For the Literati

There was a thread on the D started by some purported writer who wanted to interview Houston-area providers for a book or movie script he was going to do on women "trapped in the lifestyle of drugs and prostitution." I posted that someone had already done a book with the hobby scene in Houston as a backdrop that portrayed providers in a much more positive light. Since that thread is no longer around, I wanted to repost the link to a review of the book:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Molten-Sea-Hank-Belloc/dp/1436382645/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid =1266041231&sr=1-1]Murder in the Molten Sea[/ame]

4.0 out of 5 stars Rub-a-dub-dub, April 6, 2009
By CaligvlaXXI - See all my reviews

The cover art and title of this book--both alluding to the great water basin known as the "molten sea" that stood outside Solomon's temple--caught my eye and made me want to take a closer look. Three nude men get shot to death in a hot tub fabricated from a replica of the molten sea, the replica encircled by a run-on band of Hebrew script not found on the original. Curious about the replica and its inscription, a Houston undercover police officer assigned to work the case enlists the help of ancient history scholar Matt Matthias. A frame-up, another murder, an attempted murder, and a suicide ensue, with Matthias finally figuring out who's behind it all and uncovering a trove of priceless antiquites in the process.

A couple of caveats: Matthias suffers from an "aesthetic hypersensitivity" that prevents him from functioning sexually if a woman's body is blighted by certain "nauseating imperfections," among which are breast implants and unshaved pudenda. Because of the social unacceptability of examining prospective dates for these and other imperfections, Matthias has restricted his relations with the opposite sex to escorts who have posted sufficiently revealing photos of themselves online. Female readers who don't fit Matthias' aesthetic canon of the shaved, natural athletic physique may be offended by his ruminations on the female form.

Matthias is also obsessed with ancient metrology, going off on tangents involving the Hebrew cubit, the Babylonian cubit, the length of Hezekiah's Tunnel, etc. If the reader is into that kind of thing, fine; if not, it might get a little mind numbing, at which point one can fast-forward to pick the narrative thread back up.

Some of the sardonic humor reminded me of the late Trevanian; although the book wasn't quite a four, it deserved more than a three.

Another review:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mur...ame=custreview

Erudite mystery flawed by pornographic excesses

by HiramTX

Reader Rating:
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December 20, 2009: I came across this book whilst doing an image search on "molten sea," the name given to a great bronze water basin that stood outside King Solomon's temple. The dust jacket of the book came up, sporting a drawing of the molten sea dating from about 1450, which was just the kind of imagery I was researching. I clicked on the image and read the blurb on the book which described a mystery centering around the shooting to death of three nude men sitting in an antique model of the molten sea fitted out as a hot tub. Since the story took place in Houston--where I reside--and dealt with an ancient temple appurtenance I was researching, I decided to give it a read.


Much to my delight, the protagonist took an interest in researching the metrology associated with the molten sea, this background material reflecting top-notch scholarship on the subject; hats off to the author for really doing his homework here.


Much to my dismay, however, the protagonist was made to be a sexual "hobbyist," i.e., one who consorts with call girls ("providers") about whom he has read performance reviews on an internet forum dedicated to posting such reviews. These "hobbyists" use a vocabulary of arcane acronyms to describe various sexual acts, and these acronyms are annoyingly scattered throughout the book without explanation as if the reader should already know them. The intimate descriptions of the "providers" and of the visit the protagonist makes to one of them are downright pornographic. Interestingly, not long after I finished the book, there was a local television news story about Houston vice officers raiding a party thrown by "prostitutes and their customers" who were connected with an internet forum very much like the one described in the book.

I honestly believe the book would have worked better as an intellectual "cozy" type mystery, no pornography, the otherwise likable bachelor protagonist pursuing a legitimate love interest--or being pursued by a legitimate love interest--as a part of the story.