Pleasure Model Netherworld 01 Heavy Metal Pulp

Netherworld #1 is a great read. From the titilating cover to the pulp inspired interior spots, Christopher Rowley gives us a story reminiscent of Blade Runner, yet distinctly different. "Mistress Julia", a dominatrix, escapes with her life from a murder scene, and realizes very quickly that her life in in danger from those who killed her fiance 25 years earlier. Rook, a homicide detective, investigates and discovers that the murdered client had Pleasur, a lab grown humanoid designed for pleasure. She may be a witness, so he protects her while becoming drawn into her world of perverse sex. Just how far the plot goes with Pleasur at the center is sure to be a surprise. The story is great, the action well done, and this book receives a high grade. Titled "Heavy Metal Pulp", it is fairly accurate and with pulp fiction being more popular now, this is a great beginning. The read may be quick, but the book will stay with you for a long time.

I found the book enjoyable. Reads easy and fast with a great futuristic story that you want to be part of. Worth ning and even reading twice.

This has all the page-turning action that Christopher Rowley readers expect (and if you haven't read him before, you're in for a treat.) I totally disagree with the Publisher's Weekly review that called the book misogynist. Yes, the author created the character of "Plesur," an artifically made "woman" who is made for sex and has a low IQ (and is made to "die" after 10 years of usually hard use) but he is obviously critical of the men who buy and usually mistreat pleasure models. Plesur obviously has feelings and even wants the IQ upgrade that is available. Sure, the artwork has a lot of big breasts....but I think there is a deeper message here that the PW reviewer didn't get. The book is more feminist than misogynist as far as I'm concerned.

"Pleasure Model", by Christoper Rowley, is the first installment of "Netherworld", a new pulp series co-published by Tor Books and Heavy Metal Magazine. Combining the fantastic imagery of Heavy Metal Magazine with the grittiness of Noir fiction, "Pleasure Model" is a great guilty read that melds the best of both worlds: fantastic art and exciting storytelling. If nothing else, "Pleasure Model" is tremendous, pulpy fun. Rook Venner has just been handed the kind of case that ends careers...in messy, not-alive-any-more sorts of ways. An assassinated sadist who also happens to be former Covert Ops has been dropped into his lap. To make matters worse, Rook's boss has ordered him to play coy with the federal authorities on this one. Something stinks worse than a bloody dead sadist, and Rook wonders if that's his cooked career. At first, all leads hit dead ends...until Rook discovers an unlikely "witness" locked in the basement: an illegal "bod-mod", still fresh from the box. Gene-grown clones grown to perfection, bod-mods exist for one thing only: to satisfy their owners. Grasping at straws, Rook takes the mod - named Pleasur, of course - to the station as evidence, which draws the wrong kind of attention. Suddenly, everyone wants Rook dead and Pleasur terminated. As more and more people die around them, Rook becomes convinced: the answers he seeks are locked deep inside Pleasur herself. His best chance? Get Pleasur an "update" to raise her intellect in hopes of helping her survive, as well as uncover the secrets buried inside her. However, updating a sex-slave to a higher state of awareness of herself and the depraved world she's been built to serve? The potential backfires are countless...and perhaps even fatal. "Pleasure Model" evokes strains of "Blade Runner" with a terse, authentic Noir tone, mixed with the ethical ambiguities of a futuristic, amoral world and a cyberpunk sensibility. The story moves well and is told with a steady, authoritative hand, guaranteed to leave fans of both Noir and cyberpunk waiting for more.

I read this book in three "sittings." In the last, I didn't get up to feed the birds, let out the cat etc. I had to keep reading. It moved so quickly. Toward the end, I couldn't read it fast enough. "Pleasure Model" has action, speed, and a gene-grown gorgeous girl. Her very existence, let alone what is going to happen to her, breaks new SF ground. And if you can't put it down, its length makes it so you don't have to. The cleverly crafted construction arranges puzzle pieces of people and plot in a strong satisfying finish. Just looking at Plesur is a privilege. As an extra bonus, Rowley is a writer with a way with words.