White Flesh, Black Market: Spies in the House of Lust Book Two (2014) by Barbra Novac - Wah Wah Funk Publishing

The second book in this series picks up from where the three agents are on assignment. Aston is undercover with the Russian Mafia and meets up with Vicar Irk.  Porsche is in Monte Carlo trying to get in with Clon Daedalus and Mercedes infiltrates Daedelus' island base.

In this instalment, the three agents really get into their assignments Aston discovers just how much the Russian Mafia knows and that they have the a waitress who witnessed the massacre at the start or part 1.  Porsche manages to get the attention of Clon Daedalus and manages to snoop around his papers.  Mercedes infiltrates the island making several discoveries.

I found that Mercedes's adventures are the ones that stay with me the most - that could be because she is confronted with the physical reality of what the other two only find written reference to.

I just realised that Aston sleeps with Irk and Porsche has sex with Clon - Mercedes doesn't have any sexual encounters in this part.

This adventure ends on a cliff-hanger and all the three agents are about to be reunited.  I won't say just how or why the three agents are to be reunited but  I found this cliff hanger ending to be far more satisfying for me as a reader. 

And I am seriously hanging out for the release of part 3.

White Flesh, Black Market: Spies in the House of Lust Book 1 (2013) Barbra Novac, Wah Wah Funk Publishing

So you might be wondering why I started the Sexy September tag here on the blog and reposted several of my old reviews that covered some of the more risqué books. 

Well it turns out that I'm not the only one fond of sexy heroines fighting crime or spying.  The Baroness Yahoo Group suggested these books.  The Baroness is a definite inspiration for this book as is Modesty Blaise and Mrs Peel (from The Avengers TV series)

The novel opens with the death of a group of  KGB agents including a couple of  American moles during an orgy.  The Russian detective Vicar Grogshh Hotly Irk is assigned to the case.  He is contacted by ROTA and is informed that this was part of a larger plot with the death of 250 agents around the world on both sides of the political divide. 

ROTA (we are not told what it stands for) is sending their top agents DISC

Porshe Worthington - Blonde, owner and editor in chief of Voir magazine, widow of William Marlowe.

Aston Knight - French scientific genius and model.

Mercedes Merlin - Waif like red haired model, an orphan who travelled and trained in China.

The first instalment introduces the agents and gets them into their various assignments as the villain is suspected immediately.  I felt a little disappointed at the end of this volume as it felt like the story had just gotten started, the players all in place.  Porshe was meeting with Clon Daedalus, Mercedes arrives on his private island and Aston is undercover with the Russian mob who are looking to buy Daedalus's technology.

Barbra Novac does a really great job introducing the main characters and giving us several sex scenes that felt were part of the plot and not just thrown in for the sake of having a sex scene.

I should also mention how much I love the covers for this story.  If you are a fan of sexpionage adventures of The Baroness or the espionage adventures of The Avengers and Modesty Blaise I would whole heartedly suggest getting this book but be aware that this is one adventure across three books.

Hot Rail to Hell (Conversant USA #1) Deluxe Edition by Robert E Vardeman Cenotaph Road 2011

originally posted Monday, April 2, 2012 5:45:51 PM

Welcome to Conversant USA, the premier counter industrial espionage agency. This private agency was founded by Vanessa “Nessie” Court. Ms Court became a world class scientist working with her first husband Roberto Bandini who died in a lab accident and wealthy after the death of her second husband and son by terrorists from Chechnya. Vanessa Court found and killed the men responsible for the death of her family and found that she enjoyed the action and excitement and formed Conversant USA to use her unique skill set.

Vanessa Court is joined by her team:
Tancredo “Dodo” Cardoso – Brazilian born MMA master
Kate Li – Psychologist and communications expert
Rich Blaine – Electronics expert
Web Singh – Computer expert
Pascal – German Shepherd who can mind link with Nessie through SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) allowing Nessie access to his impressions of clients and suspects.

In Hot Rail to Hell, Conversant USA tracks down the person responsible for stealing the blueprints of a new hot rail gun for use by the United States Military. The Conversant Team races around the world to prevent the blueprints from being delivered to a foreign power.

I was really impressed by this book, Robert Vardeman has turned out an exciting and sexy new story that calls to mind the best of Modesty Blaise and The Baroness and is hopefully the first of many books. Vardeman is an ideal writer for this type of series, he contributed an unpublished Baroness adventure back in the seventies and he discussed with fans of The Baroness what they liked about the series.

While Baroness Penelope St John Orsini and Vanessa Court share very similar backgrounds, Vanessa is her own character. While The Baroness dealt with devices that were science fiction back in the day, some devices are everyday items now, Vardeman takes Nessie and offers similar cutting edge scientific devices.

I purchased the deluxe edition which features an essay by the author about how the book came about and a short story “Deserts, Death and Drugs” showing an earlier adventure of Conversant USA chasing down stolen medicines. There is a neat twist to just who is the bad guy in this scenario.

There are sex scenes in both Hot Rail to Hell and “Deserts, Death and Drugs” but there were part of the plot and not tacked on like similar scenes I’ve found in similar works. (I felt that some of the sex scenes in The Baroness #1 The Ecstasy Connection were merely there for the sake of a sex scene).

Vanessa Court is a worthy “granddaughter” of Modesty Blaise and well worth reading.