Fatal Submission

by Nicole Austin

So let’s get this straight, this is not a romance, heck I’m not even sure that I would completely categorize it as Erotica, but it certainly sits better in that genre.

Is it a horror?  Well that is up for debate too but it cannot be denied that there are elements of the book that many will recoil from and that will have the hairs on the back your neck bristling.

The author may have set its soul in the BDSM scene but I would have to say that, that element of the story didn’t exactly blow my mind. I actually thought it was almost (forgive the pun) submissive, the genre has enough going on to have set the pages alight but the author had other ideas and seemed determined to ensure that the story held firm to her dynamic and honestly I think that worked, because it meant that the book, stood its own ground and didn’t just follow a well-worn path.

Looking to find a Dom that can get her to where she wants to be as a submissive, Claire soon discovers that finding the right guy isn’t as easy as she first thought. Her current incarnation being Mason. While this ex- military man, is just who she needs, he isn’t the most reliable fella on the face of the planet, his constant inability to turn up for dates at the last minute has her seriously narked.

That on top of the fact that she is taking his own sweet time as far as she can see, showing her what the relationship between Dom and Submissive should be, what the scene entails and more to the point, her place in his life. I think I got Claire but that doesn’t mean at this point that I actually liked her much, she was too impetuous for me, she wanted it all and wanted it all right now.

One thing we have all learnt from FSOG is that a good Dom, the sort that will truly have your interest at heart is just like Mason but patience is obviously not Claire’s strong suit, so she quickly jumps ship so to speak when another Dom is more willing and enthusiastic about showing her the ropes.

 Alarm bells should have been ringing at this point but this foolhardy woman was about to learn the hard way that all that glistens is definitely not gold. Because while Carl might appear to be the answer to her prayers, he is a walking incarnation of what is about to become her worst nightmare.

Carl promises her everything she wants and more but is he just too good to be true? What do you think!!!

Unfortunately for Claire, Carl’s brand of crazy is certifiable, the man isn’t just crazy, he’s a killer!

I had my heart in my mouth at this point because it is fairly obvious that being the purveyor of his own personalised dungeon and his very own, highly exaggerated brand of BDSM meant that Claire was most definitely in grave, if not mortal danger. A visit to the dungeon did not end well for his prey and now that meant Claire.

I was thankful in some respects that the author left much of the events in the dungeon to the element of imagination, I would have struggled had the book been too graphic but what she did put into the story was enough to both insinuate and accent the horror of the events enough that as a reader I found my imagination almost struggling to keep an even keel.

Could Claire survive and if she could how?

Well if I told you this there would be no point in you reading the story, so I won’t tell you how but you shouldn’t be surprised to find out that there is more to Mason than first meets the eye, after all I did tell you he is ex-Military! But the connection between him and Carl, that I didn’t expect.

Carl was the perfect villain and in some respects Claire was the quintessential victim, she played right into his hands and didn’t see the danger until it was too late.

I think the book brought more to the fore than it left behind. It clearly laid out the fact that taking people at face value is a dangerous move. Claire might have been lucky on this occasion but just how tragic could it have been if Mason had not have had the insight that he did?