Review: Wrapture is eye-opening, visceral, challenging and insightful
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2014
This author is on a mission, and it's eye-opening, visceral, challenging and insightful in exploring the nature of corruption of the spirit.Candace Caine is held captive under the pretext of betrayal by a friend, in a Texas compound insulated from the world, a congregation fueled by misogyny, lies and victimization. Their net is infinite for they pander to the prurient, using technology and indoctrination to fund a church that should be a mockery, but instead it is a chilling reflection of a larger social order using doctrine to enslave, objectify and vilify women.Kenan is the man assuming the role of procurer, protector, instructor, mentor and lover. Indoctrinated into a culture of pleasure, the adult man has the emotional maturity of a pre-pubescent teen, with dominance issues and a possessive streak that runs counter to scripture according to pack laws. As Candace's lover, Kenan steps beyond performance art, landing in that murky world of attraction and emotional bonding. It looks, sounds, and feels like love to him.Using sensory overload to control its members, male and female alike, the lines between dominance and submission shift, and corruption and exploitation rule the day. Both Candace and Kenan come under scrutiny. Candace is trapped, helpless, caged—and sorely tempted by the promise of orgasmic wrapture. Kenan makes choices that weave a safety net for himself within the cult—in the name of love—but the pleasure centers, and alpha male dominance patterns, take precedence.Kenan's choices, Candace's naiveté, and the cult leader's lascivious interest in pursuing his own carnal agenda take the reader on a ride that might shock and anger and offend in its explicit depiction of the steps taken to indoctrinate new members into the fold.Make no mistake, this is a searing exploration of cult behavior, taken to an extreme where pleasure is administered like punishment, and bondage, enslavement and subjugation of mind, body and spirit are the new norm, buttressed by scripture and no small amount of fear.The journey is cold, hard, and unrelenting. It distanced me, emotionally, from engaging completely with the main characters' plights, yet the primary lesson—taking a good look at the underpinnings of how and why we treat women like so much chattel, justifying violence and ownership rights—that lesson comes through loud and clear, as current as today's headlines. And as frightening.Another wake-up call by an author who isn't afraid to confront reality. Five Stars.