Protection (SfSx (Safe Sex) #1):

The neon-drenched pages of this science fiction thriller are pummeled with sex, violence, and political rage. “A decade into an ongoing takeover of American civil life by the ultra-conservative religious organization known as the Party,” Avory, a former sex worker once known as Simona Salacious, lives in a San Francisco where sex is confined to marriage and tightly monitored by the bureaucrats at the Pleasure Center. When her husband is imprisoned, she solicits help from her former colleagues, who now run an illegal underground sex club, to mount a rescue effort. Horn (Sexting), along with artists including Michael Dowling, Alejandra Gutiérrez, and Jen Hickman, builds a convincing, if familiar, Handmaid’s Tale–like patriarchal regime. Avory’s background in sex work prepares her for acrobatic fight scenes and escaping from handcuffs. But the plot is often choppy and scattershot, and the rotating stable of artists, some more effective than others, adds to the disorientation. The intense sex scenes won’t suit all readers, but should appeal to the kinky sex-positive fan base Horn brings in. Readers with a yen for third-wave feminist fury will find plenty to enjoy in these porn-friendly adventures. (July)