Tuesday 24 March 2009

Blood on Celluloid by B. L. Morgan

 

ISBN:
9781600760693 ISBN-10: 1600760694 
  Number Of Pages: 196 
  Publisher: 10320775 
  Format: Paperback
  Language: English 
  Dimensions (cm): 8.0 x 5.0 x 0.45 

 I am a fan of the John Dark books. John is a hard-ass PI. He lives and investigates rough on the mean streets of East St. Louis. In the first book, 'Blood and Rain', John took on the supernatural and kicked ass. In the second book. 'Blood for the Masses' he kicks Roman ass (in ancient Rome). 

In this book, John takes on the child sex trade. When we open the book and find John in a morgue to identify a body. That of his lover Sherry St. Claire. The woman who saved him--from himself. Sherry was tortured and killed. Guess who has revenge on his mind. Yep, John Dark. In the course of his investigation blood is spilt and people are shot. 

This makes John happy and his best friend Johnny ecstatic. A video tape is found at a paedophiles residence. It is a video of Sherry's last moments. And it fires John up; leading his investigation into the murky waters of child sex slavery. 

 Dark heads to Thailand to a fictional town, where 'The flesh Pit' is. It is a place where rich foreigners get to...well, let's not go there. We know what goes on. This is the shortest John Dark book to date and it seems to touch on a very personal level with the author. This book from a reader's point of view (well mine) is disjointed and jumpy. 

The story is plot driven with a lot less characterization than usual. In places it is jerky and not like the other John Dark books that seem to flow from sentence to paragraph. I didn't feel the usual connection that I have with the other books. Something was missing, but I can't put my finger on it. 

 So much more could have gone into this book. The author chose a subject that is not mentioned recently and I give him major kudos for bring this back to the foreground. Reminding us that this shit goes on still, today. The media does not mention this and for that we forget. I thank Bob for bringing this issue back to our attention. It took balls. It is a very touchy subject to write about and one must be very careful of how such work is presented. 

I did not fully enjoy this book. Perhaps the subject matter was a little too much for this reviewer. 

However, in saying that -- The last half of the book is explosive and in your face. It shows what action and power this author has at his disposal. And I recommend you check out the John Dark books and the other books, this awesome author is having published later this year.

 
67%

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