Lick Me [Paperback]

DeLeon DeMicoli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2009

For most of my adult life I live an alternative lifestyle, keeping a secret that not everyone knows about. Then I meet a girl like Norah Parrish and she shows me a secret that s even darker, more meaningful. But no matter what kinda alternative lifestyle I live, what culture I follow, eventually, it'll become mainstream. Catch on as the next fashion trend. Show up on television worn by MTV personalities. Goth used to be cool. Now it has its own store in the mall. Punk rock used to mean something. Now it's a hairdo, a piercing in a weird spot. Hip-Hop once changed my life. Now it's a brand name for clothes, cell phones, and tennis shoes. Nobody can just enjoy art anymore. It has to be exploited. Made to become bigger than life and eventually hated for the rest of the decade until we see another renaissance. Seth Barton throws illegal rave parties in abandoned buildings. Norah Parrish is a college student with dreams of starting her own cosmetic company. Claiming the Alter Ego Defense, both could justify their hidden secrets. On their own, they manage to stay below the radar. Together, they make national headlines. The question is will the public hang the super heroine Hot Pink, who gathers names of rapists through a self-made helpline for victims of rape, and then hunts them down, enforcing her own version of justice? Or will they vindicate the team of Norah and Seth, embracing them to the point of mainstream media? But the public is the least of their worries... Through the use of dark satire, Lick Me is a wickedly funny tale from an original voice that shows no mercy when writing upon the immoral standards of network television that interprets news worthy headlines by ratings, while an easily influenced culture finds their truths in celebrity tabloids.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Named Best Alternative Fiction of 2007 by Books-And-Authors.net --Kirkus Review

Young hipsters deploy irony and a nail gun to battle a cruel world in this lurid romance-thriller. Dreading a future of corporate conformity, 20-something Seth tries to build a career as an impresario of themed raves. All goes swimmingly until dead bodies start appearing at the dance parties the handiwork of Norah, a coed who wants to start her own line of Phuck N Kill Cosmetics, and who moonlights as Hot Pink, a vigilante serial killer of sex offenders whose names she worms out of distraught victims calling a rape hotline. Smitten, Seth mans the phone lines, but it turns out that offing scumbags is a crowded field. Soon Seth and Norah run afoul of Harley Carmichael, a white hit-man with gangsta-rapper affectations he spouts hip-hop patois and sports gold-plated teeth inscribed with the word bitch who specializes in contract killings of rapists. DeMicoli uses this gonzo scenario as a backdrop to what ravers undoubtedly see as the great social problem of our time the corporate takeover of dissident youth culture. Punk rock used to mean something, Seth muses. Now it s a hairdo, a piercing in a weird spot. But the novel s more telling theme is the crisis of post-modern masculinity. Seth is a feckless young man, marginalized in a world where women s knack for erotic display his previous girlfriend was a porn-site hottie dominates a spectacle-driven economy, while their militancy renders protective manliness obsolete. Masculinity has degenerated to pure predation (rape), and Seth s only vestigial role is to impotently pledge allegiance to women s righteous violence. The preoccupations of the novel s disaffected, self-loathing youngsters are a bit trite, but Lick Me is an entertaining read. The characters, though cartoonish, are vividly observed, and the author s vigorous prose mixes pulp with poetry in a sharp vernacular. A promising debut from a talented writer. --authorsontherise.com

The characters in DeLeon Demicoli s book are definitely a rare breed. Seth Barton is an outlaw throwing underground rave parties with the help of his prankster friend Louis. Lick Me doesn t mean what it sounds like, it just so happens to be tied into one of the rave parties that featured Louis tongue. DeLeon takes us into an underground world where many are never privy to. Norah is introduced into the tale DeLeon weaves and to Seth under what seems like unfavorable circumstances however as the story progresses Norah and Seth join outlaw forces as crusaders, battling those who commit crimes against women. The book starts slow the language unique and the style by which DeLeon writes is as outlawed as his characters. After getting used to the ebb and flow of things and pushing on I found this book to be a very exciting adventure. He starts to really blow the characters up and bring them to life; the story evades its slow trickle to a feverish flow down a rapid river gone wild in a storm. You ll be wondering what s next, turning the next page and find yourself at the end very glad you didn t let the slow start hinder your judgment to read onward. - Michael Timlin, Authors on the Rise Book Reviews --Books-And-Authors.net

About the Author

DeLeon DeMicoli lives and works in San Francisco, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: P'NK Books; First edition (February 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615266037
• ISBN-13: 978-0615266039
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,887,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lick This, March 22, 2007

By 

J. Narens (Northbrook, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lick Me (Paperback)

If you want a funny quick contemporary read, you'll like this book. If you like Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, you'll most likely enjoy this one too.