Vampires in Devil Town, D/s, and Another Fiction Review

Since I couldn't get into White Power and I can't stay awake through The Communist Manifesto yet, I decided to divert myself with one of my favorite genres of fiction--horror.  I downloaded Vampires in Devil Town as a freebie from Amazon, but only started reading it the other day.  Now that school is getting ready to start back up, I can't get into anything too terribly interesting, plot-wise, as I no longer have the luxury of staying up until the wee morning hours reading.  In fact, I should have STOPPED engaging in this sort of activity back around July 16 or 17, right before I went back to work, but oh well, hind-sight is always 20/20 and all that.

Anyway--this has, thus far, become a riveting little horror read, and yes, there are even some elements of forced D/s.  Case in point--when the main character, Rachel, is kidnapped and thrown into the back of a van by Bones and Rain, Bones makes many references to dominance, smacking her around, and calling her a "little bitch" to "show her her place".  Why is this forced?  No consent on poor Rachel's end.  In fact, Rachel and Rain conspire to get away from Bones, which they do in a shockingly quick manner.  I'm also about to begin the chapter in which Rain will tell Rachel about "the last time" Bones did something to a victim of him, as well as find out why Bones likes to cut women's nipples off, keep them for a while until they start to rot and stink, and maybe even why he wants to "play" with his victims.  Is Bones truly Dominant?  I think not.  He's too lazy to chase them through the woods, and he relies too much on violence and not enough on actually protecting Rain or anyone else other than himself.  This is another vanilla example of what Those People think D/s and BDSM really is.  Pissed off about this?  Yup.  Good and angry about it?  Not quite.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've a bit more reading to do.  ;)

The Monster in the Classroom

Thus far, I have only read the first chapter, which was free from Amazon's Kindle web site.  This is what I can tell you thus far about Boy Toy by Barry Lyga.  First and foremost, no matter what flavor of kink you may or may not subscribe to, Boy Toy's opening chapter will probably make you feel a bit queasy, if not downright nauseous.  This is because the teacher who messed up the main character's adolescence is about to be released from jail, and his mother is absolutely beside herself with worry, grief, and fear.  And who could blame her?  The woman who ruined her little boy's adolescence and gave his childhood a premature, brutal ending is about to be out on the prowl.  This, by the way, is also why I hate the term "cougar" to describe a woman past her mid-thirties who has a predilection for younger men.  There is something deeply predatory about this type of person.  I see this sort of behavior--chasing after children--as disgusting.  What is described in Boy Toy has nothing to do with age play, and damn near everything to do with pedophilia.

That said, I understand why it might make some school librarians uncomfortable enough not to put it on their shelves.  Do I think it has a place in my school library's shelves and in my collection?  Absolutely!  Am I going to run right out and purchase a copy from one of my vendors?  Not just yet, as I'm still reading it.

Now I feel I have to get this off my chest.  Personally, age play does nothing for me.  Maybe it's because I, personally, am disgusted by women like Mary Kay Letourneau, one of my former high school principals (who married one of his former students--ick), and a local woman who molested two of her sixth-grade male students.  I remember when her trial was going on.  She was also someone who was very active in her church and within the religious portions of her community.  If she sees pedophilia as God's will, then I'll revert back to my filthy pagan ways.  Not to mention all those priests who prey upon their altar boys!  I also recall, from that woman's trial, that they had to have two beefy police officers escort her into the court for her arraignment hearing.  She was also wearing a bullet-proof vest.  What was I thinking?  "Head shot.  If you were really good and really fast, you could get in a head shot."

I'll have a full review after I download the full book, probably sometime in mid- to late August.  So far, I am deeply moved by the plot.  But I cannot say that this is a book I will enjoy.