But when Catt's husband, Dash, leaves her, and then her neighbor is brutally murdered, possibly by a man being called the Hollywood Serial Killer, Catt's world begins to come crashing down. The murdered victims all seem to bear a chilling resemblance to Bree. Catt suspects that Bree is the next target of the Hollywood Serial Killer...is she losing touch with reality or simply coming to terms with the truth?
In Beyond the Pale Motel, a terrifying and intensely erotic novel, Francesca Lia Block explores the dangers of modern living, loving and dying with lyrical edge and sensational attitude.
Since her publication of the Weetzie Bat series, the Ecstasia books and Echo in the early 1990’s, Ms. Block has become famous for her
magical, idealistic fairy tales and her signature dreamy prose. In these books,
a genie shows a suffering gay man visions of his future lifelong lover; four
musicians turn a desert green with their love for a newborn baby; a woman falls
in love with a winged man who may not be an angel. L. A. comes to life as both
hell and paradise, as well as lush images of fashion, food and love.
Since the late zeroes, however, Ms. Block’s
tone has been growing steadily darker. Beyond
The Pale Motel is her darkest novel yet.
It is also her first shift in genre, from
fantasy to murder mystery. As such it is very well written; the vagueness of information
and plot holes her early work shows have been replaced by solid realism – all
too solid in a world where Jack the Ripper and other serial killers not only
exist, but fascinate. The identity of the killer comes as a complete surprise,
especially to those unfamiliar with this genre. It is revealed in a very
graphic, very disturbing scene, the last of many sexual and/or violent elements
in this novel. It is not recommended for children.
The story begins when Catt Berns,
hairstylist, recovering alcoholic, devoted godmother and loving wife, finds out
her husband is seeing another woman. When he leaves her, a flood of
insecurities bursts the dam: shame about her weight, jealousy of better-looking
women, the need to drink, resentment for her neglected childhood, frustrated
longing for a family of her own. At the same time, a so-called Hollywood Serial
Killer dismembers beautiful women and leaves them in public places: women who
look far too much like Catt’s best friend Bree.
Her virtues are also her flaws: she makes
soup for the sick, tirelessly babysits her godson, comforts her clients at the
hair salon and gives all of herself to the men she dates, but all because she
cannot stand being alone. She tries to take care of everyone except herself,
which becomes more and more difficult as the story goes on. Even her bond with
her godson Skylar, her saving grace, is at risk. The chopped-off arms and legs
of the murder victims are a repeated metaphor for Catt’s own fragmenting soul.
Her self-destructiveness does not feel
contrived as it does in some novels; it’s a real vicious cycle of guilt for her
behavior, fear of being judged, hope that the next man will be the right one,
and guilt again when it isn’t. Her support network – her best friend Bree and
AA sponsor Shana – do their best, but they are only human too and make
mistakes. Even Catt’s lovers, which some writers would have turned into
one-note distractions, are flesh-and-blood men. There is Dash, her rock-star
husband and fellow AA member; Cyan, his estranged brother, a photographer who
finds beauty in Catt when she can’t see it; Carlton, a good-natured foot
fetishist; Jarrell, a macho baseball coach suffering from his own divorce; even
Scott, a soft-spoken gym trainer suspected of being gay, whom Catt and Bree
treat as one of the girls. They all have their own quirks, lovable qualities,
and dark secrets. Any one of them, or none, might be the killer.
For anyone new to Ms. Block, and used to
serial killer stories, this book is a tightly plotted, suspenseful and
entertaining read. Fans of her early fantasy, however, or anyone with a low
tolerance for horror, may want to think twice.
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