# REVIEW: The Sex Club by L.J. Sellers



## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

L.J. Sellers is one of the first authors I discovered through the Kindle Store, as I was adding to my Kindle for PC app while waiting on my Kindle 3. In fact, discovering Sellers' novels is what made me decide to preorder a K3. 

Because of its title, THE SEX CLUB could easily seem like an exploitative and needlessly titillating novel; it's not! What it is, is a solid debut novel by one of the newest authors of suspense-mystery fiction. With scenes that cut right to the heart of the matter from the first page to the last, there's no filler in THE SEX CLUB, and nearly every paragraph moves the plot forward in some way. 

Because the author skillfully avoids overloading the reader with too much back story on the characters, it takes a while to put together a solid mental picture of her main protagonists, Planned Parenthood nurse Kera Kollmorgan and Eugene, OR police detective Wade Jackson. Yet by the end of the novel, both characters are endeared to the reader so that their survival matters quite a bit. 

The novel uses hot headline subject matter for the plot, and it's clear that the book is informed by an unambiguous political point of view; that viewpoint, however, matters less because of the pulse-pounding plot developments that keep driving the narrative forward. Sellers demonstrates she has learned well the narrative lessons like "show, don't tell" and "action defines character." 

About the only weakness I found is that her villains are perhaps a bit overly unsympathetic; they rarely face doubts about their own actions and little motivational complexity is on display. 

However, the strengths here far outweigh that one slight weakness, and this is one reader who certainly looks forward to the rest of Sellers' Detective Wade Jackson series, as well as her recent pair of non-series thrillers. 

It should also be noted that one of Sellers' best strengths is her plotting; despite some indications throughout the novel that one will know where it's all going to end up, the resolution in the last fifty pages or so of the book manages to pull of some unexpected twists that will leave the reader fully satisfied.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks, Craig, for a terrific review! I'm having a blast writing this series.
L.J.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I put the same review on AMAZON.


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## stacydan (Jul 20, 2009)

Wow, what a great review!  I must admit I had previously avoided looking into this book based on the title and what I "thought" it was going to be about, but now I think I must sample ...


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

stacydan said:


> Wow, what a great review! I must admit I had previously avoided looking into this book based on the title and what I "thought" it was going to be about, but now I think I must sample ...


Stacy, you can also find an interview with L.J. Sellers at: http://www.scriptsuperhero.com/


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## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

Great review job!  You point out the strengths and weaknesses without giving the story away, and enable the review reader to evaluate whether he'd like to become a book reader.

--Maria


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

meromana said:


> Great review job! You point out the strengths and weaknesses without giving the story away, and enable the review reader to evaluate whether he'd like to become a book reader.
> 
> --Maria


Thanks, Maria.


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## MarvaD (Sep 8, 2009)

I've read all three in the series and enjoyed them thoroughly.

I'll have to admit that I probably would not have read The Sex Club because of the title, but I had the opportunity to meet LJ at a writers' event so I got a better idea of what it was about. Glad I did.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

I've become a fan of L.J.'s work based off this first book. I buy everything by her, as soon as I know it's available.

I will be doing more reviews soon, and not just of L.J.

But I wait to review until I've completed the whole book... so it won't be extremely soon, LOL.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Just a note: All five parts of my interview with L.J. Sellers are now up! http://www.scriptsuperhero.com/


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## CJ West (Feb 24, 2010)

Great review Craig.

I found the same thing when reading LJ's work. She handles the subject matter deftly.

Kudos to you for taking the time to post such a thoughtful review. We need more readers like you.

CJ


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks for all the support. This book has been so well received! Readers contact me almost everyday (e-mail, Facebook, Twitter) saying how much they enjoyed the story. It's been a very satisfying response to the first book in the series. 
L.J.


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

Thanks, Craig!

Admittedly, I was turned off by the title, but now my interest has been piqued =)


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## kennethrlewis (Aug 29, 2010)

L.J. is a very good writer and her THE SEX CLUB is one terrific crime fiction novel. If you'd like to listen to a fascinating podcast interview I did with L.J. about the story behind the writing of her book, click on the link below, then look for NETDRAG, Episode #10.

