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willbefunorelse's review against another edition
3.0
For the full review (including a couple of random references and a thank-you for tons of violence), follow the link to That's What She Read.
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars. The flow was great until maybe page 225 then it started to coast a bit. Not sure what happened, but it didn't have the same excitement or anticipation. Aa elements feel into place and the direction became clear I felt the tug of meh coming on board.
That said, I love the creative frame of reference and the writing. Really well done plot and it actually draws attention to real like problems.
That said, I love the creative frame of reference and the writing. Really well done plot and it actually draws attention to real like problems.
mcf's review against another edition
5.0
Properly pulpy, snappily written, and starring a tough, smart, first-person narrator. Best book I've ever read about a ex-porn star's revenge.
misterjay's review against another edition
4.0
TL;DR: Money Shot is an adults-only crime novel. It's good and dark and fast and worth every penny. Recommended for fans of the pulp genres.
Money Shot opens with its porn star protagonist tied up and abandoned in the back of a car that's almost as beat-up and left for dead as she is. From there, author Christa Faust takes the reader from stage set to literal stage set as the story careens through the set-up, the betrayal, the mission statement, the enlistment, the second betrayal, and the final pay-off with the breakneck pace of a roller coaster going off the rails. It is, in other words, a hell of a good story soaked through with sex, violence, and a dynamic leading actress.
The characters in Money Shot don't apologize for being the way they are, nor do they take great delight in being on the wrong side of the law. They are who they are and they are out to get theirs. In particular, our lead is not a reluctant heroine, nor is she a plucky girl detective, nor is she a hard-edged, street-wise leader ready for war. No. She is an able business woman caught up in a deadly affair made sordid by the naked greed on display rather than by naked flesh. And while she might lapse into the role of damsel-in-distress or the seductive vixen, she never loses sight of her goal and her willingness to do whatever is needed to achieve it.
Like all good pulp fiction, Faust's writing is breathless and sweaty and full of the certain knowledge that these events play out the way they have to, not because of any lack of vision on the part of the author, but because of a lack of choices. Every character in the novel does what they do because he or she would not be who they are if they did not. They choose the only paths they can see, in other words, and their collective greed, ambition, and desire for vengeance collide in an explosion of blood and money.
And really, what more could you expect from a dime novel?
On a related note, the publisher of this book, Hard Case Crime, has been working feverishly to keep the pulp genres alive and kicking. They went on hiatus for a while due to upheavals in the publishing industry but they've recently come back and are getting up to speed quickly. If you're a fan of crime stories, P.I. stories, revenge stories, or a fan of Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Mickey Spillane, do yourself a favor and check out Hard Case Crime. You won't be disappointed.
Money Shot opens with its porn star protagonist tied up and abandoned in the back of a car that's almost as beat-up and left for dead as she is. From there, author Christa Faust takes the reader from stage set to literal stage set as the story careens through the set-up, the betrayal, the mission statement, the enlistment, the second betrayal, and the final pay-off with the breakneck pace of a roller coaster going off the rails. It is, in other words, a hell of a good story soaked through with sex, violence, and a dynamic leading actress.
The characters in Money Shot don't apologize for being the way they are, nor do they take great delight in being on the wrong side of the law. They are who they are and they are out to get theirs. In particular, our lead is not a reluctant heroine, nor is she a plucky girl detective, nor is she a hard-edged, street-wise leader ready for war. No. She is an able business woman caught up in a deadly affair made sordid by the naked greed on display rather than by naked flesh. And while she might lapse into the role of damsel-in-distress or the seductive vixen, she never loses sight of her goal and her willingness to do whatever is needed to achieve it.
Like all good pulp fiction, Faust's writing is breathless and sweaty and full of the certain knowledge that these events play out the way they have to, not because of any lack of vision on the part of the author, but because of a lack of choices. Every character in the novel does what they do because he or she would not be who they are if they did not. They choose the only paths they can see, in other words, and their collective greed, ambition, and desire for vengeance collide in an explosion of blood and money.
And really, what more could you expect from a dime novel?
On a related note, the publisher of this book, Hard Case Crime, has been working feverishly to keep the pulp genres alive and kicking. They went on hiatus for a while due to upheavals in the publishing industry but they've recently come back and are getting up to speed quickly. If you're a fan of crime stories, P.I. stories, revenge stories, or a fan of Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Mickey Spillane, do yourself a favor and check out Hard Case Crime. You won't be disappointed.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Really well done. A fast, gripping read. Faust does a great job of developing her characters and letting them do their thing. I look forward to more from her.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
When you shoot a woman and leave her in the trunk of a car, you'd better make sure she's dead...
Former porn star and current talent agency owner Angel Dare is duped into meeting an old friend, beaten, raped, shot, and left for dead in the trunk of a Honda Civic, all because of some missing money she knows nothing about. But Angel doesn't die and, with the help of an ex-cop named Malloy, goes looking for those responsible...
Money Shot is a quick read, full of action and suspense, as befits its place in the Hard Case Crime series. Angel's quest for vengeance leads her through the underbelly of the porn industry and the seedy world of sex slavery. Her feeling that her life was stolen from her is completely understable. The action is quick and brutal. Christa Faust is a fairly capable writer. Money Shot reads like an action movie. I suspect porn enthusiasts would enjoy it even more than I did.
