously dude, you need to chill it with the metaphors.

There were whole chapters, where I didn’t understand one single word of what was happening, because everything was written in metaphors, and I wasn’t sure if it was actually happening or it was some kind of dream-thingy.. Like the Lion.. WTF was the lion all about?!

[Susana]

No pude terminar de leerlo. Luego de leer aproximadamente un 25% del libro, no sabía de que trataba o hacia donde iba.

[TC]

I do like a bit of noir so this, Book 1 of the Race Against Death series, was very much of interest. The blurb (borrowed from Amazon) goes like this:

"No writer in NYC is safe. Gothic scribes with cult followings are bleeding under stained glass. Golden child authors are swan diving from the top of New York Public Library defiling their legacy. Scumbag cops, Detective Anderson and Sgt. Bethany Powers are slaps away from exposing the shady deal Farrow cut with Featherton. The world Farrow enters just keeps moving faster and faster...it seems only his own death can slow it down, until he discovers that something greater than his words were stolen...something more beautiful than he's ever run into before...something that inspires him to dig deeper into his own soul...something alive... "

It certainly caught my attention. Farrow's world is one of eccentric and varied characters who make for a colourful cast as he tries to unravel what has happened to publishing magnate Percy Featherton. The body count mounts as the police, apparently unconcerned by procedure, continue to be convinced Farrow is their perp. However he becomes more interested in uncovering truths about his own life, and he discovers friends haven't been entirely truthful with him.

This is very much a noir crime tale, and the picture painted by the author is of a dark and brooding New York. In places the language is a bit strong, and there is some sexual content. The tone is very distinctive, so evocative and screams noir. There were parts where I felt I had got a little lost and like I had missed something, but by the end I thought the plot had been neatly tied up and I wasn't left wondering.

I liked this short novel with all the twists and turns the author throws at the reader. I'll be interested to hear about Book 2.

[Katrina Evans]

I didn't 'get' this book at all.