Book: Money Shot, by Christa Faust (2008)

My, but things have been in the gutter around here lately, haven’t they? And I see no reason to change that.


Some of you may recall how much I wanted a preview copy of Money Shot by Christa Faust, the first woman to be published by Hard Case Crime. I was thwarted in that effort, but a good Samaritan who shall remain nameless stepped in. An organization that shall also remain nameless delayed my reading the book until now. But I still beat the street date by two weeks.

Ex-porn star Angel Dare – née Gina Moretti – has found success on the other side of the camera running a booking agency. She agrees to do one last movie as a favor for a friend, only to find herself bound, gagged, and left for dead in the trunk of a Honda Civic. She has no idea why this happened, but she’s hell-bent on finding out – even if it means transforming herself into an avenging Angel to do it.

Two words to describe Money Shot are fast and mean. It’s a savvy tour of the porn demimonde in which no one can be trusted to do anything, even stay alive. I enjoyed the hell out of it.

So your porn name is your childhood pet and the street you grew up on? Say hello to Prince Wilshire. With a handle that good, maybe I ought to get into the business.