Getting Off by Lawrence Block

Katherine is young and beautiful with a voracious appetite for sex. She learned what men like from an early age and uses her skills of seduction to lure them to bed. But a vigorous romp under the covers isn't enough for her anymore. The only high for Katherine these days to commit murder.

Lawrence Block got his start writing lurid sex novels before becoming one of the most prolific crime writers today. His latest book, Getting Off (written as Jill Emerson), harkens back to his XXX-pulp apprenticeship. The sex scenes (and there are plenty) are toned down to an NC-17 level and even though you know they are coming (no pun intended) the murders are shocking.

While it would be easy to write pointless graphic sex scenes to fill the pages of a steamy thriller, Block's mastery of story and character shine. The scenes of seduction and pleasure actually have a purpose beyond climax and demise. They explain who the principle character is and advances her cause even as she shifts from persona to persona in a bloody quest to clean her past.

It's hard reading a story about a person you just don't like. Block's heroine - and I use the term loosely - is as cunning as she is gorgeous. Her personal story is the stuff you read about in the papers and while it gains your sympathy it doesn't excuse her cold-blooded killing streak.

But that's not to say she is entirely without morals. Her killing spree has her reluctant to pursue a relationship with someone she admires for fear of it ending with a corpse in the bed. And her mission of revenge at one point turns into one of mercy.

And while I can understand - though not agree with - her reasons for wanting to kill every man she engages in sex with, other characters are too keen to jump at the opportunity to murder someone for the thrill. There is one tricky couple where the thrill to kill can be seen as logical step, but there is another character in which the desire to murder someone feels forced, as though the act is exciting only because she's told it is.

Getting Off is a fun, fast-paced read full of steamy moments and a twist ending that was surprising though a little too coincidental for my tastes. The impressive cover art alone will make this a rare site on crowded airplanes and subways (and even I - a liberal expat living in Europe - was careful not to leave it on the coffee table), but it's a must have for pulp fiction fans.