Rave Reviews for Sex and Violence in Hollywood

Sex and Violence in Hollywood by Ray Garton

Nasty, raucous, at times hilarious, Garton’s (Live Girls) latest delivers what the title promises, in spades. But the core of the book is a sensational murder trial clearly inspired by the O. J. Simpson case. The cast features an abrasive female judge who swoons over the film stars who flit in and out of the courtroom, tongue-tied prosecuting attorneys, a nerdy defendant who reserves his right to silence, and Rona Horowitz, a pint-sized, high-octane defense lawyer. Even Johnny Cochran, among a host of real-life celebrities, makes a brief appearance. The defendant may be guilty as hell, but part of the fun is watching dynamo Rona cook up one outrageous legal trick after another to try to extricate her client. Meanwhile, the story’s hero, young buck Adam Julian, is sleeping with his hated schlock-film producer father’s new wife, as well as her underage but wildly sexed, drugged and dangerous daughter. [Julian’s sweetheart] Alyssa is the unlikely chip the author will eventually cash in to supply enough gore for two or three more trips to the courtroom…. This over-the-top excursion into the underside of Tinseltown provides more thrills than a high-speed car chase on an L. A. freeway.
Publishers Weekly
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Lives up to the title 10 times over. This is the most fun I've had with a book all year. I would advise you to not begin reading this book right before you have something important scheduled, such as performing surgery, or need to get anything constructive done, because you will NOT be able to put it down once you’ve started. I had planned to sort of dole it out to myself a little at a time, but by 20 pages in, I thought “screw everything else, it can wait till I finish this book”. Took me about 3 days to catch up with everything I blew off reading this book, but man, was it worth it. ... One of the things that I enjoy about Garton’s writing is almost never being able to second-guess what happens next, and this book...well, I think the book holds the record for the amount of times I've laughed out loud ... or just muttered, 'Jesus!' at how shocking or ballsy some development was. Whether the book is describing a wild, dangerous party in Compton or some especially nasty new evidence coming up in Adam’s trial, I had so much fun that I was just disappointed when I realized only a certain number of pages were in the book, and it was going to end. The book lives up to the title. ... Fans of Jackie Collins would enjoy it, just be ready to have the fun factor amped up about 70 times more than hers. If you want a fun, thrilling, shocking read, pick it up. If you haven’t read Garton before, this may be a good book to start on, Sex & Violence in Hollywood (the title alone sold me) is more ‘mainstream’ then his horror fiction. He’s got a great eye for visuals, writes some of the best and most realistic dialogue, and bottom line, is simply an excellent storyteller.
Rusty Martin, Barnesandnoble.com
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It is almost impossible to put down!... I've already awakened my husband a couple times laughing out loud. The scenes are so vivid I can almost touch them. This is a great book!
Horrornet.com
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I absolutely loved it. Great writing, very exciting. I couldn't put it down. I own and have read everything [Ray Garton has] written. This looks like it could be [his] best!!!
Horrornet.com
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You know how you can tell how much I like a book? By watching my chair language. If I'm reclined and the book is pup-tented on my nose - it's not a book I'd recommended. If I notch the recliner up one and the book is balanced on my knees - it's interesting. If I'm in a straight up and down chair with the book on my knees and my body curled so's my face can hover over the page - it's enthralling. I'm sure there are varying degrees to this, but you get the point. I read Sex and Violence in Hollywood in a vertical fetal position. This is no small feat for me, as my neck is fused and doesn't bend. Excellent read.
Horrornet.com
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A great f****g book! This is one of Ray's finest works. Trust me -- it will be a movie some day.
Horrornet.com
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[Sex and Violence in Hollywood] worth every penny of its price. You are in for one mean, hard, vicious ride; it's about as searing a satire as you're likely to encounter. I defy anyone to survive the last 50 pages unshaken.
Gary Braunbeck (Gorezone.com)
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[5 stars out of 5] Sex and Violence are Fun With Garton, November 23, 2001
Reviewer: Regina Mitchell (see more about me) from USA
Garton fans rejoice: Sex and Violence in Hollywood will not let you down. Never a dull moment in this book, it jumps from one scene to the next in a mix of action, sex, and fun. ... This is the best kind of read: it's fun, it's fast and just slightly sleazy.
Amazon.com
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[5 stars out of 5] Most fun I've had with a book all year, November 14, 2001
Reviewer: kittenwithawhip (see more about me) from The Beverly Hilton
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I've been reading Garton for over 10 years now; about 7 years ago I got to the point where I would simply pick up anything with his name on it and purchase it without even bothering to check the price or flip through it (there's a dozen or so authors in this category for me, which may explain my high credit card debt) After Shackled and Biofire blew me away, I didn't think Garton could top himself, but he does it here.
Amazon.com
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Sex and Violence in Hollywood is a realistic, non-supernatural melodrama of greed, murder, and twisted family relations that offers exactly what the plainspoken title promises….It’s a kinetic, plot-driven novel filled with cliffhangers, betrayals, unexpected developments, and moments of stark, disturbing violence. It’s also, at times, a very funny book, filled with cogent observations of an insular, narcissistic society. Sex and Violence possesses wit, energy, and a relentless momentum that carries the narrative steadily forward. At its best, Garton’s latest has the raw, in-your-face power of a Quentin Tarrantino film. It comes highly recommended to anyone looking for a nasty, colorful, high adrenalin good time.
Bill Sheehan , Locus
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Visceral, provocative, and graphic, Sex And Violence In Hollywood would make a perfect vehicle for the next Quentin Tarantino film. Equal parts crime novel, Hollywood expose and legal thriller -- Garton alternately channels Jim Thompson, Joe Esztherhas, Dominick Dunne and John Grisham -- it's a genuine pleasure to read, a trashy thrill ride with unexpected depth. Gleefully milking the dramatic potential of Adam's dysfunctional family, various Hollywood lowlifes and America's legal system for all they're worth, Garton also slips in some sly commentary on modern culture, the media, and the judicial system, celebrating and condemning their excesses.

