Deep

May 16, 2016
Getting to the happy ending in Warren’s latest Chicago Underground entry (following 2015’s Sweet) will require overlooking a dodgy setup and more than a few mistakes. Fifteen-year-old Claire is a rebel hanging out at a tough Chicago bar when she’s kidnapped. Her father has gambling debts, and she’s kept chained up for a few days before she’s pimped out to pay off the debt. But then a woman named Shelly intervenes, calls her Ella, and sweeps her off to the palatial home of the incredibly handsome underground kingpin Philip Murphy. Suddenly, it’s three years later, and Claire is a U of C student who finds a stabbed Philip at her dorm-room doorstep. The two begin a smoldering affair full of rough play. There’s barely enough plot to support the sex, and readers might be a little put off by the 15-year age difference between wealthy, powerful Philip and barely legal Claire.