Former porn star and current talent agency owner Angel Dare is duped into meeting an old friend, beaten, raped, shot, and left for dead in the trunk of a Honda Civic, all because of some missing money she knows nothing about. But Angel doesn't die and, with the help of an ex-cop named Malloy, goes looking for those responsible...
Money Shot is a quick read, full of action and suspense, as befits its place in the Hard Case Crime series. Angel's quest for vengeance leads her through the underbelly of the porn industry and the seedy world of sex slavery. Her feeling that her life was stolen from her is completely understable. The action is quick and brutal. Christa Faust is a fairly capable writer. Money Shot reads like an action movie. I suspect porn enthusiasts would enjoy it even more than I did.
silentcat7135's review against another edition
3.0
An okay noir read set in and around the porn industry. Appropriately gritty. Might read the sequel.
It did have a couple things that irked me, which did bump my rating down a bit, but they may have been character appropriate. The most egregious one was the main character using a transphobic slur when thinking about an article of clothing she had to choose to wear from a costume rack in a club's change room. It even would have been more appropriate to refer to it as a drag dress as she was in a costume room for drag acts. A couple of other things in the book rang a bit false for me.
On a very minor note, nothing wrong with Irish Spring soap. I like it too.
Small deja vu moment with my last read, Anyone But You. Both books had someone needing stitches. Anyone But You had them done by a hunky ER doctor, Money Shot by a medical fetish dominatrix. Po-tay-toh/po-tah-toh.
It did have a couple things that irked me, which did bump my rating down a bit, but they may have been character appropriate. The most egregious one was the main character using a transphobic slur when thinking about an article of clothing she had to choose to wear from a costume rack in a club's change room. It even would have been more appropriate to refer to it as a drag dress as she was in a costume room for drag acts. A couple of other things in the book rang a bit false for me.
On a very minor note, nothing wrong with Irish Spring soap. I like it too.
Small deja vu moment with my last read, Anyone But You. Both books had someone needing stitches. Anyone But You had them done by a hunky ER doctor, Money Shot by a medical fetish dominatrix. Po-tay-toh/po-tah-toh.
liberrydude's review against another edition
3.0
Very dark. Killing becomes second nature. Body count rises. Pornography, prostitution, human trafficking, murder, rape. A retired porn star is setup by a mentor, beaten, shot and left for dead, wanted for the mentor’s murder, and on the run trying to clear her name and get revenge. Pretty sordid and graphic glimpse into the adult film business too. Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
git_r_read's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like I should put on some chili red lipstick and shake out a cigarette before I start this review. I left the chili red lipstick at home and I don't smoke, so I'll do the best I can.
MONEY SHOT is a no holds barred, don't get attached to anyone kind of book. Under normal description, this could be a cozy mystery...the main character is not a detective and finds herself having to investigate the hell that her life has become through no fault of her own. Except cozy mystery writers tend to not utilize the porn industry as a backdrop and the main character is rarely (read NEVER) a porn star who now runs her own agency for porn starlets.
Angel Dare, porn star back in the day and still recognized for her work in X rated films, retired from in front of the camera and is now behind the scenes with her high class adult modeling agency Daring Angels.
Angel is having one of those days of feeling her years and finds herself saying yes to a request to get in front of the camera just one more time. She ends up hit in the face and stuffed in the trunk of a car, left for dead.
She wants to find out who did this to her and why and get her life back if she can.
It's grimy, sordid, definitely not a feel good book to read and I read it in practically one sitting. I couldn't sleep nights until at least some aspect of the awfulness that was happening to Angel was rectified. I read until someone got what was coming to them.
The voice over in my head for this book was Linda Fiorentino, all smoky.
Five gritty avenging beans......
MONEY SHOT is a no holds barred, don't get attached to anyone kind of book. Under normal description, this could be a cozy mystery...the main character is not a detective and finds herself having to investigate the hell that her life has become through no fault of her own. Except cozy mystery writers tend to not utilize the porn industry as a backdrop and the main character is rarely (read NEVER) a porn star who now runs her own agency for porn starlets.
Angel Dare, porn star back in the day and still recognized for her work in X rated films, retired from in front of the camera and is now behind the scenes with her high class adult modeling agency Daring Angels.
Angel is having one of those days of feeling her years and finds herself saying yes to a request to get in front of the camera just one more time. She ends up hit in the face and stuffed in the trunk of a car, left for dead.
She wants to find out who did this to her and why and get her life back if she can.
It's grimy, sordid, definitely not a feel good book to read and I read it in practically one sitting. I couldn't sleep nights until at least some aspect of the awfulness that was happening to Angel was rectified. I read until someone got what was coming to them.
The voice over in my head for this book was Linda Fiorentino, all smoky.
Five gritty avenging beans......
brent94's review against another edition
3.0
Was promising throughout the first half but the second half got muddy with meaningless characters (and nicknames...), half baked plot points, and cringeworthy internal dialogue. Not the worst thing but oof, was hoping for better!