What do you think?
Rate this book
Hooker
Los Angeles, 1984: Sylvia Lumen was just trying to make a living, but when her sister is murdered by a serial killer bent on targeting sex workers, she unleashes a bloody trail of vengeance as…
Hooker: a violent vigilante who uses actual hooks – from fish hooks to hand scythes – to exact her righteous revenge and get her point across to the patriarchy.
For too long the City of Angels has been a haven for sexist predators. With an intrepid reporter as her partner, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Hooker will splatter her way across 1980s Los Angeles in this retrowave pulp thriller full of action, ferocious friendship, and queer love.
Book 16 in the Rewind-or-Die series: imagine your local movie rental store back in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, remember all those fantastic covers. Remember taking those movies home and watching in awe as the stories unfolded in nasty rainbows of gore, remember the atmosphere and textures. Remember the blood.
Hooker: a violent vigilante who uses actual hooks – from fish hooks to hand scythes – to exact her righteous revenge and get her point across to the patriarchy.
For too long the City of Angels has been a haven for sexist predators. With an intrepid reporter as her partner, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Hooker will splatter her way across 1980s Los Angeles in this retrowave pulp thriller full of action, ferocious friendship, and queer love.
Book 16 in the Rewind-or-Die series: imagine your local movie rental store back in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, remember all those fantastic covers. Remember taking those movies home and watching in awe as the stories unfolded in nasty rainbows of gore, remember the atmosphere and textures. Remember the blood.
118 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2020
2 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 17, 2021
We shouldn’t judge prostitutes.
All of us have done something against our will or morals, because the end justified the means.
Don’t agree with the boss? Tough shit – you need to swallow it, because you need that paycheck.
End a relationship / friendship / partnership – even though you knew it was the best choice, it didn’t feel right in your heart?
There are so many – sometimes even small – things, which makes us all whores.
In fact, show me the man who has never done anything he regretted...then bring him over here so we can kill him, because he makes the rest of us look bad.
This author can write, I’ll give her that.
But, seriously, if it wasn’t bad enough that the story became more of a romance than a thriller, and then she had to Hollywood it up for the final showdown, why the hell that ending?!
I really, really hated where this potentially interesting story went.
Disappointed 2 stars...
All of us have done something against our will or morals, because the end justified the means.
Don’t agree with the boss? Tough shit – you need to swallow it, because you need that paycheck.
End a relationship / friendship / partnership – even though you knew it was the best choice, it didn’t feel right in your heart?
There are so many – sometimes even small – things, which makes us all whores.
In fact, show me the man who has never done anything he regretted...then bring him over here so we can kill him, because he makes the rest of us look bad.
This author can write, I’ll give her that.
But, seriously, if it wasn’t bad enough that the story became more of a romance than a thriller, and then she had to Hollywood it up for the final showdown, why the hell that ending?!
I really, really hated where this potentially interesting story went.
Disappointed 2 stars...
February 5, 2021
HOOKER has a lot going on for a short novella: a serial killer targeting sex workers, a woman seeking vengeance for her murdered sister using actual hooks to take down the patriarchy and advocate for sex work, and some bonus queer love, too!
M. Lopes da Silva told a story that had me invested in the lives of these sex workers, their families and friends, and their dreams. There is and has been such a stigma against this work, but like so many other marginalized groups, this is one that needs advocacy, too. There is work to be done, but this author is putting this very real topic back on our minds. While the story takes place in the 80s, the issues these women face in the industry are still heavily dominant in today's world.
If you haven't been reading the Rewind-or-Die books, what are you waiting for!? Check this one out!
M. Lopes da Silva told a story that had me invested in the lives of these sex workers, their families and friends, and their dreams. There is and has been such a stigma against this work, but like so many other marginalized groups, this is one that needs advocacy, too. There is work to be done, but this author is putting this very real topic back on our minds. While the story takes place in the 80s, the issues these women face in the industry are still heavily dominant in today's world.
If you haven't been reading the Rewind-or-Die books, what are you waiting for!? Check this one out!
November 9, 2020
“She contemplated the hook in her hand as she tried to figure out how to remove it. The barb made it tricky. Hooks were often barbed; difficult to remove. They sank into a body. They caught things—not just prey but predators, too.”
When a serial killer adds her sex worker sister to his victims, Silvia dons her fishnets and hits the streets in search of bloody retribution. Armed with actual hooks, she plans on skewering the killer, taking hooking to a whole new level.
This gritty novella features strong females including smart and savvy Silvia, up-and-coming reporter Crystal, sex workers Frankie, Cherry, and Jess, and trans friend Rachel. The odds are against them, but they just might have a little luck on their side in the form of Cherry’s mojo.
The girl power vibe makes this a fun read. I like the positive energy around sex work, LGBT relationships, and trans women. Silvia is the perfect protagonist, motivated by her past mistakes and the love of her baby sister and with the guts and drive to work a fish hook. The men in this story are a bit one note, but the women are fierce and fabulous, which frankly may be the point.
This installment of Unnerving’s Rewind or Die series has great campy goodness reminiscent of VHS horror movies of the past. I adore the Rewind or Die series so much, I purchased the whole set of 2020 releases directly from the publisher.
When a serial killer adds her sex worker sister to his victims, Silvia dons her fishnets and hits the streets in search of bloody retribution. Armed with actual hooks, she plans on skewering the killer, taking hooking to a whole new level.
This gritty novella features strong females including smart and savvy Silvia, up-and-coming reporter Crystal, sex workers Frankie, Cherry, and Jess, and trans friend Rachel. The odds are against them, but they just might have a little luck on their side in the form of Cherry’s mojo.
The girl power vibe makes this a fun read. I like the positive energy around sex work, LGBT relationships, and trans women. Silvia is the perfect protagonist, motivated by her past mistakes and the love of her baby sister and with the guts and drive to work a fish hook. The men in this story are a bit one note, but the women are fierce and fabulous, which frankly may be the point.
This installment of Unnerving’s Rewind or Die series has great campy goodness reminiscent of VHS horror movies of the past. I adore the Rewind or Die series so much, I purchased the whole set of 2020 releases directly from the publisher.
February 2, 2021
I love horror movies. But, there are plenty of tropes seen over and over again in these films, from classics to B-movies, that are not only tired but harmful. Sex workers are often victimized in horror and thriller works, and the narratives do not usually take time to humanize these women or men, instead using them to rack up the body count.
M. Lopes da Silva takes on this trope of murdered sex workers and turns it on its head. She not only writes a compassionate story about sex work and the women in the industry but also reveals them as people with passions, dreams, and others who love them. They become active heroes instead of just nameless victims.
This isn't to say that the story doesn't have teeth—it definitely does. And the fact that I identified with the characters made me feel more when some of them don't make it. This is an excellent novella that offers a fresh perspective and reinvents an old trope.
M. Lopes da Silva takes on this trope of murdered sex workers and turns it on its head. She not only writes a compassionate story about sex work and the women in the industry but also reveals them as people with passions, dreams, and others who love them. They become active heroes instead of just nameless victims.
This isn't to say that the story doesn't have teeth—it definitely does. And the fact that I identified with the characters made me feel more when some of them don't make it. This is an excellent novella that offers a fresh perspective and reinvents an old trope.
January 16, 2021
So, a story about a hooker out for revenge. When I read what this book was about, I wanted to read it so badly. But unfortunately, this one just didn’t do it for me. I don’t want to be too harsh on this book. It wasn’t one star bad, but I would by lying if I were to give this book anything over three stars. I’m going to say it’s just short of that three-star rating, just short at two and a half stars.
There wasn’t much to this book. I can tell this author is a good writer, but maybe needs to work on their story telling a little bit. The story felt rushed, the characters have little depth to them, and the romance in this book was really forced. I just couldn’t get into this book, but just because I couldn’t, doesn’t mean you can’t. So, try the book out for yourself. You might like it more than I did.
2 1/2 Stars, round up to 3 on goodreads and amazon.
There wasn’t much to this book. I can tell this author is a good writer, but maybe needs to work on their story telling a little bit. The story felt rushed, the characters have little depth to them, and the romance in this book was really forced. I just couldn’t get into this book, but just because I couldn’t, doesn’t mean you can’t. So, try the book out for yourself. You might like it more than I did.
2 1/2 Stars, round up to 3 on goodreads and amazon.
May 9, 2025
A serial killer is targeting sex workers, and when he kills Sylvia's sister Penny, she decides to arm herself with a hook and sets out to hunt him down. This novella does a great job at showing how sex workers are dehumanized, like how the cops make no effort to find the serial killer. It's only when a john is murdered that the cops start trying to find him. I also appreciate that the serial killer is never named and there's no description of what he looks like to emphasize that he could be any random man on the street. There's a sapphic romance between Sylvia and a reporter named Crystal which I liked seeing, but at the same time it felt like it happened too fast in my opinion. I really hope this novella goes back in print someday.
August 29, 2022
Funny, violent, and darkly atmospheric - this a *phenomenal* story about a hooker and her friends taking down a serial killer in 1980s LA.
I downloaded this from Kindle Unlimited after I read a short story by the author in the Your Body Is Not Your Body anthology I recently read. I thought it would be good… but I didn’t expect it to be a perfect work of writing. I loved this from beginning to end. Can’t wait to read more by this author.
I downloaded this from Kindle Unlimited after I read a short story by the author in the Your Body Is Not Your Body anthology I recently read. I thought it would be good… but I didn’t expect it to be a perfect work of writing. I loved this from beginning to end. Can’t wait to read more by this author.
September 13, 2021
Average revenge thriller a la "Avenging Angel" film series.
May 11, 2021
The quality of the Rewind or Die books is variable; I’ve given everything from a 3 to a 5 for the ones I’ve read so far. Hooker (Rewind or Die), written by M. Lopes da Silva, gets a 3.5 out of 5. It’s fairly short. It’s a story about sex workers in Los Angeles and a serial killer stalking them, in 1984. Penny is a sex worker, while her older sister Sylvia is trying to study law. Sylvia ends up stalking the serial killer even as the killer stalks others, while getting help from a journalist named Crystal and a couple of other sex workers.
One thing I really love is that the serial killer is not centered in this tale. The author never even dignifies him with a name, nor a terribly in-depth description. He isn’t the important part of the story, and there’s nothing with which to lionize him. I also liked the positive depiction of sex work–that not everyone does it because they have no choice, and it would be a lot safer for sex workers if the work was legalized. It would also help if the cops didn’t ignore someone just because they’re a sex worker and thus have no perceived value. There’s not a single positive interaction with a male in this book, and I suspect that for female sex workers that’s pretty true-to-life. The police don’t even seem to be all that interested in catching the killer until he kills a john. There’s also a hilarious mansplaining incident that I quite loved.
Overall this was a good book, but the dialogue often felt pretty unnatural, and some of the characters were a bit stiff.
Content note: there’s a little bit of gore, but not much. Most stuff is off-the-page. There’s a nice lesbian relationship in here, though.
Consider my rating a 3.5
Original review posted on my blog: https://www.errantdreams.com/2021/05/...
One thing I really love is that the serial killer is not centered in this tale. The author never even dignifies him with a name, nor a terribly in-depth description. He isn’t the important part of the story, and there’s nothing with which to lionize him. I also liked the positive depiction of sex work–that not everyone does it because they have no choice, and it would be a lot safer for sex workers if the work was legalized. It would also help if the cops didn’t ignore someone just because they’re a sex worker and thus have no perceived value. There’s not a single positive interaction with a male in this book, and I suspect that for female sex workers that’s pretty true-to-life. The police don’t even seem to be all that interested in catching the killer until he kills a john. There’s also a hilarious mansplaining incident that I quite loved.
Overall this was a good book, but the dialogue often felt pretty unnatural, and some of the characters were a bit stiff.
Content note: there’s a little bit of gore, but not much. Most stuff is off-the-page. There’s a nice lesbian relationship in here, though.
Consider my rating a 3.5
Original review posted on my blog: https://www.errantdreams.com/2021/05/...
July 2, 2021
The entire Rewind or Die series has been golden, but *this* one is right up there with Piper’s Benny Rose Cannibal King as one of my favorites.
Da Silva’s writing is top notch with tight evocative prose. This story is a bit more on the noir/slasher side of the spectrum and I think that also helps elevate this novella for me.
Just little sentences like this made it such a pleasure to read:
“Her wastebasket currently had a higher word count than her outbox.”
“Crystal stood in Ted’s office, a grey photocopy of her former self on Tuesday.”
“The red taillights were hypnotic; blood like blobs ebbing and welling from the cuts of the cars in front of them.”
Don’t sleep on picking this one up from Unnerving, it’ll hook you!
Da Silva’s writing is top notch with tight evocative prose. This story is a bit more on the noir/slasher side of the spectrum and I think that also helps elevate this novella for me.
Just little sentences like this made it such a pleasure to read:
“Her wastebasket currently had a higher word count than her outbox.”
“Crystal stood in Ted’s office, a grey photocopy of her former self on Tuesday.”
“The red taillights were hypnotic; blood like blobs ebbing and welling from the cuts of the cars in front of them.”
