The Sluts is a book that will stay with me for a while. In this novel, Dennis Cooper uses the echo chamber of a gay escort review site to create a brilliant experimental analysis of how the line separating reality from fiction on anonymous online mediums can quickly blur, and what its repercussions can be.

The bulk of the story revolves around an escort named Brad, who is presumably underaged and severely mentally ill. The initial reviews of him describe his unpredictable and unstable character, which coupled with his sexual obedience create immediate intrigue on the website. The allure and mystery of the reviews then goes onto create an online sensation that draws more and more reviews on the site, which begin to become increasingly violent and deranged - to the point it becomes difficult to discern what's real and what isn't. Brad's identity becomes more and more ambiguous, with several new characters being introduced into the book as other users attempt to confirm his true identity. Over the course of the book we get glimpses into "Brad"'s progression, interwoven with the lives of other key characters that become introduced.

There's no time given to allow the book to become repetitive at any point. It's split into several parts, the first being reviews on the website (sprinkled with posts from the webmaster who attempts to moderate the reviews), a message board of bystanders who attempt to track down Brad, emails between users, ads from users seeking escorts, faxes between scammers and even a vignette of descriptions of violent murders. Everything in this novel is unreliable, packed with constant twists and red herrings.

There were several moments here that I felt consumed by the nauseating desire to stop reading but simply couldn't due to Cooper's ability to wholly immerse me in this rabbit hole. To say that it's not a book for everyone would be an understatement. There is a lot of violence in this book, rape, murder, extreme torture as well as pedophilia. The Sluts is a highly transgressive novel that delves into the depths of human cruelty, yet in my opinion it does not perform in a way that attempts to merely shock the audience.