Author: Kirsten Imani Kasai

ISBN: 0-595-38274-6

The following review was contributed by: Deborah Augustin:  Click here  to read more of Deborah's Reviews

The very first chapter of Flesh Hell has us titillated, wanting to know what happens next as the protagonist, Joely, is about to have an operation of some kind. The rest of the story could be described as a slow seduction as the reader wants to know more about Joely, a stripper, and what will happen to her next and what she will decide to do. Fitting perhaps for a book about the sex industry.

The author’s note in the beginning of the book states that Flesh Hell is “not representative of the typical sex-worker’s experiences….it attempts to portray the profound emotional and psychological changes…on the women whose labor” sustain the sex industry. The author herself once worked as a peepshow dancer and this book benefits greatly from the insider view it offers the reader.

Joely, once a wide-eyed college student, is now a jaded dancer who feels homicidal urges towards men in general. She is desperate to get rid of the ‘monster’ in her and she turns to rather alternative methods to exorcise these demons. Along her journey, as this story is very much that of a journey, she meets Twilight/Audrey, a fellow dancer who soon makes the switch from colleague to lover.

The story is told mostly in the present and in chronological order, occasionally interspersed with flashbacks. The flashbacks help to illustrate how Joely came to be the person she is; however they sometimes jar with the flow of the story, as they seem to come out of nowhere on occasion. The flow works best when things are moving in the present and bringing us to what will happen next rather than dwelling on what has happened.

The highlight of the book is its descriptions of the sex industry. The minute details of the working conditions, the politics, and the realities of the occupation and the blow-by-blow accounts of the routines are riveting. Some of the sex scenes may offend or shock readers not used to anything except ‘vanilla’ sex. Stemming perhaps from any excitement readers may experience by the more sensual scenes that mix pain and pleasure rather than the actual acts themselves.

A lot of books that are packaged as ‘gritty’ or ‘raw’ soon begin to grate on the nerves as you wish there might have been a little more polish on the writing. Luckily Flesh Hell does not suffer from this, as Ms. Kasai ably proves that she is a writer. Whether at a party, inside a lover’s bedroom or working a booth we see and feel things with Joely. The emotions and atmosphere are almost palpable.

There were, however, some passages that I found ‘clunky’, for lack of a better word. These passages usually suffered from what I call ‘thesaurus writing’, the vocabulary became grandiose. This just upset the flow of the writing and seemed out of place. The same goes for the descriptions of Joely’s violent predilections.

The words seem to blur together and there was no impact after a few lines. The ending too seemed rushed and the supernatural bent that was meant to give Joely closure felt like a cheap trick. Flesh Hell is at its best when it is grounded in reality and the everyday. When it wanders into the mystic and the fantastic it begins to flounder.

But I would read this book just to meet Joely again. Ms Kasai has succeeded in creating a truly believable character, human and flawed, just like every one of us. It is because we can identify with Joely and empathise with her that Flesh Hell works. Hopefully there will be more from this author.