Author: A.R. Torre
ISBN: 9781409155171
RRP: $29.99
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Erotic fiction is a hot commodity at the moment, it seems that everyone’s publishing it and everyone is claiming to have that something extra; that element to set it apart from all the others on the shelves, to make it unique and original – like nothing you’ve ever read. The Girl in 6E actually delivers.
The Girl in 6E is an erotic thriller so there is much more to the story, and there is quite a hint of suspense thrown in for good measure. The whole premise of this one really intrigued me and I had to give it a go.
Deanna Madden is the main character and she hasn’t left her apartment in three years, she has had no actual contact with another person in that time. Once upon a time that would have been difficult to orchestrate but the internet makes it easy for Deanna to live completely in her apartment.
The internet allows Deanna and her alter-ego, sexy co-ed Jessica Reilly, to make a 7 figure income and have all of her needs delivered to her door. Jessica makes her living performing on sex sites via webcam, men and women queue to pay $6.99 a minute for Jessica’s undivided attention. Deanna does all of her shopping online and has it delivered to her door, she is even seeking treatment from two psychiatrists online.
It was homicidal tendencies that drove Deanna to shut herself away from the world, somewhere that she couldn’t hurt anyone. She’s been doing well, the bank account’s steadily growing and she hasn’t killed anyone in years.
We get an up close an intimate look at both sides of Deanna, her webcam work is described in lurid detail for us which gives quite an indepth look at the ‘camming’ lifestyle. A lifestyle which I must admit I had never really given much thought to. The Girl in 6E takes us behind the camera to see what life is like for a webcam sex worker. Deanna is a purely fictitious character but author A.R. Torre did extensive research into the field while writing and her webcam operation setup is accurate.
Like most of the sex industry I can’t say I have ever given any thought to the people that work these jobs. I have never thought about who they are when the cameras are turned off. Deanna/Jessica is not like what I would imagine most cammers to be like, she certainly seems like one in a million to me, but this book does show that there is a complete other life to be lived when the cameras go off.
Deanna/Jessica spends her entire life in her apartment alone yet still manages to rake in a huge income from men (and women) getting off on her performances whether they be audio or visual, and they are definitely graphic.
It isn’t all plastic dildos, lube and cyber sex, there is a much darker side to The Girl in 6E, and that’s exactly why she has imprisoned herself there. She has dark fantasies of bloodshed and death, she has shut herself away to ensure the safety of anyone she comes in contact with.
Everything is going well in her sequestered domain until a news bulletin alerts her to a missing girl called Annie, which happens to be the name one of her creepily disturbed clients is fixated on. Deanna puts aside everything to head out and try to save Annie.
Is she strong enough to control her thirst for bloodshed long enough to track down Annie and save her from the hands of a disturbed pedophile?
Deanna has already had her resolve tested, by the delivery boy no less. He sees just enough about her to become intrigued, to need to know what he can about her. For now he knows that she has multiple aliases, receives an extraordinary number of parcels and she refuses to open the door. No matter how he tries to fool her that door will not open until he’s gone. Until the day their routine deviates from the norm.
Jeremy comes knocking and waits to hear the expected ‘Leave it. Thank you.’ but there’s only silence, until he is sure he hears her crying out for help and rushes in to her her aid only to find he’s the one in the compromising position.
This brief interaction is enough to have Deanna craving human interaction, even though she still understands it’s a dangerous idea.
I really enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would. In the past I have been sucked in by the promise of individuality only to discover a story not much different from all the rest but this one is definitely in a league of its own.
Homicidal cyber sex worker breaks the chains of her own imprisonment determined to save a little girl from the hands of a depraved pedophile. I love it.
I also love the amount of research that has gone into this book to tell camming like it is, a profession I had never really heard of. Okay so I have seen the ads on the net but never given them, or the girls behind the camera, a second thought so it was interesting to take a deeper look into the industry. Then there’s the research on the fetishes and client types Jessica sees.
There was a lot going on in The Girl in 6E so I never wanted to put it down. It was told by Deanna but there were chapters from other perspectives – namely Annie, her parents, Jeremy and even the depraved client had a chapter if I’m not mistaken. All the while we were learning about the events that led Deanna to her self-imposed seclusion through flashbacks.
An engaging and original read that leaves me wanting to know what comes next, so definitely on the lookout for the sequel Goodreads tells me can be expected in 2015.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!