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A review by errantdreams
Hooker by M. Lopes da Silva
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
3.5
The quality of the Rewind or Die books is variable; I’ve given everything from a 3 to a 5 for the ones I’ve read so far. Hooker (Rewind or Die), written by M. Lopes da Silva, gets a 3.5 out of 5. It’s fairly short. It’s a story about sex workers in Los Angeles and a serial killer stalking them, in 1984. Penny is a sex worker, while her older sister Sylvia is trying to study law. Sylvia ends up stalking the serial killer even as the killer stalks others, while getting help from a journalist named Crystal and a couple of other sex workers.
One thing I really love is that the serial killer is not centered in this tale. The author never even dignifies him with a name, nor a terribly in-depth description. He isn’t the important part of the story, and there’s nothing with which to lionize him. I also liked the positive depiction of sex work–that not everyone does it because they have no choice, and it would be a lot safer for sex workers if the work was legalized. It would also help if the cops didn’t ignore someone just because they’re a sex worker and thus have no perceived value. There’s not a single positive interaction with a male in this book, and I suspect that for female sex workers that’s pretty true-to-life. The police don’t even seem to be all that interested in catching the killer until he kills a john. There’s also a hilarious mansplaining incident that I quite loved.
Overall this was a good book, but the dialogue often felt pretty unnatural, and some of the characters were a bit stiff.
Content note: there’s a little bit of gore, but not much. Most stuff is off-the-page. There’s a nice lesbian relationship in here, though.
One thing I really love is that the serial killer is not centered in this tale. The author never even dignifies him with a name, nor a terribly in-depth description. He isn’t the important part of the story, and there’s nothing with which to lionize him. I also liked the positive depiction of sex work–that not everyone does it because they have no choice, and it would be a lot safer for sex workers if the work was legalized. It would also help if the cops didn’t ignore someone just because they’re a sex worker and thus have no perceived value. There’s not a single positive interaction with a male in this book, and I suspect that for female sex workers that’s pretty true-to-life. The police don’t even seem to be all that interested in catching the killer until he kills a john. There’s also a hilarious mansplaining incident that I quite loved.
Overall this was a good book, but the dialogue often felt pretty unnatural, and some of the characters were a bit stiff.
Content note: there’s a little bit of gore, but not much. Most stuff is off-the-page. There’s a nice lesbian relationship in here, though.