HORNY GHOST OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

A problematically perverse erotic thriller.

As if the geopolitical situation of the Middle East were not already rife with literary possibility, this debut novel incorporates aliens, vampires, a talking dog, and page after page of disturbingly rendered nonconsensual sex into a tale centering on the titular undead al-Qaida leader. Although the industry standards of erotica usually exclude rape scenes, here they serve as incremental actions moving the plot forward, beginning with bin Laden’s rape of a deep-sea diver who recovers his corpse and unwittingly unleashes his sexually insatiable spirit upon the world. Bin Laden, as imagined here, is a man of unparalleled might who has sex with virtually every character he meets, drawing power from them as he forces them into submission. Meanwhile, Janet, a young woman who can talk to ghosts, works with the U.S. government to bring him down, and she receives help from the ghost of Naughty Bitch, a dog who, after being raped by a still-living bin Laden, jumped off a cliff in order to escape him. Admittedly, the sheer absurdity of the novel’s plot and concept may hold a sort of camp appeal, and fans of black humor may laugh at bin Laden’s insecurity about the size of his penis and his guileless, broken English. The characters’ logic may also amuse; for example, one of bin Laden’s willing sexual partners reasons: “OK, I will try because I want to be a celebrity who fucked bin Laden’s ghost.” That said, if erotic fiction’s central aim is to arouse, this book doesn’t fulfill that requirement. Although the content may be shocking and even offensive, its overall lack of nuance makes it more funny than sexy, and it’s more likely to stir outrage than desire.

A bizarre tale that presses buttons—but perhaps not the ones that typical readers of erotica might hope for.