Skin Deep

by Renee Miller

Victoria MacDonald wants to die but finding a way to go beautifully is difficult. She’s tenacious, and vows to find a way to leave this world with the beauty she fought so hard to attain. Somehow, her search for the perfect suicide turns into murder…
Detective Amos Christianson answers a call about an intruder at Victoria’s house. It’s her second home invasion in less than a month, but this time she kills her attacker in “self-defense.” Something about Victoria’s story stinks, though, and Amos can’t let it go.

He can’t let Victoria go either.

As they spiral into separate obsessions, their paths twist until neither can untangle themselves from the other, and Victoria’s desperate search for a beautiful death forces Amos to make a drastic decision.

But is the price for freeing himself of her insanity too high?

Book 31 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.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Erotica

122 pages, Paperback

Published August 19, 2021

About the author

I'd like to say I hate talking about myself, but that would be a lie. I don't mind in the least. Will it be interesting? Meh, probably not.

Let's see, I write suspense, comedy, paranormal, horror and erotic horror fiction. Basically all the dark fiction.

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter (@ReneeMJ) and wherever else it's not creepy to follow someone.

Reviews

[Joharis · Rating 1 out of 5]

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You ever read a book so bad that you can't even understand how it made it so far in the process?

This is a short erotic horror novella about a woman who wants to die but accidentally ends up killing someone and the detective who's investing her case. Now, the plot sounds really entertaining and when you add in the erotica part with horror? It sounds like a great time! Sadly, the story seemed like a mix of different ideas that were never actually thought through and it's not even entertaining because the author didn't bother to actually create a good story.

So, she kills someone and finds that she get Sexual gratification from it so she decides to continue on with looking to kill people when they fail to give her a beautiful death. The problem with this is that everything happens so quickly with no build up that it makes you indifferent to the story. The sex scenes in this erotica were rushed and lacked proper description. On that note, for some reason there are absolutely no trigger warnings on this book which is definitely a choice.

The whole plot with her mother selling her soul also was included only to... I don't even know, just to... Justify the things she did??? Add a little bit of spice??? It was a complete mess.

I wasn't looking for perfection, just for some good smut or an entertaining story but oh well.

[Michela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A narcissistic woman, obsessed with beauty and afraid of getting old, is willing to do literally anything to look always fit and beautiful until the day of her death. And she does find a way to make her dream come true... but the person who'll pay the consequences is her daughter Victoria. Once adult, Victoria doesn't want to live anymore. More specifically... she wants to be killed, but only under specific conditions.

Skin Deep is a horror novella (around 120 pages long) written by Renee Miller and it's #31 in the Rewind or Die series. This is also the second novella of this author that I read and really enjoy: because of its short format, the plot proceeds quickly and the characters either don't have a real development or they change very fast. Still I was not too bothered by this, it's a novella, I don't expect much besides being entertained. It's a disturbing story but it is entertaining!

I read it in one sitting, even though I sometimes found myself a bit shocked by the events. If you decide to read it, please check the trigger warnings before as there are more than a few. If you're looking for erotica, this is not exactly it: yes, there are some sex scenes but I wouldn't really classify this as an erotic novella. It's more a horror / thriller one with explicit content.

The ending was a bit too abrupt and predictable, which is the only reason why I'm giving Skin Deep 4 stars instead of 5. But overall it's a fun quick read, I will for sure read other stories written by Miller!

* I'd like to thank Renee Miller, Unnerving and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kimmylongtime · Rating 3 out of 5]

What do you do when you hear a strange sound in the house ? Do you run 🏃‍♀️? Do you hide? Or do you roll over and ride your man? This was a strange kinky ride. I didn’t know what would happen next but it was definitely an exciting read. Please recommend me more erotic horror. This is my first book by this author but it will definitely not be my last.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC all opinions are my own.

[Suz Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deal with a crossroads demon dooms Tori’s soul. Her desire to die is at odds with the demon who’s intent on collecting and making her his minion. A cop who responds to a 911 call at Tori’s home finds her story questionable, but discovering the truth could cause his undoing.

