Porn. It’s not what it looks like. Or is it?

Ever the enigma, the porn industry has always been a controversial entity in the media world. Once forbidden and shunned by the masses, pornography has found a comfortable home with the birth of the internet and is now one of the biggest industries in the world. Gone are the seedy days of underhanded agents and the potential to be involved in a snuff film (mostly). In are the unions and pensions and healthcare. Porn really is going places…but not in Matt Shaw’s latest extreme horror novel.

Victoria Sheldon is a star on the rise. Enthralled by the promise of becoming the next big adult star, she sells her soul to the porn industry and starts to become a household name. Then she attends an ill advised meeting and becomes the subject of a violent attack. Barely escaping with her life intact, she vows revenge on her attackers. It just so happens that sex can be a deadly weapon, one she uses to perfect effect.

First of all, if you’re easily offended, disgusted by explicit sexual acts or porn as a whole, this book isn’t for you. The book delves into the seedier side of the porn industry, one that’s not as public, but is blatantly still in existence. Told across two time lines, the story details Victoria’s revenge (present) and introduction to the industry (past). From the start, it’s clear something traumatic happened to her and Shaw drip-feeds this to us across the pages, building the tension with aplomb. Portraying her as innocent and experienced on parallel time lines is a master stroke, one that generates sympathy for our heroine, despite her (sometimes) silly decisions, naïvety and trust in people she doesn’t know. Which pretty much sums up the porn industry…and possibly explains why the unions and infrastructure was introduced in the first place.

Now, I’m sure Matt Shaw hasn’t worked in the porn industry. And I could be wrong. However, the story on display here is brutally honest, graphic and very seedy. It’s authentic too, the terminology is accurate and true. Of all his extreme horror novels, this one probably punches home the most. It might be the subject – sexual abuse and mis-trust is never pretty – but it arcs back to realistic horror, something I’m fond of. You don’t have to be in the porn industry to be raped or beaten but when it happens under the veil of an industry that covers it up, then you know something is amiss. It’s this abuse of trust and power that makes Porn so vivid and horrific.

5* – Absolutely. A short, gripping tale of an industry that is so enigmatic – with many blurry lines – that it makes you doubt that anything is wrong. Watching porn, it’s sexual and distracting but it also hides the dark secrets beneath it. Sometimes, the porn star is literally a piece of meat and this story covers that in a controversial way that’s…well, real. Sordid, extremely graphic – watch out for the chainsaw scene – and horrendously gory, this is a must for any hardcore horror fan. Just don’t expect to get your rocks off on this. As the tag line goes, there are no happy endings. Great stuff!