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=61847


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks, everyone for your interest in, and support of, my work. In some ways, THE SEX CLUB, will always be my favorite novel because it launched my career. Yet I'm so glad to have five books on the market now and to no longer just be the "one who wrote The Sex Club."
L.J.


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## carl_h (Sep 8, 2010)

I am about 1/2 way through "The Sex Club" and am finding it to be an enjoyable read.  I would like to see more character development, but perhaps that will build.  Living just down the road from Eugene, I'm finding it to be an added bonus.  One point that is evident to me is the conflict of religion within the characters.  We find both extreme fundamentalism and agnostics, as well as everyday struggles with their faith.  As a Christian who believes in Christ's teachings and who is often aggravated by the portrayal of Christians by the media based on the extremists out there, I am finding this subtheme of the book quite interesting.  I look forward to see how this develops in this book and the rest of the series.


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

Hey there!  I picked up The Sex Club in my recent bout of retail therapy through Amazon...   We have several on the account, so we have a variety of folks to please... my mom picked yours out of the lot of 22 books I bought (told ya so!) to read first and is just raving about how great it is.  She actually told me, "I would buy any other book written by this LJ Sellers, they are just fantastic!!"  Anyway, I thought you'd like to hear it and I will definitely be moving it up further on my TBR pile now that I've heard her opinion.

** And I think I'm off to buy some more in the series **


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Hey, Emily, thanks for the shout out about my books. I'm glad you and your mom are enjoying them. I'm working on a fifth Jackson story now.

Carl, I hope you found a balance in character portrayal.
L.J.


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

L.J. Sellers said:


> Hey, Emily, thanks for the shout out about my books. I'm glad you and your mom are enjoying them. I'm working on a fifth Jackson story now.


We went ahead and bought the rest if the series... She is just thrilled with how you write. When she went digging through the "stack" of books, she picked yours, because she thought it would be a light read (based solely on the title). She's had reader's block and couldn't find something she could get into. This has thrilled her to no end. So, long story not-so-short, thank you for writing great books.


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## Madeline (Jun 5, 2010)

I picked up STDF and it's really good too!  I wasn't sure I'd like the first one, well, because of the title...but ahah...I am enjoying the second one a lot.  I keep screaming, "No Jaime..noooooooo don't go there!!"  But, alas, Jaime went there!!! 

LJ, you are a fabulous writer.  I am quite impressed.  I will probably go back and read the first one after I finish this one!!


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks, Madeline. I'm so glad you're enjoying Secrets to Die For. I hope you'll give The Sex Club a chance. A lot of people who were put off by the title tried it and loved it. I really wish I had come up with a different title, but no one has suggested a better one to me yet. The book is finally going mainstream, anyway. Yay!  
L.J.


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## Madeline (Jun 5, 2010)

Finished Secrets this afternoon.  I had to sit in court most of the day (I'm a probation officer) and I was getting strange looks because I kept squirming in the pew I was sitting on.  Hah.  I can not believe how many different things you had going on..that was crazy cool.  And I was totally surprised by the who-did-it.  Never would have guessed.  Finishing such a good mystery makes me want to take some time and dissect it to figure out how you did that!!  

And, yes, I bought Sex Club.  Working on reading it now!  So far so good!  If I've learned nothing else about you...you definately like to write about the touchy subjects!!


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

LJ,

Yeah, even though the title is risky/risque, it's hard to think of a better alternate.

A little controversy isn't a terrible thing, though. Draws some attention your way and then when people who've read it say "Actually, it's not about what you think it's about," that helps balance the thing out, I think.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

The title certainly catches people's attention, but I'm getting in the habit now of adding "mystery" afterward so there is no doubt about its genre. Some people still refuse to read it, even though they've read and liked the others in the series. That's okay. I don't read books with _cat_ in the title. 
L.J.


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