Review: "Sex Dungeon For Sale" by Patrick Wensick

A realtor tries to sell a home with a real-life sex dungeon set up in the basement. A popular dishwasher brand has a brand new cycle available: the KILL cycle. A man can't help but notice that his son looks an awful lot like his wife's old boyfriend. A woman sees an image of Jesus in a piece of burnt toast. Kidnappers are advised how to overcome their "empty-nest syndrome" once their kidnapee has been returned home. Yup- these are all in Patrick Wensick's book of short stories Sex Dungeon For Sale.

Full of dark humour and bizarre scenarios, Sex Dungeon For Sale is perfect for those who enjoy their fiction with a healthy dose of off-the-wall. These bite-sized stories are perfect for our brevity-obsessed Twitter generation, as most are only a few pages long yet leave the reader with a lot to think about when the last sentence has been read.

I found myself enjoying these unique, well-written stories, although I enjoyed some more than others. While I loved "Jesus Toast", "My Son Thinks He's French", and "Clean Bill of Health", I didn't enjoy "Wash, Rinse, Repeat" or "Pandemic Jones" as much: the themes were just a little too dark for me personally, but are sure to appeal to anyone who likes their humour black. I'm glad that I had the chance to experience stories that are different from what I usually read- it allowed me to "read outside of the box" for a bit.

Thank-you to Patrick Wensick for sending me this review copy!

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Bizzaro Fiction enthusiasts, those who like their stories with a heaping spoon of dark humour
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010