Review: Impressive
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 24, 2013
"Mayhem Takes a Dare: The Second Marisa Adair Mystery" by Jada Ryker is a very worthy sequel to her excellent first book, "Murder Takes a Dare."The accidental crime 'investigator' Marisa Adair is a great main character, a woman with bite, a past and some ambiguity. She is used to the seedy night life and currently part of an on-line group that seeks entertainment in form of some court-themes role play.The book starts with a high octane gun-to-the-head scene in a club and introduces the world of stripping, dates, cheats and on-line personae full of people who need thrills and excitement in their otherwise empty or boring lives and of those who pretend to be something they are not.Rolled casually in the explosive plot is a lot of reflective thought but thankfully not in a preaching manner.The investigation of a murder in a strip club is the main story line but the book is much more evolved and quite a roller coaster of a reading experience. Full of action, fun and witticism the story is well paced, cleverly plotted and contains excellent characters. The story also touches upon a few more serious issues and is a far cry from mindless entertainment. While there is a light note to the sexual attraction between Marisa and Alex and some of the banter in the group, the uncovering of a child-pornography ring is much more serious and handled very well.Impressive.