Review: I'm an emotional wreck from this savage and brutal story.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2012
Warning: This is not a romance, nor does it have any romantic or erotic tendencies. This is a mind bending psychological thriller that contains malevolent and inhuman behaviors. With that said, WOW!! I haven't been mind-screwed like this since....EVER. I didn't fall in love with this anti-hero. Far from it. There is no Stockholm Syndrome in this book. I really debated with myself on whether to read this one or not. I admit it. I was scared. I'm still scared! Just a few pages in and I was like WTH?! I can't read this! But, I trudged onward....to my next Holy *bleep*!! I can't read this! And I kept on reading, but I sped up my reading pace to just get through it. I didn't want to linger in it, because it was so dark and scary. Not dim....DARK! Did I mention scary? This one is one of those sleep with a night light and a chef's knife under your pillow kind of scary!If you've followed me for a while, you know I love a good dark book every now and again, but OMG! At what point did I become a masochist? This book is not just dark...it is THE DARKEST. It is definitely not for the faint at heart. This book is not for everyone.He is the professional...the destroyer...the professional rape artist. He is a man hired to seek and destroy another human being...to obliterate a person's very soul. But he didn't limit his hired services to destroy only women. Men were also his victims. He was an equal-opportunity rapist and annihilator. His target for this game? Her. These are the only two characters in this story, and the entire story is focused on the two nameless characters. There are no descriptors. There is no back story. There is no preparation for the brutality to be witnessed in this book. The story opens with her being unconscious and him deep inside her, waiting for her to wake so that he can begin his soul destruction....via rape and degradation."'I stand outside myself, watching myself watching myself. I smile. I smile. I smile.' If you just substituted scream for smile, it was dead on."What he didn't count on is her strength, her hope, and her will to not be broken. He had never come across a target like her before. She knew his game and would play her own in defense, but she also knew that in order to win, she might have to lose. I don't normally give longer quotes in a review, but this book really made me think. How would I view repeated rape? Would I crumble? Would I summon every bit of strength I had for survival?"It had to be different for everyone. Rape was horrible, but not every woman could consider it the most horrible thing that could happen. There were so many things that could happen that were potentially even worse."Or maybe there needed to be a new paradigm. Her paradigm. I've been f***ed up the ass by Fate. What do you think you can do to me with your little, f***ing penis?"He is so confident and calm in his dialogue, making his character even more terrifying. She studied him and found what made him calm and what made him angry....and when he became angry, it was as quick as someone flipping a switch. I never saw it coming, and her punishment was shameless and humiliating. But, the most terrifying this man became was when he simply said one word..."Checkmate." My heart stopped.There were so many strange scenes in this story. Scenes when they talk of movie quotes and t.v. shows, relating them to the events that are happening. Perhaps this was part of the mind-screw effect on the reader? It's almost as though the casualness of the abstract conversations relating to such a serious and ugly situation made the story even more terrifying. I kept reading...and hoping...and reading, but any reprieve from the terror never came. There are so many twists and mind benders in this book, I couldn't help but continue reading. The biggest shock came to me toward the end of the book, but I am...well, I don't know what word to use here, so I will settle with pleased...in how the story ended. As I mentioned, this book will make you think. What is rape really? Is rape the most horrifying thing a woman can face? Is it worse than death? Is penetration of the body so much worse than penetration of the mind or spirit? How can something so beautiful and used to show love by some be used as such a destructive weapon by others?So, why did I give this book such a high rating as 5 stars? I do not rate a book based on content, but on how it made me feel...the emotions it gave me - or took from me in this case. This book drained me emotionally and twisted my mind and view of the world. The author presented me, the reader, with a gift of brilliance in the form of writing, even though the content was horrific and savage. Take caution before reading. You are entering the darkest zone you can possibly enter, and I dare say that this book will not leave me for a long while.