Holy Fuck!!! THAT ending is just… So. Not. Fair.
What I always find so startling about this series is the impact it has on me as a reader… and just how these two very talented authors manage to evoke such powerful emotions. Even just picking up the 7th episode in this totally compelling series… the heart starts pounding and I can feel the anxiety creeping in and the pain of these two boys all at once becomes renewed.
Nikolai has manipulated and coerced Mat and Dougie perfectly in his strategic game plan, both now alone with no hope and Nikolai the victor to come in and pick up the pieces of their shattered souls and hearts. This book mainly concentrates on Dougie and Nikolai, we see a little of Mat, now a broken man who now see’s himself as no better than Nikolai, a monster, tortured by his part in that room with the “sick fuck pedo client.”
Dougie is so deeply enchanted by the perfectly woven spell, that is all Nikolai, that he is actually confusing his emotions, so scarred of being alone he now see’s Nikolai as his saviour… the man that will take away all his pain, fear, hurt and feelings of abandonment and in return he requires obedience and devotion by making Dougie feel loved and cherished, similar to a well behaved pet/slave… and for this Dougie is grateful!!! Even his voice of reason, although it hasn’t abandoned him, he chooses to ignore it, whilst his inner monologue is on full survival mode, urging him to please his master… there was a lot of kindle shaking and excessive use of profanities going on, I can tell you!
This episode of The Flesh Cartel is all about positive nurturing… (in other words, just another mind fuck) So fear is not an inherent part of the boys training, instead they are treated with kindness and in Dougie this manifests as a need and want to please without the fear of consequences, a time to unravel from all that torture and consciously analyse where he has been, and what is now offered to him freely without the confusion of the hope that had for so long kept him defiant, but above all sane. Don’t for one minute think Nikolai has gone soft, Oh no, he still wants a disciplined slave/pet, but at this stage he is willing to overlook mild transgressions in favour of Dougie’s honesty and willingness to please … how very generous of him! More like lulled into a false sense of security! Dougie is resigned to his new life, a broken boy with all fight gone, pliant in the hands of the man that had raped, and tortured, and abused him both mentally and physically.
We learn a little of Nikolais past… almost made me feel sorry for him, I was also nearly there with all the kindness and affection he showed Dougie… does he love him? I thought so at one point and then he goes and spoils it all again… that bloody man is a conundrum and confuses the hell out of me, and totally pissed me off with the throw away comment he gave as an explanation for Dougie’s future, and made me cry because Dougie was so lost at that point… it just broke my heart and there is also Roger, a man we have hardly touched on but I am also feeling sympathy for him too! Nikolai is so on my hit list… where is Silvio when I need him?!?
These two authors are definitely up there in the echelons of the great writers in this genre, and without a doubt two of my favourite authors, especially when they ensure the adrenaline junkie in me get’s it’s fix. Rachel and Heidi never fail me, but continue to astound me with this gripping and very addictive series… and so the love affair continues.
This book was provided by Riptide publishing for a fair and honest review
