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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Webcam venuses, August 29, 2006
This review is from: The Venus Fix: A Dr. Morgan Snow Novel (Butterfield Institute, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
"The Venus Fix" is a schizophrenic novel, a multi-strand thriller with erotic overtones.
At its center is sex counselor Dr. Morgan Snow. While her boyfriend, New York police detective Noah Jordain, is investigating the murder of an online performer, who died in agony during one of her shows, she's treating patients who may have a connection to the case. One is a mystery man who needs therapy for his addiction to Internet webcam shows, while the other is a group of teens from the same school.
Rose has said in interviews that she wanted the novel to reflect accurately the trauma caused by Internet sex addiction, and she has done so effectively, showing the lure of graphic images on the part of the men, and trauma such behavior inflicts on the women in their lives, and the girls who feel pressured to imitate the looks and behavior of porn stars.
But depicting behavior is not the same thing as telling a story. While the patients struggle with their obsessions and the murders of the sex performers follow the thriller template, the far more compelling story lies with Snow's personal life. Morgan and Noah, each with enough emotional baggage to fill a 747, feel their way toward a hopeful greater intimacy, which is threatened when Morgan's ex-husband returns, wanting to make things right with her. Morgan also has a problem with her daughter, who at 13 is acting in a Broadway play and has the potential of making a career out of acting. To Morgan, who saw her actress-mother self-destruct, this is unacceptable.
It is Morgan Snow's struggles to find her place in a relationship, to retain a connection with her daughter and her need to protect herself from her patients' traumas that give "The Venus Fix" its kick.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the year's best thrillers, August 5, 2006
This review is from: The Venus Fix: A Dr. Morgan Snow Novel (Butterfield Institute, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
An erotic thriller isn't the kind of book you'd expect to find on most guys' reading lists. But most novels of this type aren't as good, and as universal, as those written by M.J. Rose. Any reader, man or woman, who enjoys a sexy, suspenseful read would be advised to pick up one of her books.
Rose's latest, "The Venus Fix," features the return of sex therapist Morgan Snow, a single mom and top-notch professional in her field. In a wonderfully-crafted plot, Snow is counseling a group of teenagers who are addicted to live Internet sex shows. When someone starts killing off the performers, while the boys watch, Snow is drawn into the investigation.
The plot of "The Venus Fix" is fresh and intriguing, but it is the characters that push this thriller to such a high level. The relationships that fill it -- mother-daughter, doctor-patient, girlfriend-boyfriend -- are so well-developed and so real that the story takes on considerable power and poignancy.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Jenny Salyers, January 25, 2007
This review is from: The Venus Fix: A Dr. Morgan Snow Novel (Butterfield Institute, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Dr. Morgan Snow, sex therapist at the well known Butterfield Institute in New York City, has a new patient. He is an extremely influential and powerful man that she only knows as "Bob." His problem is an extremely strong addiction to watching internet porn of the web-cam variety. He is not the only patient that Dr. Snow has. She is also running a group session for a small group of teenagers, at a prestigious high school, who are all obsessed with the same type of internet fed sexual fantasies.
Then the women creating these fantasies start to die while performing. Suddenly, The N.Y.P.D. is fielding hundreds of phone calls from across the country. Phone calls made by the men who were watching as these women became sick and died. Dr. Snow's work becomes entangled with detective Noah Jordain's investigation as he tries to unravel the riddle behind the murders. All the victims are purveyors of the web cam porn industry. Also, all the victims are employed by the same company. What other connections tie the victims together?
The clues point towards Dr Snow's new patient. However, new evidence comes from an unexpected source and changes the focus of the hunt. Can they find the real killer in time, or will more women die?
The Venus Fix is M.J. Roses third book in the Butterfield Institute series. As a newcomer to this series, I found it easy to fall into Dr. Snow's world and sensibilities. M.J. Rose has crafted a story that pulls its elements from seedier aspects of society and combines them with well crafted events to make a quick, enjoyable, thrill-filled story. Being fairly new to the mystery/thriller world, I was unaware of M.J. Rose's reputation for writing that is a bit sexual, raw and underground. In fact I stumbled across her due to a self promotional contest online for this title. M.J. Rose is one of those authors that you hear a lot about. She self published her first novel, due to increased frustration with having her book turned down by several publishing houses, and put all her effort into using the internet to market her writing. As a result, her books have been picked up by the mainstream publishing industry. She still keeps a web blog called Buzz, Balls & Hype which she uses as an outlet to help publishers and authors reach a larger audience about their books. I've never been much of a reader of thrillers, however I found The Venus Fix a fantastic introduction to the genre and am looking forwards to reading more works by the author.
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