Torrid Wench (Kozy Books, 1962; DSK Enterprises, 1993)

A pretty fun one from ol’ Orrie about one of his pet themes: a woman going into the sex industry out of financial need and becoming exploited by men…and a lesbian in this case.

Barbie  is the typical Hitt heroine with big boobs and a tiny waist, working at a hash joint for little pay and dealing with the owner always coming on to her.  She lives with a loser guy, a good0looking grifter who loses too much money at the race track and is always seeking the next get-rich scheme. Why does she keep him around, give him money, pay his bills when he is broke? For the sex? Or perhaps to convince herself she is heterosexual…she had a lesbian encounter in college and for her it was the best sex she had ever had, and she does not want to face the fact she might be gay.

Her boyfriend lands a gig running bets at the track for well-to-do customers of a “gentleman’s club” that features strip shows and waitesses in skippy outfits. The heel convinces Barbie to get a job there, which means more money access for him.  Her former boss at the hash house is not pleased and he blackmals Barbie into sex, saying he will charge her for the theft of $5 from the register the day she quit. She gives in.

The owner of the club also wants her in his bed, as do a number of clients…and the owner is married to a rich woman who fundedthe club, who happens to be a lesbian that has her pick of the girls if they want to keep their jobs.

Then Barbie finds herself being set-up for the murder of this woman, hatched by her boyfriend and the club owner…

The book ends to swiftly, at eight chapters rather than Hitt’s typical 14-chaoter format; it feels cut by editorial hand to fit Kozy’s 50K word format.

The book was also reprinted in the 1990s by DSK Enterprises, a shady outfit, with ads for sex hotlines, videos and magazines…since there was no copyright holder, a quick and easy pirate reprint with a cheesy cover…it cannot beat the great GGA of the Kozy edition.