'Deep Inside' by Polly Frost

ISBN: 0765315874
Format: Paperback, 272pp
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
Pub. Date: May 2007
Price: $12.95

When I first came across Deep Inside I wasn’t sure what to think. Science Fiction Erotica? That had to mean there was going to be tentacle sex in there somewhere.

Now I’ve seen a lot of Japanese animation involving this idea, not all of it hentai, so it’s not like that idea is completely new. Okay, so maybe it’s strange but only as strange as that guy in the back of the bus wearing nothing but a trench coat and a pair of gym socks. Or your parent’s locked bedside table drawer.

But Deep Inside has more to offer than just tentacles. It also contains virgin sacrifice complete with Catholic School girls in uniform, a couple who experiments with piercing, serial killers and a dominatrix. What collection would be complete without one of those? If you are looking for your standard ‘tie me up, tie me down’ type of erotica this isn’t it. Nothing about Deep Inside is standard or what you have come to expect from the genre.

From “The Threshold” to “Deep Inside”, the title story of the collection, you meet virgins and voyeurs, addicts, masturbation masters, aliens with a hard on for humans, and anything you can think of in between. Frost builds each story, crafting backgrounds and character histories, and then punctuates them with sex. So while it is erotica, these stories actually have plot and Frost’s voice comes across the page strong and clear.

The ideas behind the stories contained within Deep Inside are over the edge. I can promise you will never look at alien abduction or piercing the same way again. This collection of stories pushes the boundaries of what you might find enticing, stimulating, or liberating and Polly Frost will take your unsuspecting mind into an unknown you might even enjoy.

'Moongazer' by Marianne Mancusi

ISBN: 0505527251
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 355pp
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Company, Incorporated
Pub. Date: July 2007
Price: $6.99

I have to admit that I picked up Moongazer on it’s cover alone. Thanks to an anime addicted husband I watch a ton of it and the idea of a romance novel with that kind of twist appealed to me. Moongazer is part of Shomi, Dorchester’s line of romance novels that launched last July, and are written and marketed with anime feel.

Skye Brown is a computer game designer working on the release of a new game that is supposed to be even bigger than World of Warcraft. (insert gasp here) Skye is dedicated to her work and loves her job but lately she just can’t seem to get any sleep. Whenever she does finally fall asleep she has these horrible nightmares in which she is someone else.

When Skye’s world finally falls apart around her and she wakes up in a post apocalyptic world she can’t decide if she is dreaming. But she does the only thing she can do, she calls a number written on the palm of her hand. Dawn, a handsome man who seems to know her, comes to her rescue. Skye learns in the process that everyone believes she is Mariah Quinn, a women who fought against something known as Moongazing. Mariah was a revolutionary who lead a group of people called the Eclipsers and Dawn just happened to be her right hand man.

100 years in the Earth’s future the super powers of the world have destroyed everything with a nuclear war. People are now living underground and depending on their station in life and wealth they live in a richer or poorer level. Moongazing was developed by the government because the underground cities were becoming crowded. Moongazing puts your body in a kind of hibernation while your brain goes to live somewhere else, in this case an Earth before it was destroyed. Moongazing however isn’t all it’s cracked up to be since it is addictive and can eventually kill you.

While Skye believes she is not this Mariah woman they all think she is the bad guys are going to try to kill her anyway. Duske a handsome though pervy guy ends up kidnapping her right out from under Dawn. Eventually though she is rescued and starts to realize that maybe there is some truth to all these wild claims that she is Mariah.

Even though the idea is a bit clichéd I loved that the good guy’s name was Dawn and the villain’s was Duske; it brought into play that whole dark vs. light thing. The name Dawn however kept invoking a picture of a girl I went to school with when I was in elementary instead of the big hulking beautiful man that the character was described as.

Skye/ Mariah’s internal dialogue was repetitive and after awhile became annoying. The constant questions, the statements that were repeated made me wonder if the book hadn’t been through the editing process a final time. I guess it just must be the author’s style and after looking at the reviews on Amazon it must work for some people, it just didn’t work for me.

Over all Moongazer was fair. The idea is a good one but it felt as if it hadn’t been fully realized or that too much of it was based off something else. The Matrix kept coming to mind as I read and I couldn’t help but feel that they had done it better. But I’m not going to give up on Shomi, with a new line up of titles set to be released in 2008 and two more that were released a few months ago, I’m sure I will find something to love.

'Hunters of the Dark Sea' by Mel Odom

ISBN: 0765304805
Format: Hardcover, 400pp
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
Price: $

Hunters of the Dark Sea is set the Pacific ocean in 1813, when the ocean is crawling with pirates and privateers. Whaling ships also cross the wide blue expanses hunting the beasts not only for the blubber that is needed for oil lamps but also for the bone that is used for buttons and ladies' hoop skirts. Sometimes the whaling ships and the pirates paths' cross, with dangerous consequences.

Ethan Swain is the first mate on the whaling ship Reliant. A good man with a good heart he keeps the crew's best interests in mind. He is what holds the crew together. The ship is captained by Captain Folger, who has a close eye on the profit margin and cares little about the men under him and even less about Ethan. We learn early on that Ethan is a man with a dark past and that the Captain is always looking for a way to undermine him.

On the Brown-Eyed Sue, in another part of the Pacific Ocean, Professor Bullock and his daughter Katharine are searching for something that the natives of Easter Island call "Death-in-the-Water." The natives claim that it has the mask of a whale, but is not actually a whale. The Professor finds a man washed up on the shore and views first-hand the horrible damage that Death-in-the-Water deals to its prey; right before the Professor’s eyes the man that he tries to save liquefies from the venom that the monster has injected him with.

When an unknown ship pulls into harbor close to the Brown-Eyed Sue, most of her crew welcome the chance to meet the new people, even though they are aware of the danger. Only pirates, privateers, and scientist frequent these waters but the crew welcomes the chance to trade supplies and upgrade their stores.

The Sunfisher is captained by the seemingly well-mannered Captain McAfee, who quickly shows his true colors. Brown-Eyed Sue escapes in the fog only to have the Sunfisher coming up fast behind her.

All three ships are hunting and being hunted. The Reliant and her crew are hunting whales, the Brown-Eyed Sue is hunting the monster, and the Sunfisher is on the look out for a quick way to make a profit. Each ship has deadly encounters with the monster that is hunting them through the ocean.

When Captain Folger of the Reliant lets greed get the better of him, he places his entire crew, as well as his ship, at the mercy of the monster. Ethan battles to save the men as well as the ship, fighting the weather and the monster, determined to make it through alive.

Hunters of the Dark Sea is vividly written and the images drawn by Mel Odom are clear and precise. I was glued to the book as Reliant tossed on an angry sea, the wind and lightning lashing around the sails. Horror gripped my stomach as the monster claims victim after victim and Ethan narrowly escapes. It was a great adventure filled with action and suspense; this a book that once you pick it up you just can't put it down until you have finished.