I really liked how the story starts with Tori’s mother before passing the torch to Tori for the bulk of the book. Her mother’s views shape the woman Tori becomes.

Amos, the cop, creates a great counterbalance to Tori, yet he is has his flaws like every other human. The supernatural elements are nicely developed as are Tori’s personal issues and her feud with the neighbors. The book has a great structural balance and pacing.

Rene Miller proves herself again and again as a master at erotic horror.

The Rewind or Die books are a blood-splattered oasis in these turbulent times. I am a huge fan of the series, which invokes the spirit of horror movies watched on videotape.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

When she was an infant, Tori's mother sold her baby's soul to a crossroads demon for the chance at eternal beauty. Now an adult, Tori's mother is dead and Tori has a void inside her that manifests as obsessive suicidal ideation. While she wants nothing more than to die, and to die with her insanely good looks intact, a home invasion gone awry brings the possibility that there is a reason to live after all. After killing her would-be burglar, Tori realizes she likes murdering men. Like, like likes, as in it's a hugely gratifying sexual thrill, the biggest kink ever. But Detective Amos Christianson isn't buying her story of self-defense, at least not entirely. His gut tells him something is off with Tori, but he'd never in a million years suspect she is, literally, a soulless killer.

Skin Deep is an erotically charged serial killer thriller from Renee Miller, and is another in Unnerving's ever-expanding line of Rewind or Die novellas, which seek to capture the aesthetic of B-movie rentals from the '70s and '80s. One look at Skin Deep's eye-catching Basic Instinct-inspired cover art should immediately clue readers in on what to expect, and Miller certainly delivers a few Catherine Trammell-like mid-coitus kills, balancing sexy prose against twisted murder scenes.

While there's plenty of made-for-late-night cable titillation (with Miller's sex-cum-murder descriptions going far beyond what Skinemax's censors allowed on-air), the story probably would have been better served without the demonic soul-selling subplot. While the crossroads demon does serve some purpose to the story, it's an aspect that never feels truly integral to the plot, nor is it explored or exploited to its fullest. Instead, it feels half-baked and the resolution to Skin Deep feels too simplistic and rushed. I kept waiting for the demonic entity to spice things up, but ultimately the end feels like a disappointingly premature finish.

Miller is at her strongest, though, in getting us inside the off-kilter head of Tori. She's a fun, twisted character to read about and you can tell Miller had a lot of fun writing this deranged, narcissistic, self-absorbed, suicidal psycho. I actually found myself cracking up a few times at Tori's elaborate imagings of her self-inflicted end and fleeting hopes as she realizes her efforts will all be for naught. Actually, I'm not sure if that says more about me or Miller's ability to craft darkly comic suicide scenarios...

Despite the supernatural element never fully congealing into something meaningful, or even necessary, Skin Deep still makes for fun and surprisingly light serial killer story firmly centered around sex and deviancy, with dashes of pitch-black humor, and Miller spends its 100+ pages spilling all kinds of bodily fluids all over the place.

[Dion Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this short erotic horror novella, it was easy to read, a good mix of horror and erotica, and the story was more complex that I expected for such a short story, and there was a few twists that I didn’t see coming, which I always like.

The ending felt a bit rushed, but overall it's a fun quick read.

This book is part of the ‘Rewind-or-Die’ book series (don’t worry you don’t need to read the others before this one) in the ‘Rewind-or-Die’ book series, The series is for people who miss the golden era of VHS rentals from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, those awesome B-grade slasher and monster movies.

I have read a stack of the ‘Rewind-or-Die’ books, and I’m at the point now where If I see one on the shelf I will grab it.

I will also check out other books by Renee Miller.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.*

[Starr Baumann]

This is the kind of erotica I want to read. There are some issues, but *shrug* I enjoyed it.

Also, THE BOOK COVER IS TO DIE FOR.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so I am the odd one out and really enjoyed this short story. It is definitely written in a novella style length, short and not too much detail. It is #31 in the Rewind or Die series, each written by a different author.

