Dirty Boys
But some things wouldn’t wait while he searched for the pieces of the puzzle. So, he took a step to the corner of the cart, reached for his zipper, and arced a yellow stream onto a stunted fern.
Hugely relieved, he gave the plant a Vulcan salute. “One-hundred proof, son. Live long and prosper.”
Now about that water.
Scowling, he considered his bare feet, flexed his toes and shrugged. If the natives could do it, he’d give it the ol’ Boy Scout try.
He headed into the brush. The prospect of a body that smelled more of man than beast made it easier to ignore the wet stuff squishing between his toes.
Vines clutched his arms and neck. Branches lashed and whipped his bare head, pulling at the roots of his needed-a-haircut hair.
Insects swarmed thicker here, going for his eyes, up his nose, even dive-bombing his feet. Jack slapped at his upper arm, smashing a palmful with one blow.
Bugs he could deal with. He just hoped the decapitated viper hadn’t left any vengeful relatives hanging around.
And that whoever had saved his ass with the Indiana Jones whip-and-knife routine wasn’t in the mood for human target practice.
That’s a short snippet from my April Brava release, THE PERFECT STRANGER. When my critique partner first read this section many many MANY years ago, she couldn’t get beyond the idea of my hero being so desperately in need of a bath. It grossed her out, hit her eww, squick, and ick buttons.
No matter how much I toned it down - and I did; I just couldn’t take it out and keep the scene working - the scene made her turn up her nose at the thought of Jack’s B.O., and his being in the jungle without access to soap or water for several days. She knew that it was necessary for the time line and set-up of the story, but it was just TOO MUCH for her personal comfort.
What about you? Have you run across something in a book you really wanted to read that was just TOO MUCH for you? I can see a spider-torture scene making an arachnophobic very uncomfortable, or a P.I. who tosses hamburger wrappers and coke cans in his car floor getting on a neatnik’s nerves. Have you ever left such a book unfinished because you just couldn’t deal? Let’s hear about them!!
Alison, I have to admit that very little makes me go “ick” in a book. LOL! Then again, since I like to read horror novels on occasion that probably has something to do with it. 
