Wow, I don’t really know how to take Judgment Road (2018. 424 pages) by Christine Feehan. Including this book, I counted seventy published novels, can’t say I have ever read one and based on the current novel, I am not enthused to go through that experience. Having written that many novels obviously means that there is a market for her books and I’m sure her fans will vehemently disagree with my opinion.

As the book opens we meet Reaper. He is part of a biker gang, the Torpedo Ink’s who are killers for hire. Reaper is all man, you can stab this sucker and he’ll just sew himself up, this guy sweats pure testosterone. You can tell he’s hard as nails as he seems incapable of forming many sentences without dropping in an expletive, usually something derogatory about women. Reaper has always been a loner, refusing to have his genitals dictate his life, he puts it a little cruder, but you get his philosophical take.

Unfortunately for Reaper his club house has had a new barmaid for some time and she has gotten under his skin. He thinks about her a lot, unfortunately most of these thoughts are a little rapey. For her part Anya, has no idea what his beef is but when she does think about him, this man meat turns her into a little more of a victim... coz, hey, girls like to be overwhelmed by bad boys.

I’m guessing this is the equivalent to a modern bodice ripper, but in the post Weinstein world these stereotypes of gender power differentials make for uncomfortable reading. There is an attempt to explain the abusive past of Reaper and his biker gang friends, but this does not really excuse the brutality they inflict on others. It may be understandable if it were required to forward the plot, but most of the time scenes seem to be included for either shock value or titillation.

For most of the book I was not sure who I was supposed to be rooting for, as certainly the character of Reaper at best could be considered as an antihero and Anya was not written as strong as she could have been. If, however, you’re into reading about violence and aggressive love making then, like her obviously many fans, this one is for you.

4

Charles Packer