REVIEW

THE SEX CLUB - L.J. Sellers

Reviewed By
Karen Chisholm

To get the obvious out of the way up front - the title isn't quite as sinister as it first seems.  Whilst this is a book which has some unsavoury elements to it, the point being made is more about the nature of peer pressure and the unfortunate consequences of denial.

When I was lucky enough to get a copy of THE SEX CLUB for my ereader I wasn't really too sure what to expect.  The potential sexual elements of the book were certainly not an issue for me, but combine that with a fundamentalist Christian subplot and I became a reluctant reader.  But I'm very glad that I was talked into putting my reluctance aside and found, once I started reading the book, I was very quickly engaged.

THE SEX CLUB combines the two main threads - the bombing of the Family Planning Clinic and the death of Jessie.  Whilst some elements of the perpetrator of the bombing are known up front, there is less revealed about the murder.  This means that the reader watches as, under pressure and under threat, Kera and Jackson must resolve everything - the bomber's identify and motives, the murder's identity and motives and whether the events are connected.  And they must do all of that in time to stop any further bombings or murders.  It's a well developed methodology, and the storytelling makes the interweaving of these threads believable, complicated but not complex, and engaging.

This book is a debut book and as an opening salvo in getting to know, in particular, Detective Jackson (who has his name on the ongoing series) it was a good start.  There was a lot explained about both Jackson and Kera's backgrounds.  Both characters do suffer a little from overtly damaged pasts (leading to much scope for mutual understanding and noble intentions), but overall Jackson, in particular, is an interesting character juggling the challenges of a demanding job and single-fatherhood to a teenage daughter.  Of the supporting characters, perhaps the least successful is the perpetrator of the bombing - in whose head the reader spends a fair amount of time.  It could be that the character was somewhat unconvincing, having said that, as I write this review I'm aware that it could also very well be that somebody that fanatical is.. frankly... completely offputting and impossible to understand.

In the main, THE SEX CLUB is a book that tackles issues that some readers are going to find contentious.  For what it's worth, I thought that each of the difficult aspects were handled with sensitivity, although I should imagine that a slight tendency to "lecture" on some aspects might annoy some readers.  Having said that, the sheer tackling of these issues alone is undoubtedly going to annoy some readers.  On a personal level I was quite surprised that something built around perpetrators with viewpoints that I would normally leave to other readers worked as well as it did, and I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series.

BOOK DETAILS
BOOK INFORMATION
Author
Book Number (in series)
1
BLURB

A pipe bomb explodes at a birth control clinic, then a young client turns up dead in a dumpster. Kera, the clinic nurse, discovers that the girl’s Bible group is sharing more than the Good News. Confidentiality keeps her from telling the police, so she digs for the truth on her own—becoming the bomber’s new target. Meanwhile, Detective Jackson races to find the killer, fearing that his own daughter could be next. But his investigation is blocked by power politics at every step. Can Jackson uncover the killer’s shocking identity in time to stop the slaughter?

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