Object of Lust by Charles Runyon (alias Mark West)
Black Gat No. 43
Bombshell, Marian Morgan is bored with her husband, Dewitt Morgan, who works too much and pays her too little attention. She copes with liquor until the day she nearly dies. The close-call that rocks her world, and has her looking at her rescuer, Lewis Leland, in more than gratitude. That is, until his inner psychopath starts showing.
It’s a character-driven story, and the characters are all driven by sex. Thinking about it, engaging in it, and then reflecting on it. That gets pretty tedious in other sex books I’ve read, but Runyon does an admirable job of giving his original publisher exactly what they ordered along with highly readable prose, tucked inside a terrific crime story.
If I had to shelve this novel in a bookstore, I’d reluctantly forego the crime section and place in firmly in erotica. It’s 75% sex and 25% crime. The final chapters are particularly gripping as all that bedsheet steam finally gives way to different kinds of excitement and tension.
The final pages include a Runyon bibliography and a short bio. Black Gat No. 43 will be widely available February 20, 2023.
