Thursday, September 24, 2020

Blood Sisters (Shea Stevens) by Dharma Kelleher


A woman is on the run from her powerful husband, asking former confidential informer Shea and her Athena Sisterhood Motorcycle Club for help. That causes quite some trouble, just like the rival biker gang that the Athena Sisterhood helped put in prison getting back on the streets. And then there's the matter of Shea's adopted child who is feeling ill.

What follows is a gritty, action-packed story with my favorite lesbian protagonist. I love how Shea is both tough and vulnerable. The feelings she has for a female cop are so well described. The love she feels for her stepdaughter are so genuine. Shea is such a kind and loving woman as well as a tough biker/warrior. The combination works. Not your standard PI character and infused with a huge dose of rock 'n' roll attitude her adventures are a delight to read.

I loved the first two entries in the series. This one is even better.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Free Fiction: The Albino Assassin (A Lenny Parker serial) by Jochem Vandersteen

 Lenny Parker, PI / roadie / metalhead is back in a new serial. He’s my slightly more humorous version of the PI. He doesn’t exactly know what he’s doing and sure as hell isn’t the martial arts master my Noah Milano is.

For the other parts of this story click here.

TWO

 

Casey updated Lenny about her new love, Jenna while they were in his Dodge Ram. They were heading for Jenna’s place. Jenna, last name Collins, had a job at a local sex shop. Turns out Casey met her there, shopping for a strap-on. Lenny had stopped feeling shocked about Casey’s openness about her sex life. The conversation had turned to if Casey had someone to use it on and before you knew it they were at the back of the shop doing the nasty. Eat that, Penthouse Forum. They discovered they had more to offer each other than just pure lust, like the same crude sense of humor and a  fondness of riot grrl bands and medieval poetry.

“Did she ever mention something to you about not liking San Diego, or her work?” Lenny asked Casey.

“No. She loved her job. She just liked meeting all the freaks and embarrassing the housewives who shopped there. She wasn’t thinking about leaving. I know what you’re suggesting, Len. But she didn’t just leave on her own accord. There’s something wrong.”

“Okay, okay. But most often when an adult disappears she usually turns up after a few weeks, drunk, broke or in love with someone else.”

“This is not one of those causes, okay?”

“Sure.” Lenny pointed ahead. “This her place?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Let me park and we’ll have a look over there.”

Lenny parked the Dodge next to a battered Volvo. Together with Casey he walked over to the apartment complex. It had three stories, white balconies and walls painted red to mask the fact the building was pretty old.

“You don’t have a key, right?” Lenny asked.

“If I had a key I would have gone over to have a look myself, don’t you think? No, I need your fancy PI lockpicking skills.”

“I’m actually not very good at that. I’m not Magnum, you know?”

“You can always put some of your weight against the door.”

“Hey! Stop picking on me about my weight!”

“Pick locks, not on Lennies,” Casey chuckled.

A young woman with pink shorts and a black tank top moved past them on rollerblades, over to the apartment’s main door. A blonde ponytail stuck out from her white cap.

“Quick, let’s move in behind her,” Lenny said.

Casey wiggled her eyebrows. “Not a punishment.” Lenny shook his head in despair. Casey was so much worse than even most men he knew.

Walking as fast as they could without looking suspicious they moved to the door. Just before the young woman could close it, Lenny put a foot against it.

The woman looked behind her, missing the sound of a closing door. “Oh, hi. Didn’t see you there.”

“No worries,” Lenny said. “Nice weather for some rollerblading, right?”

The woman smiled. “Absolutely. I haven’t seen you before here, are you new?”

Casey put an arm around Lenny and kissed his cheek. “Yeah, we just moved into our little love nest here.”

Lenny was caught a bit unaware by Casey’s act but had to admit it didn’t feel bad to get a kiss from his beautiful friend. “Yeah. We’ve got a friend living here as well. Jenna Collins, you know her?”

“Jenna? Good looking girl? Lots of tattoos?”

“That’s her,” Casey said.

“Yeah, I’ve run into her every now and then. She usually tries to get me in bed when she does. Some people have been complaining about the loud music she plays.”

“That sounds like her as well,” Casey agreed. Lenny wondered if it bothered her that her girlfriend tried to pick up women in the apartment building.

The young woman took off her rollerblades, quite a balancing act. Lenny was a gentlemen and offered her a hand as she did. “Haven’t seen her in days, though. Maybe she’s on holiday or something? You know about that?”

“No, haven’t heard about that,” Casey said.

“Well, I’m going to take a shower. Sweating my ass off. Nice to mee you folks,” the woman said. “I’m Tiffany.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Lenny agreed.

“For sure,” Casey said.

They watched Tiffany go up the stairs.

“And what a nice sweaty ass it is,” Casey said.

“I guess you have no reason to be mad at Jenna for trying to pick her up,” Lenny told his friend.

“She probably just wanted to arrange a trio.”

“Right, probably. Well, that was the first door. Now let’s head over to the second.”

The two metalheads went up the stairs to the third floor where Jenna’s apartment was.