“The solitary female sniper squints against the scorching desert sun. Takes the shot. Men die. 

The solitary female assassin slashes her target’s artery. Fades into the Alpine forest. Men die. 

The betrayed covert operative silences his sadness with the howl of blues music and carnal recreation. 

What will happen when Chastity, the ice-cold contract killer, encounters underworld investigator JJ Stoner?

The Corruption Of Chastity features characters from the JJ Stoner / Killing Sisters series.  You don’t need to have read any of the other stories in the series: you can start right here if you like.”

If you’re a regular visitor to the blog then you may have read my recent #CaseClosed post about cutting back on new books and blog tours so I can return to choosing my own reads and of course, to make a significant dent in the ole TBR.  And that is what I have done.  Sort of.  The Corruption of Chastity has been on my TBR waaaay too long.  D’you know, feels rather wonderful, rather liberating to be able to choose what I read again.  Although one book does not a dent make!

Published in 2015 by The Book Guild, The Corruption of Chastity comes with a health warning.  Not for readers under 18 or those adverse to a little bit of violence (quite a lot of violence).  The reader should also be aware that this is book two in the Killing Sisters trilogy featuring JJ Stoner.  The blurb assures you that you can dive straight in with book two and you don’t need to have read any other books in the series.  However, I disagree with this statement.  I disagree quite strongly.  I felt horribly lost and quite bewildered at times.  Even after having read First Contact, a JJ Stoner short story (which was fantastic by the way, an easy five-star read for me) I had assumed I had a little background knowledge of this character.  It didn’t help.  I really struggled to keep up at times, wondering what I had missed and wondering where great chunks of time had gone to.  I’m afraid to say I felt quite disorientated for the first one-third of this novel.

But then something clicked, and I sort of got it (although chunks of time still seemed to vanish without mention).  By the end of the novel, I had decided that this was a three and a half star read for me.  But then something strange happened.  I couldn’t stop thinking about the story, about the characters – it had really got under my skin.  To the point where I felt (and still feel) I must read the first in the series, A Last Act of Charity and the third book, The Redemption of Charm.

JJ Stoner is an arrogant arse but I couldn’t help but like him.  Chastity also appealed to me but then, she would!  She’s the type of character I tend to love; a kick-ass female lead who is as deadly and dangerous as the men in her life (not that there are many, mind you!).  Chastity is the lean, mean killing machine whilst her sisters, Charity and Charm pull the strings in the background.  Menace and Mallis must also get a mention.  The evil goth, techno prisoners who have unlimited resources at their fingertips to destroy lives and wreak havoc.

One more thing which I really must mention, I’ve already alluded to it at the start but I feel this needs saying.  This book contains some pretty explicit sex scenes which I found quite icky to read.  I’m not one for sauciness in my books; blood, guts and gore – yes.  Bring it on!  Sexy stuff leaves me cold.  If, like me, you feel the same then read with caution.  If you enjoy frisky contract killers getting it on with, well, everyone then this could be the book for you!

Four stars out of five (rounded up from three and a half because it got under my skin so much!)

I chose to read and review a copy of The Corruption of Chastity.  The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

The Corruption of Chastity by Frank Wentworth was published in the UK by The Book Guild on 20th August 2015 and is available in paperback and eBook format | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

Frank Westworth shares several characteristics with his anti-hero JJ Stoner: they both play mean blues guitar and ride big, black motorcycles. Unlike Stoner, Frank hasn’t deliberately killed anyone. Instead, he edits classic motorcycle magazines and writes for the motoring press.