Review: Disappointing
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 19, 2013
Kol Anderson's "The Prisoner: Broken" series (particularly book one) impressed me so much that I practically stalk this author for new releases but his recent "New Love" was uninspired and this mediocre bdsm short, "Slave", is far from memorable. Although it's not poorly written (few typos) and is written with a soul-searching openness (with tendencies toward melodramatic, idealistic portrayal of love) from the point of view of the protagonist, Jesse. Personally, I found Jesse to be appealing and sympathetic as an individual but Matt was so underdeveloped that Jesse and Matt as a couple didn't do it for me; the only reason I even remotely rooted for them was so poor, lost Jesse would stop letting the brute, Noah, terrorize him anymore. Maybe I'm being unfair because my expectations for this new talent is inordinately high, but I just think Mr Anderson is better than this work. Also, I hope in future endeavors he would give more descriptions regarding the surroundings and people. I realize that "Slave" is much more internal (in Jesse's head and emotional state) and is about his personal journey so this style is more effective but more external descriptors would have anchored the story in a way it desperately needed. Overall, I'd give the story 2.5 stars as it should have been expanded (characterization, mostly) and streamlined (sometimes reminded me of my middle school journals...too much waaaaaaaaah! I can't live without him!).