This was definitely disturbing and could use some trigger warnings: rape, murder, assault, demons, witchcraft, child endangerment. But it was catchy and I actually read it in one sitting. Very gruesome, disturbing and just enough erotica. It actually made sense when you think about serial killers and ticks that you've read about in other crime novels and true crime stories.

The ending was very abrupt and I needed more! I was definitely creeped out by how easily the characters were able to sacrifice their children's souls. I liked how it did come full circle and I wish there was more to read about. Definitely some good, quick, dirty, graphic horror and erotica.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a complimentary digital ARC of this title through NetGalley for review. Skin Deep by Renee Miller is a disappointing installment in the Rewind or Die series from Unnerving. The book is profoundly disturbing, lacks clarity, and ultimately fizzled out as both horror and erotica. The premise is this: Tori, a young woman, has decided she wants to die, but is so incredibly vain as to want to remain beautiful even in death. While hoping to die, she ends up killing someone else, the plot ensues (kind of). There’s some back story that I don’t want to spoil in the first chapter that is also critical to the plot, but overall the book just has a lot of problems. 1. It is paced strangely. Sometimes large amounts of time passes between chapters (chapter 11 to 12 was particularly jarring). 2. Some of the details don’t add up. At one point a character performs a ritual to summon a demon, but then calls upon the goddess Hecate. What? It seemed like there might be two different ideas here and this section would benefit from clarification. 3. The characters don’t behave in believable ways. Tori’s desire to die but unwillingness/inability to take her own life really strained my suspension of disbelief. Other characters, such as the police officer Amos, also made decisions along the way that I didn’t really understand or believe. 4. I also found the whole concept of a woman who was so vain about her looks trying to find an acceptable way to die to be a pretty disturbing concept for a book on the whole. On top of that the book features more than one instance of non-consensual sexual activity and rape. I was actually surprised the book was written by a woman because of how the female protagonist was described and behaved. I thought this text oozed male gaze. Maybe that’s the point? I don’t know, but it was unpleasant. Tori’s mother, featured in the first chapter, also made a racist/xenophobic remark on the very first page of the book. It was pretty clear she wasn’t supposed to be a good character, but I nevertheless questioned the author’s decision to include that content. 6. For a book that was marketed as “erotica” I felt like there wasn’t enough erotic content here. There was sex, but a lot of it wasn’t sexy so much as disturbing. (This book actually reminded me of another title in the Rewind or Due series called All You Need is Love and a Strong Electric Current by Mackenzie Kiera. Both books featured weird sex, but I enjoyed Kiera’s book more and felt it was overall a stronger book.) I suppose there was some erotic content, just not enough for a book actually listed as horror erotica.

I want to remind everyone reading this review that I have read an uncorrected ARC. It is possible the author will make changes before the book is published. I hope so. As this book currently stands I would not recommend it. It’s weird, the pacing is off-putting, some of the details don’t add up, some of the characters don’t behave in believable ways, and it’s not very sexy. 1/5.

[Lostinmylibrary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book for review!

Massive trigger warnings for suicide and child abuse.

Characters: There was not one likeable character that got more than 3 pages in this novella. Amos was okay until the end, which destroyed his character personally for me. Victoria as a main character could've been a bit more interesting if the book was longer and followed her over a longer time frame. I understand it's a novella, so one has to cut things shorter than normal. Also this book is incredibly sexist to be set in 2021. I thought since the series as a whole is 80's style that this book was set in the 80's but no it's set present day. Romero was the best character but she was only in there for a few scenes.

Atmosphere: No atmosphere built because we were jumping all over the place constantly.

Writing: Writing was probably the strong point of this novella. This author clearly knows how to write a novella.

Plot: I liked the idea but kind of wish this was fleshed out more.

Intrigue: I was intrigued about the demon deal, but that didn't even play that much of a part in the book. Wish there had been more of the crossroads demon playing a part in Victoria's killings.

Logic: Not super logical, but I could see a lot of these things happening in real life (minus the demon deal)

Enjoyment: All in all I hated the language of the novel and what Victoria had to say about her own gender. I enjoyed it for what it was. As someone who is a fan of paranormal happenings, there just wasn't enough of the paranormal aspect to make me love this.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I try to find something positive to say about every book I read and review, this one has me on the struggle bus. I was so intrigued by the blurb and was IN. I was ready for this horror/sex-based story, but this fell through on both fronts. I will admit I am not a super big fan of short stories and often feel like they are rushed and forced. I felt that 100% with Skin Deep.
I hated the mother but I hated our leading lady Tori even more. Don't get me wrong I am all for killing a main character and even hating a main, but she literally had zero redeeming qualities. Amos was a bore, a snooze fest as a leading man. There was more of a connection with his boss than his "love" interests Vicitoria and Vickie (really original.) I wanted to get behind a cop falling for a suspect and that really is a great plotline, but again, this fell so flat on story and character development
The entire idea behind the "shadow man" I felt was ridiculous. I just did not like that element at all. The plot had so many holes and left me thinking "there has got to be more..." and there was not. We end a chapter and the next we are 3 years down the road and kids are here now and Amos has a dead wife. WHAT???
I wanted to like this so much but I did not, I am honestly surprised I finished it. I am sure there is an audience for this but sadly I am not a member of it.

[sinag · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow, this book is truly an experience! I finally found another book that has a serial killer x detective trope like the Mindf*ck series of S.T. Abby, but this one is just a little lowkey. I obviously loved this book! I loved the turns it made and I enjoyed the entire reading experience with this one. I loved how everything is connected and how it ties at the end and ends so well. The blending of horror and erotica is well-executed in this book as well, I literally had chills while reading. I would definitely want to read more from this author. highly recommended and definitely another horror favorite!

[Paul Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Renee Miller’s Skin Deep begins with some supernatural elements but quickly becomes a dark erotic thriller that packs plenty of story into its 126 pages.

Routed very much in previous trauma, we focus on Victoria, the daughter of a woman who made a pact with an evil force to remain beautiful up until her death.

While this very much sets the scene, this is very much about Victoria, a woman who is quite mentally ill, potentially depressed and isn’t to be trifled with.

When the violence starts it is unrelenting and Miller certainly does not hold back. The side plot follows a detective who encounters Victoria, with their paths intertwined throughout some suspicious incidents.

A real page-turner that kept me interested up until its dark finale.

[Amy Vida · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of Skin Deep in exchange for an honest review. I'm not sure what I just read, but I can say it was disturbing. The book description did not begin to prepare me for a book with such a mentally challenged main character. Even though I didn't care for this story, I thought the ending tied in the beginning very well, and set this book up for another sequel. This was a very quick and easy read, and if you are really into dark concepts this may be a great read.

[Megan Houde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short horror thriller. Wish there was a bit more to it, between Hecate and the demon. Was that a test they failed? The bloody vengeance was good and the main character being off her rocker helped sell it. Felt a bit rushed in places for it being a short horror story, with random events taking place.

[Margin of Terror · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, it’s not quite smut, not quite horror. But it was entertaining enough for a quick read with a beer. The ending is very underdeveloped and, frankly, lazy.

[Chanel Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this wild story. Tori was crazy as hell! LOL! More please! 😅

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A muddled mess that tries to vamp it up with sex, and a some supernatural bits that seem tacked on rather than crafted into the actual story.

[V_J0n3s · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick one day read.
If you want a story of a mentally unstable female who’s with a lot of plot holes, this is the one.
It’ll do well enough if you need to crush a book goal.

[Liv✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idk what it was but there was something about this story I absolutely loved

[Norman Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good fun read by honorary cousin Renee.

[kim wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skin Deep

A really good, gruesome read from Renee Miller . What will a woman wdo to stay young , flawless and beautiful ?… make a deal with the devil 😈
Would highly recommend

[habiba . · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book made no sense but i enjoyed it