What do you think?
Rate this book
Voluntary Madness
Punch is a beautiful man in his forties, slowly dying from alcohol abuse and diabetes. Juliette is his adoring girlfriend, willing to do absolutely anything for him. Together they have made a twisted to live a wild life in Key West, collecting material for the book Punch is compelled to write before they end it all a year later. Punch and Juliette's craziness quickly accelerates. She flashes at strangers; he pretends to be blind in public; they break into Hemingway's house to have sex. But the games quickly turn dangerous when a guard at the house interrupts them and dies in the assault. Way out of her depth, Juliette has to decide whether she'll keep her part of the pact. The inventor of white-trash noir, Hendricks has updated Bonnie and Clyde for the 21st century. Marketing
Ads in Bitch and Bust
BookPeople flyer program Vicki Hendicks is the author of Iguana Love, Miami Purity and Sky Blues . An extreme sports enthusiast, she lives in Hollywood, Florida Also available by Vicki Hendricks
Iguana Love
TC $23.00, 1-85242-590-3 CUSA
Ads in Bitch and Bust
BookPeople flyer program Vicki Hendicks is the author of Iguana Love, Miami Purity and Sky Blues . An extreme sports enthusiast, she lives in Hollywood, Florida Also available by Vicki Hendricks
Iguana Love
TC $23.00, 1-85242-590-3 CUSA
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2000
10 people are currently reading
386 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 30, 2025
Having enjoyed Iguana Love, I still rather surprised myself by immediately picking out another offering by the same author. There was something about my introduction to this writer’s world of sun, sea, and (yes) quite a lot of sex that drew me back rather more quickly than I’d planned.
Juliette and her boyfriend Punch are planning on living wild on Key West, funded by an inheritance from her late father. Punch is writing a book, and while he finishes it, they're looking to see out twelve months - and then jointly commit suicide!
My early assumption was that ‘wild’ would translate into manic sex orgies and I’d be introduced to every variation of partnership available to beasts with two legs – well... actually three, as Juliette points out early on. But this isn’t how it played out. The story does contain some graphically described scenes, but there’s a good story here, and the sex is just a small part of it.
Think Bonny and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and you’ll get the general picture. I found myself rooting for Juliette and hoping she’d find a way out of her pact with the loser boyfriend. Maybe that’s a little harsh on Punch, but in truth, he has very few redeeming features. Also, I just enjoyed the atmosphere of the book and the brilliantly described setting. The pace was just right, and I really wasn’t sure how the story would be resolved right up to the end.
I’ll go back for more offerings from this writer. She may not have the depth of the very best, but her particular kind of Florida Noir has definite appeal.
Juliette and her boyfriend Punch are planning on living wild on Key West, funded by an inheritance from her late father. Punch is writing a book, and while he finishes it, they're looking to see out twelve months - and then jointly commit suicide!
My early assumption was that ‘wild’ would translate into manic sex orgies and I’d be introduced to every variation of partnership available to beasts with two legs – well... actually three, as Juliette points out early on. But this isn’t how it played out. The story does contain some graphically described scenes, but there’s a good story here, and the sex is just a small part of it.
Think Bonny and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and you’ll get the general picture. I found myself rooting for Juliette and hoping she’d find a way out of her pact with the loser boyfriend. Maybe that’s a little harsh on Punch, but in truth, he has very few redeeming features. Also, I just enjoyed the atmosphere of the book and the brilliantly described setting. The pace was just right, and I really wasn’t sure how the story would be resolved right up to the end.
I’ll go back for more offerings from this writer. She may not have the depth of the very best, but her particular kind of Florida Noir has definite appeal.
April 1, 2015
“Too bad my mother didn’t have a gun. I might have gotten to know her better.”
This one opens like a hurricane. Juliette’s a smoking a joint, idly playing with herself as she waits for a suitable victim to flash. Within a tiny space, the chaos of her early life and the darkness of her future are revealed. She’s hooked up with the love of her life, a diabetic alcoholic writer called Punch with whom she has a suicide pact. While they’re waiting for the date of their deaths, they’re supposed to be living life to the full, collecting stories for Punch’s novel. If she thinks it, she has to do it – that’s the rule. It’s like she’s a dice lady without the numbers.
