Inferno (Phoenix Rising Rock Band #1) by Kathryn Kelly
Released: March 10, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Self Published

Reviewed by Sheena

Favorite Quote: She said I’d forget her name, so she never bothered to offer it to me.  But she’s a younger, softer, feminine version of me.  For the rest of my life I’d remember the unidentified waif with the gorgeous purple eyes.

I’m a rocker with the eyes of the world on me. Waiting for my triumph or my downfall…just waiting. Most of my life is in my hands. My destiny? That’s another story. My destiny isn’t as debt free.

My band, Phoenix Rising, arrives in Houston to cut a new album. Before we perform our first concert in the city and I choose my groupies of the night, I’m thrust into debauchery. Sleeping with a gorgeous woman twenty years older than me has its perks, especially when her husband orchestrated the encounter and eagerly watches. To me, performing is performing. If a man wants to share his wife, who am I to stop him?

Unfortunately for me, I don’t make a clean getaway as I leave the McCall mansion. Georgie, their sixteen-year-old daughter, is in the midst of her own intrigue, sneaking home in the middle of the night after an evening of drugs and sex with her older brother’s best friend. In her, I see me. She’s lost and drifting. Her hedonistic parents insist she’s old enough to make her own decisions.

This is our story and our secret relationship and the destruction of my life. You know the adage about secrets? Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Wise words from a wise man. If only I had listened. Secrets have a way of revealing themselves in the harshest way

Thrilling. Not in the action packed, bombs exploding, hero -slo-mo-walks-away-from-the-wreckage-and-flames-with-pulsating-man-boobs and sexy sneer – kinda  way.  Thrilling in the way that it challenges every taboo and puts some pretty ugly stuff right in your face, daring you to look away.  No gratuitous anything (sex, violence, rock and roll).  Every nuance every, outrage, every action and opposite tragic reaction feels carefully placed for maximum impact.  Inferno was an experience I barely survived unscathed…I suspect there is substantial charring along the edges of my beloved nook- which makes me wonder about my warranty….

You get my drift.  I have a flair for the dramatics and this book made all of my dramatic impulses want to come out and play. From the first page, Kathryn Kelly thrusts a love affair as forbidden as conceivably possible, with the worst possible consequence of illicit passion – right in your face, daring you to be too offended or taken aback to continue.  Spoiler Alert- I always win at literary provocative content games of chicken!  I took a  deep breath and forged deeper into the dark twisty tale of familial strife, abandonment, taboo attraction and ultimately love.

The author begins the book with the who, the what, then when and the where  but dangles the most important “W” in front of you…juuust out of reach.  The why. WHY did this illicit affair happen?  Why did these characters protect and yet poison one another so viciously?  The ‘why’ of it all is truly an eye opener when it is revealed so I won’t dare ruin it for you, but the why was deep.

Sex, drugs and rock and roll all the way.  Destruction is rampant and redemption is not promised.  And on occasion,  I am okay with that.  This was not your typical romance and sometimes people are not redeemed and the fall out from pervasive destruction is a powerful thing to witness.  Sloane Mason is a recovering BAD boy, 25 year old rocker who is a heartthrob and is hired by Georgie’s father to have sex with her mother while her father indulges his voyeur fantasies.  He meets Georgie at one of her parent’s sex parties as she stumbles home one night (drug addled and dangerously vulnerable), the desperation, crying out, acting out practically dripping from her.   He feels an instant kinship (among other things) and when he meets her again unexpectedly, he can stand her spiraling no longer and appoints himself her protector of sorts.  Sloane’s reasoning is that he has been where Georgie is and wants her to break free of the chains the drugs and reckless behavior- he knows will destroy her.  Sloane goes about convincing her extremely self involved and emotionally absent parents that Georgie would be an asset and have an amazing experience on tour with him. Yeah- What parents in their right mind…..oh yes. You would have to love, protect and actually give two shits in the wind about your teenage child to see the glaring red flags here.  Obviously.

Georgie is swept away on the whirlwind tour and from there both of their lives are irrevocably changed.  This is a very character driven story.  The development and motivations were crated quite well and each character’s actions utterly fit.  Even when they drove me to rage- they fit. The plot was well executed, though things became a bit muddled, it was never a chore to find my footing and stay with the story.  Very emotional read.  If you are prone to tears, grab the Kleenex.  I mourned the relationship Georgie was cheated out of having with her family.  I mourned Sloane after I killed him several times in my mind.  With his shortcomings and inappropriate attraction, came his strength of character and good heart.  Once I stopped judging the shit out of him and gave his story a chance to roll around my psyche a bit, I found him to be compelling.

Georgie’s family is screwed up from top to bottom.  Her grandmother is an enabling cold fish and her mother is deplorable as she is more concerned with her aging and sexual pleasures than the well-being of her child.  What makes her mother so distasteful is that she wraps her senseless-sensibility in “preparing” Georgie for the world when she becomes an adult.  I would much rather her mother just own her emotional cruelty.  Being a monster and cloaking yourself as a concerned mother bear is abhorrent.

I will dance around spoilers, and say that this is a very passionate book, and not just in the carnal sense.  The thirst and passion for love and acceptance and life are themes that resonated with me.  If you are triggered by the age difference, take a deep breath and endeavor to push beyond that surface obstacle.  There is meat in this story, so juicy it clearly marinated over time before coming to fruition.  The ending is a cliffhanger (argh) but there was enough substance to consider and reconsider and ponder and toss around your psyche that the wait for the next installment may not be half bad.

Grade: B+

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