Samille Press

302 pages, Paperback $11.66/Kindle $4.99

Review by Hannah Rodabaugh

A Crime Is Its Cutting End: Janna Zonder’s Magenta Rave

            Magenta Rave, Janna Zonder’s first novel, is a crime story in its heart. Inspired by the Lorena Bobbitt trial, it follows a wave of serial assaults in the Atlanta area on recent prison parolees who were incarnated for sexual assault.  The perpetrator, who calls herself Magenta Rave, surgically removes the members of the men after drugging them at sleazy bars (roofies, or Rohypnol, makes a lot of appearances) and luring them to motel rooms.

The book opens with the first victim waking after what he imagines was a wild night with a strange woman only to find his penis missing and a carefully applied surgical bandage in its place. The victim is rushed to the hospital, and there we meet the main protagonists of the story: Atlanta detectives Simone Rosenburg and her partner Marty Sloan. Both detectives are in their 40s. Rosenburg, originally from Jamaica, is divorced with a teenage daughter; Sloan is country man who, when not doing police work, tills the family farm.  Continue reading →