Book Review – I-5 by Summer Brenner

Title: I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex
Author: Summer Brenner
Cover Artist: Roderick Constance
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: PM Press (Switchblade Imprint)
Publication Date: February 1, 2009

For a novel about a Russian sex slave, Summer Brenner’s I-5 sure as shit is a lot of fucking fun. And it’s not fun solely because the Nerd is a degenerate “pre-vert” (though that doesn’t hurt), no sir. This shit is a blast because Brenner’s chosen to make her prostitute protagonist a spunky, hard-edged survivor heroine instead of a pitiful victim. Anya is indeed a sex slave working off her “debt” to the rat bastard her tricked her into indentured sexual servitude – there’s no getting around that shit – but she’s also somewhat secure in the knowledge that she’s just a sex act or two away from freedom.

That’s where we find Anya at the start of the novel. She’s worked hard towards earning her “liberty” for the last four years and her Russian handler Marty has assured that she just has to do “one last job” before getting 5k and some forged documents, making her a legal-ish citizen of the great state of California. She doesn’t know shit about what the job is supposed to be, but she thinks Marty likes her enough to keep his word. Thus begins a wild-ass road trip from L.A. to Oakland where the mysterious last job is supposed to go down. But when a tule fog on the I-5 derails them, shit starts to get pretty fucking hairy…

So as you would hope (unless, you know, you don’t like shit that’s dark in which case what the fuck’re you still doing here?), Brenner gives you lots of seemingly authentic info about the sex trade business. Then in addition to the solid lore there’s, naturally, lots of fucking and sucking and all that good pervy shit. But what keeps the pages flying is the out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire road trip plot. Anya and Marty can’t seem to catch a single fucking break on their journey, running into all kinds of fucked up characters and situations along the way.

Of course, none of this shit would work without Anya being a badass protagonist. Yeah, she’s in a shitty situation, but what other options does she have? Besides, she’s apparently a natural, – a fucking whiz at fucking and sucking – to the extent that she’s getting out in four while it takes most girls five or more years to pay it off. In other words, Brenner’s not afraid to challenge the holy fuck out of the reader’s perceptions of the very taboo world of sex slavery.

Like The Jook, I-5 is from PM Press’s Switchblade Imprint, an indie that’s shaping up to be pretty fucking badass. These two novels alone have proved this small press as one to watch, where the books are challenging in their subject matter while entertaining as all hell in a nasty-fun pulp sort of way. The Nerd wouldn’t think twice about picking up another title from these bat-shit crazy renegades.

Shit, speaking of picking up titles, look at that fucking cover. You see that shit in a bookstore, you fucking know you’re gonna give it a once over toot-fucking-sweet.