mass market paperback, 256 pages
Published March 29, 2011 by Hard Case Crime.
THEY THOUGHT SHE’D BE EASY. THEY THOUGHT WRONG.
It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she’d been shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she’ll get to the bottom of what’s been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way...
Angel Dare, who runs a talent agency for porn stars, gets set up on a shoot, shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car, and manages to escape. On the run from the bad guys and the cops, she turns the tables and starts tracking down the perpetrators.
Simple premise. Heroine who doesn't let bad situations overcome her.
Or maybe do, as you'll be about half right, at least. I've read a few Hard Case Crime novels, having bought a dozen or so from Humble Bundle years back. Most have been good, one was a dud, but then I decided to read this one while traveling for the holidays.
This story is a gripper. It gets you right from the beginning and hardly lets up. This is Pulp Noir at its finest, with a combination of 2-dimensional throw-away characters that the well-rounded protagonist and her associate have to navigate through. The author does a great job of relaying Angel's, the main character, thinking and reactions to everything she gets herself into.
