Krapp's Last Cassette by Anne Argula * * *

If you've been following the recent posts, I've had a run of books dealing with various forms of child abuse. (Quicksand by Iris Johansen and 24 Hours by Greg Iles) Krapp's Last Cassette by Anne Argula follows a teenage boy, Danny Timpkins, rescued from a family where he was abused by child pornographers and satanists. With his new family he becomes a beacon of love to all those who come in contact with him and the readers of his inspiring memoir.

Beacon of love?

Well, nothing is as it appears in this story, and our protagonist, Quinn, the PI, searches for the reality behind Danny and the other characters in this tale of insanity, loneliness and despair. While Quinn regularly bemoans her single, celibate life, she is revealed as the most socialized and sane person of the crowd.

I found the book engaging until the end when I felt the author tied the plot thread together in an ordinary and disappointing way. I expected more.



LGBT Book Watch: In a world where reality and fiction swirl around each other, intimate and indistinguishable, the sexuality of the characters, straight, gay, or bisexual, is never clear or clearly stated. Certainly, sexual preferences are minor in this tornado of child porn and satanism. In this dark storm, all consenting sexual orientations equally appear at bright sunshine - always welcome in Seattle where this maelstrom takes place.

"There's a gay literature?"
"Yes, and it's a good market. Twenty, twenty-five percent of the population is gay, and they read in greater numbers than the straight population."