This terrific novel is the final addition to the Angel Dare Trilogy. We’ve waited over a decade for this book and it did not disappoint.

Angel Dare is the creation of noir badass Christa Faust. The first book—Money Shot—introduced us to adult film star Angel. She gets in trouble of course, almost killed, and goes on the run. We pick up the action a little later in Choke Hold where Angel, still a fugitive, gets involved with the mixed martial arts scene. Bad stuff happens and she has to “get outta town” once again.

The Get Off has a big reveal. I’m going to spoil it: Angel is pregnant. That’s what happens with those MMA guys, I guess. This time she gets help from rodeo folks but it’s not nearly enough. Angel faces her greatest challenges as she goes all out to save herself and her baby.

This book has superb pacing, incredible action, and fully-drawn, sympathetic characters. Angel is forced to reflect on all her choices and her unflinching honesty (it’s a first-person narrative) propels the story. At the same time she has to hide the truth from everyone around her and she pays a heavy price for it.

This is top-notch crime fiction, or action-adventure if you prefer, or perhaps it’s best to just call it a noir novel. But it would be a mistake to assume it is just like all other “genre” reads. It’s not. The Get Off is really good. It’s about the struggle of an honest person in a corrupt world. It’s about identity, too. Angel (her stage name) has to call herself “Angie” and hide her past to survive. All of us have to hide something some of the time! Angel/Angie wrestles with the age-old “who am I, really?” question and she struggles with self-loathing when she thinks about all the violence that surrounds her. We all get the blues and we all have to face crises and dilemmas. Maybe not as gnarly as the ones Angel gets herself mixed up in, but we can certainly relate.

Of all the new titles published in the Hard Case line Christa Faust’s trilogy stands at the top. The only things close are the Ken Bruen/Jason Starr collaborations, but those, despite the mayhem, are wildly comic. Faust delivers the real hard-boiled stuff. It’s probably best to start with Money Shot and Choke Hold but if you can only read The Get Off as a standalone it will still work.

The late, great Glenn Orbik did the first two Angel Dare covers. Paul Mann took up the challenge for the latest book.