Review: One Heck of a House Party
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 15, 2012
Baz Wilson is a hapless hero all right.  Even his problems have problems.  His marriage ended in divorce. He still can't get past his mum's tragic death twenty years earlier and his half mad father is about to sign away his inheritance to a conman.  Then a strange looking young woman is washed up on the beach alongside a shark/drowning victim.  She's playing with her female parts as if they were a new toy and asks Baz if he'd mind having sex with her and making a baby.  No wonder the poor man is bewildered.  The 'mermaid', christened 'Venus' for convenience, has no concept of modesty nor propriety.  She's even coming on to women if she finds them attractive.  Then the police suspect her in a murder case, because of circumstancial 'fin' evidence.Meanwhile, Wynne, the woman who fancies Baz at work turns up to stay for a couple of days.  The conman approaches to seal the slimy deal.  The cleaning lady sends in her light fingered niece to take her place for a day. There's also a couple of nosy policemen and a scientist who is excited about having discovered a new race of mutants. Result?  One heck of a house party!!!!Louise Cusack has boldly gone where no romance writer ever has gone before.  The book starts with one hero and ends with another.  And it's okay.  But the real surprise is Venus' real identity.This writer's forte has been writing fantasy, but she's firmly grounded.  Her underworld characters sent a shiver up my spine.  Her descriptive powers are amazing.  I could see that mermaid!  A genre spinning work in so many ways.  Highly recommended.