"Beyond the Pale Motel is a can’t-stop-reading, gasp-out-loud sexy thriller that keeps you guessing at every turn. Block holds up a dark mirror to the traditional love story. She creates characters so real you feel they’ve done your hair, heard your sob story, slept in your bed. Block reflects Los Angeles with as much distinction as Raymond Chandler and John Fante, but her Los Angeles has the cotton candy colored sunsets in the smog and the dark magic of the shadows."
-- Laura Lee Bahr, author of Haunt
-- Laura Lee Bahr, author of Haunt
Maternal, sexy Catt and her beautiful, daring best friend Bree are hairdressers at an L.A. salon called Head Hunter, and work out at a gym called Body Farm. They have over a decade of sobriety behind them and are getting close to living the lives they've always wanted.
But when Catt's husband, Dash, leaves her, and then her neighbor is brutally murdered, possibly by a man being called the Hollywood Serial Killer, Catt's world begins to come crashing down. The murdered victims all seem to bear a chilling resemblance to Bree. Catt suspects that Bree is the next target of the Hollywood Serial Killer...is she losing touch with reality or simply coming to terms with the truth?
In Beyond the Pale Motel, a terrifying and intensely erotic novel, Francesca Lia Block explores the dangers of modern living, loving and dying with lyrical edge and sensational attitude.
4 Stars
Beyond the Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block was dark, twisty and suspensful. OMG I loved it! This fast paced book is centered on topics that are often hard to discuss- addiction, adultery & murder. It was my first FLB book but surely will not be my last. Her style pulled me in from the first sentence and did not loosen it's grip until I reached "The End."
When Catt's husbands up and leaves her to start a new life elsewhere right around the same time as a serial killer starts offing beautiful women and collecting their body parts, she is left teetering on a very dangerous edge. She has her best friend Bree and her godson, Skylar by her side to help her move forward and that is good, for awhile. Catt tries to make herself feel better with a series of unfortunate hook ups but between them and the serial killer brutally murdering her neighbor, she starts to unravel.
Beyond the Pale Motel was far more raw and psychological that I had anticipated. FLB created these magnificent characters that made me fall in love with them, short comings and all. I couldn't help but to feel sorry for Catt. Watching her slow decent into a darkened state of being was heartbreaking. She not only lost her husband but between her addiction and obsession with the Hollywood killer she pushed away the other two most important people in her life. With everything crumbling around her, she seeks solace in the arms of a man that should be off limits. This was the breaking point for me. As the story started to become clear, I felt as if I couldn't read fast enough. The suspense kept pushing me towards the finish, even well past my bedtime. As I arrived upon the end of the book I couldn't help but feel emotionally drained. The story was presented in such a way that I felt as if I walk along with Catt through her struggles. And the ending... Oh, my heart.
Ms. Block's detailed words let this dark tail unfold clearly but also kept me guessing. I couldn't help but fall in love with her writing style, and I promise you will too.
Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review,School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches fiction workshops at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Marilyn’s Writing Pad and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.
Beyond the Pale Motel is available on Amazon
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Praise for Francesca Lia Block and Beyond the Pale Motel
“Francesca Lia Block is a bright, golden thread in the literary landscape of Los Angeles. I have looked to her novels as inspiration for myself as a writer; she is a wizard of metaphor and imagery while at the same time deftly constructing stories that compel a reader forward. Francesca's work stares unblinkingly into the face of human complexity, of suffering as well as love and joy. She's a master (mistress?) of the craft. Would that my muse give me half the talent she has.”
~ Samantha Dunn Camp, author of Failing Paris
“Beyond the Pale Motel is sadder, darker, grimmer [than anything Francesca Lia Block has written], yet still glinting in spots with ethereal light and her trademark belief in the saving power of love.”
~ Denise Hamilton, author of Damage Control and L.A. Noir
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