Rating: 
Summary: ...intriguing...
Review: A.A. Clifford (Gary Hardwick) offers a intriguing look into the one aspect of human living the often has a stronghold on many. Sex Life is a futurist look at survival beyond need. Male and female interaction ...holds a more significant importance than in present day (today). The ramifications of living without is deadly.This sci-fi novel is definitely an intellectual read, and a thought provoking page-turner. Reviewer: LC
Rating:
Summary: ...intriguing...
Review: A.A. Clifford (Gary Hardwick) offers a intriguing look into the one aspect of human living the often has a stronghold on many. Sex Life is a futurist look at survival beyond need. Male and female interaction ...holds a more significant importance than in present day (today). The ramifications of living without is deadly. This sci-fi novel is definitely an intellectual read, and a thought provoking page-turner. Reviewer: LC
Rating: 
Summary: Utopia?
Review: I absolutely DEVOURED "Sex Life"! The layers of philosphy, action, despair and hope make it a satisfying read that leaves you thinking long after you've put down the book. Clifford creates a "perfect" world in which there is no crime, diseases like AIDS and cancer are easily cured, and being a professional sex provider is just about the most prestigious career a person can have. The trade-off, however, is that sex is without love and without feeling. Sex is a matter of survival. Desperately wanting to regain what humanity has lost, people of this new age long for "Real Sex." This search for "Real Sex" is poignantly reminiscent of today's search for "true love." The book is as much a cautionary tale as it is a science fiction adventure, for Clifford shows that a world that continues to develop intellectually and technologically without also emphasizing the importance of emotional sophistication is handicapped by its emotional weakness. Because people's ability to emote falls into disuse, they have lost their ability to regulate their moods without the help of anti-depressants. This "Utopia" is really an existential paradox as people live for the sake of living but not for the joy of it. Could it be because it IS all about sex? I loved the book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys romance, adventure and suspense. I cannot wait for the next installment!
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking Read
Review: I've read all of Gary Hardwick's books, and Sex Life is one worthy of your time and money. The author does a good job of explaining how humanity has 'evolved' into what it now is, and the CMB affliction is a horrible and futuristic possibility I only hope remains fictitional in nature. It is a story of hope; that humanity, no matter how advanced, will remain dependent on emotional connections between one another. It is as close to a romance story as I (and most other 'men') will admit to reading, although this is not a gender specific story. It is an explanation of humanity's future, and how two people found one another in an ocean of hopelessness.
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking Read
Review: I've read all of Gary Hardwick's books, and Sex Life is one worthy of your time and money. The author does a good job of explaining how humanity has 'evolved' into what it now is, and the CMB affliction is a horrible and futuristic possibility I only hope remains fictitional in nature. It is a story of hope; that humanity, no matter how advanced, will remain dependent on emotional connections between one another. It is as close to a romance story as I (and most other 'men') will admit to reading, although this is not a gender specific story. It is an explanation of humanity's future, and how two people found one another in an ocean of hopelessness.
Rating:
Summary: Utopia?
Review: Imagine a world in which [love making] exists, but not as we know it today. Envision a place known as New City aka New York City, in which common diseases, such as cancer or AIDS, do not exist, nor crime, drugs or poverty. Instead, you MUST [make love] five times a day in order to live. The disease that all residents catch once puberty hits is called CMB or Chronic Metabolic Breakdown. As a result of the disease, there is no line between [love making] and the emotional aspects of it or the pleasure as we know it today. Instead, it is merely a tool needed to stay alive. Buildings are even equipped with special places to [make love] and there are Professional [Love] Providers available to "fix" those in need. But what happens when someone questions why the disease exists and desires to feel more than what he's been told he can feel? This is the premise behind SEXLIFE by a.a. clifford (pseudonym for Gary Hardwick). Joe is accustomed to living in the Intelligence Era in which New City is run on advanced technology systems and everyone is intellectual. In spite of this Joe questions the cause of CMB and wonders if anyone will ever experience the "old" way of [making love. . He questions this even more when spotting Vella when he feels "something" just by looking at her. And, then later, he sees her at a party and during their encounter together, they feel the desire, the emotion, and a host of other things they've been told no one had experienced since the dawn of CMB, it is indeed history in the making. Joe becomes totally absorbed in locating Vella again to see if what he experienced was real or a fluke and as a result, he puts the safety of his friends at stake and is on the run for his life once the government finds out. SEXLIFE is an exhilerating, imaginative, and original work of art and I look forward to the next book in this planned trilogy. Clifford did an amazing job of catching your attention, making you stop to think "what if?" It also makes you appreciate the world in which we live today...one in which [love making] is to be treasured and shared with those you love. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Having Sex to Live