Purists might ask, "Is it horror?" Well, not in the supernatural sense, but certainly in the utter emptiness of the main characters' lives. Rest assured, however -- there are some genuinely horrific moments, not the least of which is the shocking denouement.
Henry Wagner, Hellnotes
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Trust Ray Garton. This talented author of many of the more distinctively strange horror novels of the past decade and a half could – probably – write the sort of break-out commercial novel that would make his name a household word right up there somewhere in the alphabet just before the King, Koontz K-section in the book stores… Check out his substantial new novel, Sex and Violence in Hollywood . It’s a fascinating work with all the commercial elements: greed, Hollywood, murder, Hollywood, lust and graphic sex, Hollywood, psychopathia. Oh, and Hollywood. Garton’s novel is muscular, paced something like a car with a brick duct-taped to the throttle, and edgy with a sharp and nasty little tongue lodged firmly in cheek….

The deliberately broad and superficially bland title manages to reel in vivid portraits of a generation more lost than usual, an accurately jaundiced view of how thin the dividing line seems to be between fantasy and reality… As a bonus, the readers gets a sardonically entertaining legal thriller slipped between the ribs of what might be termed a dark associational suspense work…The author cranks his epic to a balls-to-the-wall ending that could trigger late-night reader debates for quite a while.
Edward Bryant, Locus
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I think this is hands down the best things you've ever written. It quickly passed Live Girls, Dark Channel and all my other favorites. And that ending...Damn!
Horrornet.com
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS - An Open Forum
Number of Reviews: 2 Average Rating:
Mikey, a writer and editor, December 13, 2001,
It's A Promise
Some titles set the book's mood. Others go for the elusive single word synopsis. When Ray Garton chose 'Sex And Violence In Hollywood' he chose a title with a promise. And he makes good on the promise; you get sex, you get violence, and you get Hollywood. And, as an added bonus, he mixes in a love story, true friendship, and family conflict. It's all there.

Choosing to tell the story from Adam Julian's point of view is one of SaViH's greatest strengths. Usually we're treated to Hollywood stories from the eyes of an 'insider' - someone John and Jane Q. Public really can't identify with. Adam Julian is an insider once removed (which, ostensibly, makes him closer to us.) As the son of a very successful screenwriter, he gets some of Hollywood's perks. Dad's 'friends' with major movie stars. The Julian house is huge. They drive expensive cars and vacation on their own yacht. But Adam isn't really one of them. He's an outsider. A hanger-on.
Being a real person in a celluloid world disaffects Adam. His father is callous, his real mother dead, and his stepmother tends to crawl into bed with him. He finds true comfort only with his horror movies and the company of his friend Carter. But he's still living as normal a life as one might expect under the circumstances. Things don't really start sliding downhill until Adam's neurotic, manipulative, and horny stepsister moves in. She's young, she's sexy, and she's trouble. Most importantly, she's the catalyst that brings Adam's hatred to a boil. Then the mayhem begins.
While I enjoyed the story's twists and turns, I have to say it's the substance of the characters and the pacing that made this book for me. Yes, the characters are colorful (especially Rona…gawd) - but they're not cartoonish. You can empathize with these people. You can believe in them. And this story's Indy 500 pacing keeps you hanging on - tightly. I'm not the marathon reader type; so few books are difficult for me to put down for the night. This one was an exception - often a 2 am exception.

I can’t recommend it strongly enough.
From BarnesandNoble.com