In truth, the first chapter knocked me back onto my heels. I just wasn’t really ready to walk in on the situation. That disorientation was a feeling I really enjoyed and what I wanted was more.
As the early pages went by, I became a little worried that I might just be wandering through a series of interesting, well-written scenes that weren’t heading anywhere in particular. That sense soon disappeared as my emotional involvement grew quite sharply.
On one of their early adventures, the couple break into the Hemingway house at Key West and set to enjoying Hem’s space in every way they can. When a guard shows up and there’s an explosion of reflexive violence, Punch and Juliette worry that their crime will be uncovered.
Into her life walks a lesbian white witch called Isis. Isis brings a different kind of love to Juliette and adds a new dimension to the story. It allows Juliette’s vulnerability to come to the fore. In sharp contrast to Punch’s mean spells, Isis is full of warmth and concern. Crucial for me, it meant I no longer wanted the suicide pact to go ahead and shared Isis’s hope that there would be a way to get Juliette out of her way of thinking.
The criminal acts of Punch and Juliette become more intense. They’re exciting, tense and unsettling. As they work through their Bonnie and Clyde routine, the date of their death rushes at them (and rushed at me) at a startling pace. The end comes into view and even as the crash is about to happen, I had no idea how it was going to play out.
From that amazing opening, through those early uncertain chapters and into the meat of Punch and Juliette’s journey together, I was delighted and totally engaged with their world. I really enjoyed the writing style and the whole range of tensions, including the warmly erotic moments. Juliette’s highs and lows seem very real and those emotions seeped from the pages into my pores. I guess that’s what I want from a book – complete involvement and total immersion. A really great read.
This one opens like a hurricane. Juliette’s a smoking a joint, idly playing with herself as she waits for a suitable victim to flash. Within a tiny space, the chaos of her early life and the darkness of her future are revealed. She’s hooked up with the love of her life, a diabetic alcoholic writer called Punch with whom she has a suicide pact. While they’re waiting for the date of their deaths, they’re supposed to be living life to the full, collecting stories for Punch’s novel. If she thinks it, she has to do it – that’s the rule. It’s like she’s a dice lady without the numbers.
In truth, the first chapter knocked me back onto my heels. I just wasn’t really ready to walk in on the situation. That disorientation was a feeling I really enjoyed and what I wanted was more.
As the early pages went by, I became a little worried that I might just be wandering through a series of interesting, well-written scenes that weren’t heading anywhere in particular. That sense soon disappeared as my emotional involvement grew quite sharply.
On one of their early adventures, the couple break into the Hemingway house at Key West and set to enjoying Hem’s space in every way they can. When a guard shows up and there’s an explosion of reflexive violence, Punch and Juliette worry that their crime will be uncovered.
Into her life walks a lesbian white witch called Isis. Isis brings a different kind of love to Juliette and adds a new dimension to the story. It allows Juliette’s vulnerability to come to the fore. In sharp contrast to Punch’s mean spells, Isis is full of warmth and concern. Crucial for me, it meant I no longer wanted the suicide pact to go ahead and shared Isis’s hope that there would be a way to get Juliette out of her way of thinking.
The criminal acts of Punch and Juliette become more intense. They’re exciting, tense and unsettling. As they work through their Bonnie and Clyde routine, the date of their death rushes at them (and rushed at me) at a startling pace. The end comes into view and even as the crash is about to happen, I had no idea how it was going to play out.
From that amazing opening, through those early uncertain chapters and into the meat of Punch and Juliette’s journey together, I was delighted and totally engaged with their world. I really enjoyed the writing style and the whole range of tensions, including the warmly erotic moments. Juliette’s highs and lows seem very real and those emotions seeped from the pages into my pores. I guess that’s what I want from a book – complete involvement and total immersion. A really great read.
July 31, 2007
Another kinky Floridian neo-noir from Vicki Hendricks. Some great moments in this one, and some of her most believable characters. Still, some parts fall flat. Despite the occasional lull, it's still a very compelling read!
December 23, 2009
A wild ride.
September 3, 2015
I actually read this in 2010. I think I wrote a short review. Here 'tis:
https://guysalvidge.wordpress.com/201...
Now I'm planning on reading some more Hendricks!
https://guysalvidge.wordpress.com/201...
Now I'm planning on reading some more Hendricks!
March 12, 2008
What can I say? I'm a fan of most of Hendricks' stuff and this is another one I like. Her stories take me right down the rabbit hole into whatever world she creates.
This wouldn't be the one I would recommend to first-time Hendricks' readers. While I think it is a great book, I think Iguana Love is the best intro to her style.
This wouldn't be the one I would recommend to first-time Hendricks' readers. While I think it is a great book, I think Iguana Love is the best intro to her style.
March 20, 2012
A great look into the ways love can cloud our minds and keep us coming back for more.
September 8, 2013
Punch and Juliette are living a care-free life, spending big, taking risks and engaging in criminal activity with little regard for the ramifications of their actions. Juliette continuously pits herself against fate, throwing her body at the mercy of predators in Key West - gambling with such a precious commodity with a breezy facade' that borders on a deeper need to succumbs to the perils of her vice. It's an interesting dynamic that feel organic, a devil without a care.
Yet, there is method to the madness, and it's entirely voluntary (hence the title). Punch and Juliette are impersonating life for the purpose of art. Seeking a creative outlet for his work in progress, Punch takes Juliette on a roller coaster ride through Key West, exposing her to new sensations (on either side of the law) and teasing out the limits of her comfort zone. Documenting the events as a work of fiction/liberated fact, Punch has his sights set on writing the great American novel, made macabre by a suicidal pack that will see him and Juliette call it quites once the final draft has been finished.
Vicki Hendricks knows how to write engaging characters who leap off the page and consume the 'real life'. Punch is an imposing figure yet his gentle side adds another dimension to him, particularly with his relationship with Juliette - it's interesting that he loves her so yet has talked her into the idea of killing herself once they've attained their goal.
As for Juliette, she's a summer breeze after a rainfall. A breath of fresh air that want to fornicate with the rancid yet doesn't. She's headstrong and independent yet hopelessly under Punch's spell - one which takes a witch and the law to test the spells limits.
VOLUNTARY MADNESS is not conventional and doesn't fit within a specific genre for me, yet it works on all the right levels; interesting and colorful characters, engaging plot, liberal doses of humour, and a serious side to balance things out. Like everything else I've read by Vicki Hendricks, VOLUNTARY MADNESS is a great entertaining read.
This review also appears on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Yet, there is method to the madness, and it's entirely voluntary (hence the title). Punch and Juliette are impersonating life for the purpose of art. Seeking a creative outlet for his work in progress, Punch takes Juliette on a roller coaster ride through Key West, exposing her to new sensations (on either side of the law) and teasing out the limits of her comfort zone. Documenting the events as a work of fiction/liberated fact, Punch has his sights set on writing the great American novel, made macabre by a suicidal pack that will see him and Juliette call it quites once the final draft has been finished.
Vicki Hendricks knows how to write engaging characters who leap off the page and consume the 'real life'. Punch is an imposing figure yet his gentle side adds another dimension to him, particularly with his relationship with Juliette - it's interesting that he loves her so yet has talked her into the idea of killing herself once they've attained their goal.
As for Juliette, she's a summer breeze after a rainfall. A breath of fresh air that want to fornicate with the rancid yet doesn't. She's headstrong and independent yet hopelessly under Punch's spell - one which takes a witch and the law to test the spells limits.
VOLUNTARY MADNESS is not conventional and doesn't fit within a specific genre for me, yet it works on all the right levels; interesting and colorful characters, engaging plot, liberal doses of humour, and a serious side to balance things out. Like everything else I've read by Vicki Hendricks, VOLUNTARY MADNESS is a great entertaining read.
This review also appears on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
April 15, 2011
It's a thrilling ride of two people in love and doing whatever they want to do before their final days. They have a plan and they are writing a book about their experiments and crazy, bizarre doings. It's a page turner. You want to find out what is going to happen next. The characters are fun loving and for me, somewhat relatable.It's raw and real. The ending will leave you saying "whoa!"
April 15, 2018
I've read this book twice already, and there will be more. What an amazing story! It's funny, dark, sad, disrespectful and loving. Punch is such a bastard, a selfish crazy man that drags Juliette into his sad life. A woman as crazy as him, stupidly in love and a nihilist too. It's the depction of a perfectly toxic relationship full of erotism and fun.
