Captured Souls
by Sephera Giron
Reviewed by John Palisano
We begin in the sordid, hidden sex clubs of a big city. There, Doctor Miriam searches for connections through sex…through hookups…through passion and desire. But if you think she is only looking for a quick fix, to quench her desire for sexual fulfillment, then you’re in for a trick. Soon she has gathered a pair of exquisite male specimens. Quickly, it is clear she has become a patron of pain…and an exchanger of services.
There are some very squeamish moments, and there is an honest exploration of what sexuality means. How does it connect us to one another? How does it connect us to other planes? Does it? Are we our bodies?
These are the sort of questions our doctor explores as well. She uses new methods…implants and monitoring equipment. Sex is used as nourishment and enslavement, as pleasure and unimaginable pain. The tables are turned on traditional horror. We have so many stories where men enslave women, and use them as pure vessels for their sexuality. Captured Souls goes beyond just flipping stereotypes. There are real philosophical questions raised. It certainly made me re-think several of my own long-standing beliefs.
The door is kicked in on traditional sexuality and spirituality. You’ll want to turn away, but you won’t be able to–there’s a fascination to learn more about these unearthed and unspoken explorations.
And if you think Wrath and Keene can get gruesome, twisted and sick? Sephera’s got a scene near the middle of the book that had me, literally, looking away and damn relieved it was over.
The exploration of submission and sexuality as a tool toward bringing someone to zero, was quite horrifying. There are many built-in beliefs that are shattered.
One last thing? Don’t even think about trying to have sex with one of Dr. Mariam’s lovers behind her back. She has ways to make you pay that are worse than your imagination.
