MRM Reviews: Pam Stack on Raymond Benson's "The Black Stiletto"

As a kid, I loved to read comic strips and comic books. I loved the Superheroes portrayed in those pages. But once I read The Black Stiletto all thoughts of those childhood comics were stripped away. Imagine meeting a woman in the late 1950s whose sense of justice for a wrong done to her as a young teenager compels her to work hard, train and fight injustice in her world. The "Stiletto" does just that. Raymond Benson has created a character whose feminism and feminist traits were not all that common in those "good ole days". But heroine Judy learns at a young age that to right wrongs, she must take it upon herself to become the equalizer. She trains in boxing, martial arts and reads. I love this character! Judy's adventures are documented through her diaries left to her only child, a son, who is stunned to read about his famous, or rather, infamous, mother. The story flips from Judy's diaries to present day as her life unfolds before the son. There is a point where the action crosses between the past and present day that will keep you glued to the story.

Benson has woven a true superhero without the superpowers, but nonetheless leaves his readers begging for more. I'm certain that we will see a "Black Stiletto 2" soon enough because I for one, cannot get enough of her. You won't either.