January 2, 2016
Other than the fact that this is a romance, this not a typical book for me to read. Hendricks is known for her noir writing and edgy characters, but after meeting the author and listening to her discuss her work, I became curious. Granted, this tends to be a rated "R" type book when it comes to description, and some of the sex scenes were a little more descriptive than I felt comfortable reading, but I quickly got pulled into the story. The primary reason for this was because of the main character, Juliette, a young woman who is pretty wild but also comes off as surprisingly real. She is desperate for love and does anything to get it, even if means allowing herself to take dangerous risks. I simply wanted to know what happened to her, and once I started reading, I didn't want to stop.
July 11, 2022
Someone once wrote that Raymond Chandler writes like "a slumming angel." With all due respect to Chandler, who has been properly Hosanna'd for his works, I think that title more aptly fits Vicki Hendricks, who writes these fascinating Florida noirs with women struggling to find the love they need and doing so in such desperate, sweaty ways. I laughed, I almost cried, I cringed, I rooted for the protagonist as she and her lover romped through Key West. Hendricks writes about sex in unapologetically frank ways, which is appealing in a time where people either take Victorian attitudes towards the subject or try to turn it into a literary event. Great stuff.
July 16, 2023
I didn’t expect this book to be so sober. Sure, it was also a fun, noir, guilty pleasure kinda time. Sometimes. Most of the time it was just depressing. I don’t mean that in a negative way, it just caught me off guard.
It’s proof that something can be fun and depressing simultaneously. The plot was engaging, the characters were lively and colorful, I was absolutely never bored, and the writing was solid throughout.
Overall it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea and definitely something I wouldn’t read more than once. I might recommend it to someone only if I knew they would enjoy it. It’s a pretty straightforward book.
It’s proof that something can be fun and depressing simultaneously. The plot was engaging, the characters were lively and colorful, I was absolutely never bored, and the writing was solid throughout.
Overall it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea and definitely something I wouldn’t read more than once. I might recommend it to someone only if I knew they would enjoy it. It’s a pretty straightforward book.
January 18, 2021
Fall 2019
4/10
An alcoholic and a 20-something year old who make a death pact, slightly intervened by a lesbian witch. Gritty and ugly, depressing but understandable warped thinking. Narrated very matter of factly, little energy or flow to the book for me, and a flat ending.
4/10
An alcoholic and a 20-something year old who make a death pact, slightly intervened by a lesbian witch. Gritty and ugly, depressing but understandable warped thinking. Narrated very matter of factly, little energy or flow to the book for me, and a flat ending.
September 15, 2020
Entertaining
Its a short entertaining read. Action heavy, character light, with the exception of Juliette. It's her story from her perspective.
Its a short entertaining read. Action heavy, character light, with the exception of Juliette. It's her story from her perspective.
April 23, 2024
I love Hendricks as an author, but this was not good.
No depth or redeeming qualities to any of the characters. Very thin plot.
It seems as if this novel was written simply to shock.
No depth or redeeming qualities to any of the characters. Very thin plot.
It seems as if this novel was written simply to shock.
August 10, 2012
I'm really having trouble sticking with this. Nothing has me interested in the story or the characters. If they're going to kill themselves, I wish they would do it in the next five pages.
Finished: I hate when authors use typical, cliched settings to give a story atmosphere. One of the most common settings, to give a quirky, carefree atmoshpere is Key West. This could be set anywhere and it would be no better(or worse).
The main character reminds me of the stupid, white-trash slut the Julliette Lewis seems to play in every movie.
I have trouble quitting a book. I wanted to quit this one early on, but stuck with it. I read to enjoy, but I did not enjoy this.
Finished: I hate when authors use typical, cliched settings to give a story atmosphere. One of the most common settings, to give a quirky, carefree atmoshpere is Key West. This could be set anywhere and it would be no better(or worse).
The main character reminds me of the stupid, white-trash slut the Julliette Lewis seems to play in every movie.
I have trouble quitting a book. I wanted to quit this one early on, but stuck with it. I read to enjoy, but I did not enjoy this.
Want to read
December 8, 200712/07 purchase at MOTB
Want to read
January 2, 2012Free Kindle Book 1/1/12.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews