Assignment: Lust

By Winston Reynolds

192 pp.

© 1964

Publisher: L.S. Publications Corp.

Series: An Original Gaslight Book GL 114

Heroin is not sexy but infiltrating a smuggling ring can be. At least that’s true if you buy into the premise of Assignment: Lust. Eschewing techniques such as informants and wiretaps, the authorities enlist the aid of a sexpot journalist and send her to Algeria to investigate.

Indeed, there is nothing that makes the criminal element drop their guard like having a member of the press hanging around.

But never mind the lack of plausibility. The author wants you to direct your attention to Maggie Barton, the curvaceous reporter who enjoys having lots of sex with both men and women. The narcotics-investigation component of the story does serve a purpose though. It provides a reason for Maggie to travel from one exotic locale to another. Without it, all of her sexual exploits would come from cruising restrooms at the airport.

Maggie’s itinerary first takes her to Algiers where she meets a local film actor. After they have sex, he reveals by using the code word “primrose” that he is a fellow agent working on the case. He makes arrangements for her to meet Ali Ben Haroud, an old college friend whom he suspects is involved in the drug trade.

She takes a chartered flight south to Haroud’s palatial home. There she has a hot sapphic encounter with a belly dancer. Later, Maggie is tied to a pole and felt up by the men of the village prior to being flogged by her host. “How rude, Haroud,” you may say but Maggie likes it. A lot.

When she returns to Algiers, the other investigators praise her for reporting observations that confirm what they pretty much knew to begin with. She is offered a chance to continue the mission in Rome and off she goes.

The plot thickens as she beds a guy who used to star in Tarzan movies and then indulges herself in kinky goodness with a whip-wielding lesbian. Next stop is Paris and a threesome with an artist and a male model.

In the end, Maggie’s repeatedly being brought to climax results in the guilty being brought to justice. If only the real War on Drugs were this much fun.