In the early 1990s the rising popularity of the video cassette gave birth to a seedy, underground world of illicit pornography. Talia, a Midwest dreamer, leaves home in search of fame under the blinding Broadway lights. But nothing could have prepared her for what she finds instead. Savage violence, bottomless depravity, and no way out.
Imagine moving to New York City with dreams of making it big on Broadway. When you find yourself making it big in the underground porn industry. Sure, the money is good, but is it worth dying for? Talia by Daniel J. Wolpe. Talia, a Midwest dreamer, leaves home in search of fame under the blinding Broadway lights, but nothing could have prepared her for what she finds instead. After a mishap at the theater where she’s working, Talia needs some quick cash; that’s where Mike comes in. He offers her a lot of money for a very small role in a skin flick, which leads to roles in hardcore fetish films and eventually snuff films. She decides she wants out, but ends up paying the ultimate price.
At its core, Talia is a revenge story, but it’s a wild ride from start to finish. There was one scene that was a little tough to read, but I’m thankful Daniel didn’t go into full detail. My only real complaint with the first book is that I wanted more story, like the pacing was too fast. Talia 2 picks up where the first one leaves off, and this one has a bit more meat to it, pun intended. I’ll go ahead and let you know that it’s broken up into two parts. The first half sets up the main actions, and we don’t really see Talia until the second half.
Talia 2 is slightly more violent than the first, but not over the top. After finishing Talia 2, I now see the first one as a vigilante’s origin story, and I fully believe this would do really well as a comic book series. And if that ever does become a comic book series, I would love to see it drawn by Tim Seeley, who is the creator of Hack Slash, and he’s also worked on many other horror comics as well.
Daniel says Talia three will probably be coming sometime in the next year, and really hoping we get some more backstory and exposition on how Talia came to be who she is. You can pick up both books on Amazon and Audible, but you can get signed copies on Daniel’s website, djvhorror.com. Talia 1 and 2 are definitely worth reading, and I’m excited to see where she goes next.
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