House of Dark Delights
Burton's debut, which aspires to highbrow erotica, opens in the modern day at Chateau de la Grotte Cachee, a castle tucked in the French countryside where guests fulfill their greatest carnal desires. Wimbledon champion Viktor Larsson is seduced by Elic, an immortal male who has transformed himself into a woman in order to acquire the tennis star's superior genetic seed. (Neat trick, eh?) Soon the tale spins back more than 250 years to the devilry and debauchery of members of the Hellfire Club, a real-life English establishment known for its orgies and mock masses in which men called each other "brother" and female guests were known as "nuns." This is the first in a series by Burton, whose intriguing cast includes a vampire, a succubus, and the notorious Sir Francis Dashwood, the Hellfire Club's lecherous founder. The characters have considerable potential, but here they are trapped in a plot that never gets beyond a mildly stimulating display of lubricity and lust. Worth purchasing on the chance that the series will catch on.Allison BlockCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved