I am three quarters of the way through
Kiss Me, Judas and find this author quite talented at the realization of the senses and twisting one's perception of things. Like a floating carpet ride. A soft seductive whisper blurring reality and delusion. The first third of the book, the jury was out, the prose and storytelling was interesting enough but sometimes in felt like an amateurish
smooch attempt at neo-noir. But as the novel progressed it becomes much more extraordinary and readers will discover the author's talented voice.
Here are some excellent blurbs:
Kiss Me, Judas
"I was finally able to read Kiss Me, Judas and absolutely loved it. The writing is perfect, synergistic and so beautifully interwoven with the story, the reader is put through an extraordinary experience. The hallucinatory sequences are so perfect I am still not certain what is real and what is not, and I don't care. I experienced the book, and I still am."
-Hubert Selby Jr.
"A stylish exercise in neo-noir paranoia, wall-to-wall deceit and sexual obsession."
-The Chicago Tribune
Penny Dreadful
"A novel that bears bits of colored glass and has sex coming from it in waves ... Demanding, violently lit changes of brainscape keep you blinking. The baffled reader often feels like someone sitting at a red light with eyes shrunk to pinpricks and horns honking hysterically behind. Baer's over-the-top magic, however, will attract and lock in new members to his cult."
-Kirkus Reviews
Those were rather well put. Further I would add, Baer evokes something personal and intimate with his descriptions, it's shocks me often. He really places readers in the moment, whether it's real or delusion.
Oh yeah, here's death to smooch!