Review: Imagine a world in which [love making] exists, but not as we know it today. Envision a place known as New City aka New York City, in which common diseases, such as cancer or AIDS, do not exist, nor crime, drugs or poverty. Instead, you MUST [make love] five times a day in order to live. The disease that all residents catch once puberty hits is called CMB or Chronic Metabolic Breakdown. As a result of the disease, there is no line between [love making] and the emotional aspects of it or the pleasure as we know it today. Instead, it is merely a tool needed to stay alive. Buildings are even equipped with special places to [make love] and there are Professional [Love] Providers available to "fix" those in need. But what happens when someone questions why the disease exists and desires to feel more than what he's been told he can feel? This is the premise behind SEXLIFE by a.a. clifford (pseudonym for Gary Hardwick). Joe is accustomed to living in the Intelligence Era in which New City is run on advanced technology systems and everyone is intellectual. In spite of this Joe questions the cause of CMB and wonders if anyone will ever experience the "old" way of [making love. . He questions this even more when spotting Vella when he feels "something" just by looking at her. And, then later, he sees her at a party and during their encounter together, they feel the desire, the emotion, and a host of other things they've been told no one had experienced since the dawn of CMB, it is indeed history in the making. Joe becomes totally absorbed in locating Vella again to see if what he experienced was real or a fluke and as a result, he puts the safety of his friends at stake and is on the run for his life once the government finds out. SEXLIFE is an exhilerating, imaginative, and original work of art and I look forward to the next book in this planned trilogy. Clifford did an amazing job of catching your attention, making you stop to think "what if?" It also makes you appreciate the world in which we live today...one in which [love making] is to be treasured and shared with those you love. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: A Futuristic Sadness
Review: Imagine a world where there is no crime, no poverty, no polution, no cancer, no A.I.D.S,the city streets are clean. Everyone is intellectual and technology has advanced so far that cars float above the street. If you gain weight the doctor takes it off in a few minutes and there is no pain during child birth. Imagine this in NewYork city ~
now imagine this, NewYork City 2268 A.D. now called Fist City where CMB a disease which kills unless you have sex five times a day. A city where the local clubs serve you antidepressants in your drink because in all this beauty the CMB virus has killed all emotions and the ability to feel - there is no pleasure during sex. You either " get fixed" or die!. Everyone had learned about the old NewYork, the crime and the erotic nature of sex, they have learned that at one time people knew the meaning of love and the magic of making love, but no one in this new world will ever know it, or so they thought until Joe who has always had hope of a cure and hope of being able to feel emotions meets Vella and their " fix" encounter sparks erotic passion which leads them on a dangerous adventure to be together. They run for their lives trying to escape the city but they can't. They hold all the answers, the rest of the world needs to know why and how they feel love, passion and jealousy. Joe and Vella's lives change forever until they find a cure or until the rest of the world feels once again. Thought provoking, wild, vivid, a futuristic sadness..
Rating:
Summary: A Futuristic Look at Love
Review: Imagine: traveling in motor cars that float, using a subway that beams you up, antidepressants as common as candy, the big sport competition is chess matches, and the corporation you work for hires PSP's (Personal Sex Providers) for their employees and have rooms for copulating because everyone has to have sex five times a day in order to survive. If you were living in the 23rd century or in the year 2268, this would be your norm. a.a. clifford AKA Gary Hardwick presents this and much more in his futuristic sci/fi novel, SexLife. In the year 2268, all people have a disease known as CMB. The men's fingers start twitching and women get headaches. They must have sex or die. In New City, formerly New York City, philosopher Joe meets his requirements by having sex with various partners. Sex is emotionless and done without deriving any pleasure; just a means of survival. No one believes in real sex anymore. Joe meets a lady named Vella and they experience the unexpected during intercourse where they were just "fixing" each other. After this experience Joe becomes obsessed with having this woman and experiencing this feeling again. But this obsession is dangerous. If the government finds out about it they will want to do laboratory testing on the couple. Vella is married and it is illegal to get a divorce. In spite of this Joe is determined to have this woman and uses friends and situations to his advantage to have this feeling in his life forever. This was one of the most imaginative books I have read in a while. It was a little tough going in the beginning learning the acronyms and technical workings of life in this particular century. Once that was made clear, I read the rest of the novel with anticipation. The action was not as fast paced as Gary Hardwick's thrillers but it was just as intense and exciting. SexLife is the first in a trilogy in which I will be anxiously awaiting further installments. Jeanette
APOOO BookClub
Motown Review Book Club
Rating:
Summary: A COMPELLING AND SATISFYING READ
Review: In his new novel, SexLife, author Gary Hardwick (writing under the pseudonym a.a. clifford) creates an absorbing and thought-provoking futuristic world. Best known for his gritty suspense novels Color of Justice, and Double Dead, Hardwick makes the transition with ease, but doesn't leave behind his signature style. Set in First City (formerly called New York) in the year 2268, SexLife depicts a social utopia wherein humankind has solved its many ills. There is no poverty, crime or suffering and science has made life relatively trouble-free. So, what's the catch? Well, in this utopia, if you don't have sex five times each day, you will die. Immediately, we meet Joe, an ordinary man plagued with CMB, the disease which has caused this global dilemma. Joe's peaceful life changes after an encounter with Vella, a mysterious woman (who is a chess master of all things) They do the deed and what results is not only a miracle, but perhaps the cure for a suffering world. But any miracle comes at a price and this is when SexLife shifts into high gear, plunging the reader into a world where action, technology and romance merge, creating an enthralling, genre-defying mix. Hardwick writing as a.a. clifford is both author and provocateur, entertaining and challenging at once. He craftily encodes social issues within his stylized narrative, forcing you to question both components of the book's subtly clever title. With an intriguing premise and execution, SexLife is a compelling and satisfying read.
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