The Sex Squad

Rating:
Summary: This is a very disappointing "novel."
Review: After reading Leddick's "My Worst Date" I bought "The Sex Squad" as soon as it was on the stands. I wasted my money. "TSS" is either a quick follow-up to a well written first novel or an earlier attempt the publishers thought they could now sell. Either way, it is a great disappointment of a cobbled together story. Sympathetic characters are lacking and there are no clear motivations for their actions. I lost interest before I was a quarter through the book, but kept plugging along hoping the story (such as it was) would improve. This was a vain hope. Do yourself a favor and re-read "My Worst Date."

Rating:
Summary: Not a great novel, but a fun read for opera/ballet fans
Review: David Leddick's follow-up to "My Worst Date" represents a complete departure for him, a book that reads more like a series of non-fiction anecdotes than a conventional novel and mingles fictional characters with larger-than-life figures from the worlds of opera and ballet such as Maria Callas, Antony Tudor, Rudolf Bing, Zinka Milanov, et al. The results may well disappoint readers who are expecting "My Second-Worst Date," but this book will be absolute catnip for operaphiles and balletomanes. It's hard to know where the author drew some of his inspiration for the alleged dirt he dishes on these divas and divos, aside from a confidence that you can't libel the dead, but on its own terms I found this a very engaging visit to a closed world that Leddick captures in vivid prose.