Babe Gordon, the star of this brilliant, sophisticated novel of modern New York's racy set, is a strange woman. She uses her beauty and her sexual allure as a soldier uses his weapons-without mercy or scruples. Her basic appeal attracts all types of men, from bruisers of the prize ring to the more refined sons of the city's aristocracy. From her experiences with men, she is canny, worldly wise, quick thinking. But all her art, her wisdom, and her actions are devoted to love. When her passion for one man cools, she is quick to kindle it in another. Men and their rages over her transient affection do not move her. Through a situation that costs one man his life, another man his career, and the disgrace of a third lover, Babe Gordon moves deftly, coolly, the goal of all men's eyes, the ultimate femme fatale.

'A CHILLING new memoir by the daughter of mass murderer Fred West and his wife Rose describes the savage cruelty of her upbringing in 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester' DAILY MAIL 'Mae, I mean this ... I'm not a good person and I let all you children down ...' Rose West, HM PRISON DURHAM It has taken over 20 years for Mae West to find the perspective and strength to tell her remarkable story: one of an abusive, violent childhood, of her serial killer parents and how she has rebuilt her life in the shadow of their terrible crimes. Through her own memories, research and the letters her mother wrote to her from prison, Mae shares her emotionally powerful account of her life as a West. From a toddler locked in the deathly basement to a teen fighting off the sexual advances of her father, Mae's story is one of survival. It also answers the questions: how do you come to terms with knowing your childhood bedroom was a graveyard? How do you accept the fact your parents sexually tortured, murdered and dismembered young women? How do you become a mother yourself when you're haunted by the knowledge that your own mother was a monster? Why were you spared and how do you escape the nightmare?

The Mystery Fancier, November/December 1982, Volume 6 Number 6, contains: "Mae West: Mistress of Mystery?" by Billy Barton, "To Be and Not to Be," by E. F. Bleiler, "Anne Morice: The Deadly Serious Business of Not Being Serious," by Neysa Chouteau and Martha Alderson, and "Maps of Xiccarph," by Bob Sampson.