From the back cover
"The truth isn’t always 'nice,' and those who would dig down to the roots of human folly should expect to get their hands at least a little dirty.
"This collection transports readers to the realm of the forbidden, probing the dark, seldom-explored reaches of illicit desire and obsession where opposites attract and lust burns on any fuel it can find. Ranging in mood from the comically macabre title story, to the poignant realism of 'All the Things They Never Got to Say'. . . and 'Another Detour (Alternate Timeline),' these tales challenge our comfort zones and scandalize the earnest little angels sitting on our shoulders, while inviting their opposite numbers to come out and play.
"If the stories in this book were made into movies they would no doubt be rated somewhere between R and NC-17. Not so much for graphic content (though there is a fair amount of that) as for “adult situations.”
Overall review
Kiss-Off is a superb, memorable, vivid, entertaining, erotic and taboo-bursting story collection, one worth owning – if you are a mature, non-PC reader, not put off by works that are fearless, sensual and provocative.
Stories
"All the Things They Never Got to Say”: Cinematic-vivid tale about three foster siblings whose cruel adoptive mother drives them to tender and dark extremes. Excellent, erotic work that integrates close-to-taboo topics with Bible-based abuse. This is one of my favorite reads in this collection.
“Birthday Girl”: A fickle and cruel young woman with a sleazy, alcoholic family tries to sexually “play” her her godfather, with dangerous results.
“Muse in the Neon Twilight”: Good read about a young woman (Julia)
who finds she has a strange attraction to her boyfriend’s long-winded and
freak-minded professor.
“A Girl From White City”: During a game of Truth or Dare, a young
woman (Danni) tells her fellow players about her first interracial affair. What
sets this work apart from other tales of this setup/ilk is Shaw’s
brief-but-effective exploration of the inconsistencies of the human mind and
desire.
“Kiss-Off the Devil”: Excellent, plot-twisty work about a disgraced
teacher with a penchant for adolescent girls, a sexy Tinkerbell (who seems to
be of legal age), and her ex-boyfriend. This story is a hybrid genre piece that
is often funny, always dark and un-PC, fearless in its just perversity. This is
one of my favorite entries in this anthology.
“All the Surveys”: A physically unattractive and pervy-erudite
educator speaks about his divorce, Wild Orchid (film, 1989) and sex in this eighteen-page “interview,” where the
female interviewer remains unheard. This first-person point-of-view story read
like an intentional, alternate version of “Kiss-Off
the Devil” in certain parts.
“Becoming Roxanne”: Seventeen year-old Lois works her first escort
gig with her best friend (Tegan). Their clients: the savvy, sexy Mr. Silverman
and a grotesque, brusque Russian named Bruno. “Roxanne,” like other tales in this collection, is un-PC. It
embraces sex and its professionals, without being cliché and cheap; this is an
outstanding read, as long as you do not require romance and are not put off by
smart, adolescent-themed desire.
“The Why in Everything”: Chatty work
about familial mortality, socially inappropriate urges, human nature and the
thematic layers of the 1989 film Dead Calm. Excellent, unsettling and wise story.
“Detour (Alternate Timeline)”: Two of the characters from “The Why in Everything” – siblings Dave and Traci – are shown in a variable take of events. This, like its co-dependent tale, is full of unsettling conversations about familial matters, the differences between lust and love, the underying BDSM themes of John Norman’s “The Chronicles of Gor” series, and how people – with their surprising layers – change over time. Excellent, provocative, standout stuff.
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