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In the Face

Lorelei Armstrong
Iota Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9780979372056
Reviewed by Melissa LaMunyon for RebeccasReads (10/08)

“In the Face” by Lorelei Armstrong is a fast paced murder mystery set in the not-so-distant future with a distinct homoerotic twist. Evo Selig is the most beautiful person in the world. A movie star of international fame, as a baby, Evo was shaped by Dr. Jai Varent, the foremost shaping surgeon of his age. In a world where physical perfection can be a reality, parents bring their children to shapers worldwide in hopes of the child becoming beautiful, rich, and famous.

When a dead body shows up on Dr. Varent’s doorstep, the entire world is shocked to see Evo Selig’s face on the security footage. Homicide detectives MacEvoy and Cleinrath are faced with finding a murderer who is hiding behind the face of the most beloved man in the world.

Set in a bizarre, yet eerily plausible world where the masses have built their lives around artificially perfect people, one can easily imagine this story 20 years in the future. Celebrity obsession has been taken to a new level with advanced simulation graphic technology allowing anyone with a computer the ability to create false footage of anyone doing…anything. Using this technology, legions of Evo’s fans are living out their fantasies through thousands and thousands of illegal fan fiction simulations.

“In the Face” takes detectives MacEvoy and Cleinrath deep into the underground fan fiction market and the dark, disturbed world of dangerously obsessed fans. As MacEvoy, a handsome “normal,” becomes closer and closer to Evo Selig, he finds himself facing his own secrets and realizes that he alone can solve this murder.

An intense tale of bitter disappointments and repressed desire, Lorelei Armstrong’s stark writing style is the perfect backdrop for this story. Given the calculation of a shapers work, her concise, almost severe descriptions feel as controlled as one would imagine the surgery preformed on Evo Selig. I found the beginning to be a little slow and confusing. While, in the end, Armstrong’s writing style is an asset to book, I had a difficult time figuring out what was going on and who was who in the first few chapters. However, by about chapter 13, I was sucked in as the book hit its stride. “In the Face” is well written, contains superb character development and is a dark, erotic read.

    

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