Don’t sleep on picking this one up from Unnerving, it’ll hook you!
May 8, 2023
A great and gripping read that felt just like the kind of dark, grimy, neon-lit 80s/90s thriller you'd catch late at night on TV. Everything about this was top-notch, from the characters, dialogue, descriptions, and the quality prose.
December 18, 2020
This is my second Rewind or Die title and it surprised me by being much darker than my previous one. It fits in with the VHS aspirations of the collection and brings us a dark thriller with heart.
L.A. is besieged by a serial killer targeting prostitutes and one of his victims is Sylvia's sister, Penny. This sets Sylvia and the killer on a collision course across the city as Sylvia seeks revenge.
Some wonderful and inventive analogies and descriptions lie within and a surprising amount of heart involved in this revenge tale as opposed to the all out fury usually involved in such stories. The representation of sex workers and transgender people is deftly handled as they are given a humane platform, which they are not always afforded in the world of fiction.
Look forward to many more Rewind or Die reads and this served to show the scope of the series and it won't all be gross out, funny horror, but also dark and soulful too.
L.A. is besieged by a serial killer targeting prostitutes and one of his victims is Sylvia's sister, Penny. This sets Sylvia and the killer on a collision course across the city as Sylvia seeks revenge.
Some wonderful and inventive analogies and descriptions lie within and a surprising amount of heart involved in this revenge tale as opposed to the all out fury usually involved in such stories. The representation of sex workers and transgender people is deftly handled as they are given a humane platform, which they are not always afforded in the world of fiction.
Look forward to many more Rewind or Die reads and this served to show the scope of the series and it won't all be gross out, funny horror, but also dark and soulful too.
July 28, 2021
After her sister is murdered, Sylvia returns to the sex worker streets. Only she's out for revenge instead of money.
Crystal, a reporter, is also interested in busting the killer for her own reasons.
When the two girls meet they decide to work together and if they're lucky they just might escape with their lives.
Not a fan of this one for a few reasons…
The POV changes too frequently making it tough to keep track of who is who and there are no clear transitions between characters. One page is one character and suddenly the next page is someone else.
Every character is introduced by skin color and not much else which seemed very odd to me.
There was no realistic relationship development between Sylvia and Crystal. They went from simply knowing each other to suddenly being together without any build up.
Overall I had a harder time staying interested in this one and it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Crystal, a reporter, is also interested in busting the killer for her own reasons.
When the two girls meet they decide to work together and if they're lucky they just might escape with their lives.
Not a fan of this one for a few reasons…
The POV changes too frequently making it tough to keep track of who is who and there are no clear transitions between characters. One page is one character and suddenly the next page is someone else.
Every character is introduced by skin color and not much else which seemed very odd to me.
There was no realistic relationship development between Sylvia and Crystal. They went from simply knowing each other to suddenly being together without any build up.
Overall I had a harder time staying interested in this one and it just wasn't my cup of tea.
July 31, 2023
I think the first 10-15 minutes of The Howling are some of the most effective in Horror. It breaks down sobrieties obsession with death and sex, and how sometimes they are not too far from one another. M. Lopes da Silva has crafted a whole story that captures that feeling. Hooker is, at its base, a revenge story, and a really bad ass one. But when you look deeper into what the author is doing, you can see they are putting a solid critique on society and how we view sex as taboo, but death as pretty basic run of the mill stuff. Solid story, writing voice is tops, and characters are memorable. K thx.
July 7, 2021
Okay, so maybe this one was like ‘reader error’, but I kinda hated this and just grazed through it in boredom. Like I know the general story of what happened, and the world building was great for what it was, but quiz me about characters and names and backstories? I’m gonna confuse all of them because they were uninteresting and easy to just not engage me to the point where 60% in I was like ‘wait, who’s who?’. Like I said, the plot was a good idea, but the execution didn’t do enough for me to validate anything higher than 1.5 or 2 stars.
February 22, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. It's a short read with fast pacing and a kind of 1980's action feel to it--lurid colors, pulpy characters, snappy dialogue. It's a revenge story where a sex worker hunts down her sister's murderer using hooks as her weapon, which is just a fun twist, and I appreciated the focus on the sex workers as characters with little attention given to the serial killer, as he's essentially a faceless monster.
September 18, 2021
Good solid read, although I think it would have benefited with more length. The characters are strong and I think it would have been better to give them more time.
October 7, 2024
3.5 Rounded up because why not. Fun read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews