Title: Seduced in the Dark: The Dark Duet (Volume 2)
Author: C.J. Roberts
Publisher: Neurotica Books (30 August 2012)
ISBN: 978-0615680040
dark
adjective
1. with little or no light
2. (of a colour or object) not reflecting much light; approaching black in shade
3. (of a period or situation) characterised by great unhappiness or unpleasantness
4. hidden from knowledge; mysterious
noun
1. (the dark) the absence of light in a place
2. a dark colour or shade, especially in a painting
I have picked through the above definitions numerous times, trying to decide which one best reflects C.J, Roberts’ Seduced in the Dark, but it’s virtually impossible, because they all apply. It is a story with the barest glimmer of light visible at the end of a long, dark tunnel. A story with a plot that borders on pitch black. A story with characters and situations that twist your stomach. A story that, perversely, arouses you and mere seconds later makes you want to weep. A story of secrets. And, yes, I realise that the title refers to the noun form of the word ‘dark’ but the adjective is equally relevant, equally valid, when describing the fabric of this book. Similarly, I cannot help but pick apart the meaning of the title word ‘seduce’ and ponder its relationship to the story: ‘to attract someone to a belief or course of action that is inadvisable or foolhardy’. Because who is ultimately seduced in and by this murky tale? The characters, the reader, or both?
I need to say up-front that it is virtually impossible to review Seduced in the Dark without introducing some spoilers because its plot is so closely tied to part one of the Dark Duet series, Captive in the Dark (which I reviewed back in July). I will do my best to keep them to a minimum but if you’re spoiler-averse, I suggest you look away now. Further, Seduced in the Dark – and therefore this review – will likely make no sense if you’ve not yet heard of, started, or finished Captive. It cannot be read in isolation. As C.J. Roberts herself says in her ‘note to the reader’ at the very beginning of Seduced:
‘If you’re reading this and you haven’t read Captive in the Dark, turn back! You’ll be lost.’
I had high hopes for Seduced in the Dark – its predecessor was gritty, engaging, unsettlingly sexy, and very well written. Even better, it was a self-published work and I have a bit of a thing for authors who 1) have the courage to go it alone, and 2) have the talent and skill to turn out a great piece of writing without any professional hand-holding. Kudos.
So did Seduced live up to my expectations? Absolutely.
I love the way C.J. Roberts structured this book. She could very easily have made it a straight-forward continuation of Captive in the Dark, neatly stitching the first page of Seduced to the last page of Captive – but she resolutely resisted the temptation to be boring and predictable. Instead, from the very first sentence, the reader is presented with a patchwork puzzle of information that alludes to the direction the story will take, yet leaves huge, tantalising holes of knowledge that they’re unable to immediately fill. They’re in the dark, just as the characters of Seduced are. They can see there’s hope, but it’s a mere pinprick of light that’s at risk of being snuffed out in an instant.
It’s Livvie who draws us back into the story, and her situation is unexpected to say the least. When we last saw her in Captive, she was possessed by Caleb in every sense of the word – emotionally, physically, as a chattel. But most importantly, she was trying to come to terms with her feelings for him and the fate he had planned for her – sexual slavery at the hands of a man he intended to kill – and her devastation that Caleb would sacrifice her as a utilitarian pawn in a game of revenge.
On page one of Seduced, Caleb is still causing Livvie pain. But the source and method of her hurt is very different. It is Caleb’s absence rather than his presence, the separation of her fate from his original intent, that now has her hung, quartered and drawn.
‘Vivisected. It’s the only word I can think of to describe how I’m feeling – vivisected. As though someone has cut me open with a scalpel, the pain not sinking in until the flesh begins to separate and my blood bubbles out. I can hear the crack as my ribs are flayed open. Slowly, my organs, wet and sticky, are pulled out of me one at a time. Still. Alive.
.
.
.
I want to leave this place. There’s nothing wrong with me. If Caleb were here, I’d walk right out of this place, happy, smiling and complete. But he’s gone. And they won’t let me grieve for him in peace.’
What has happened? How has Livvie, Kitten, become separated from her captor, her Master? Was she sold? Has she escaped? Was she sent to Pakistan? Is Caleb dead?
In the initial chapter, which is broken into non-sequential days, C.J. Roberts feeds the reader the edge pieces of a much larger puzzle and we learn that Livvie is in the psych ward of a hospital in a very precarious mental state. Even more worryingly, she is being questioned by members of the FBI and facing multiple criminal charges, including assault against federal border patrol officers, possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and felony murder. Clearly, she is back in the U.S. and no longer in Mexico but how did she get there? Why is she not being treated as a victim of human trafficking but, instead, as a criminal? And where the hell is Caleb?!
C.J. Roberts doesn’t give it away easily. Over the course of the book, she colours in the blanks, slowly revealing what has happened between the end of Captive and the beginning of Seduced as Livvie unwillingly recounts her experiences to the members of the FBI assigned to her case, the aggressive Agent Reed and the quietly perceptive Dr Sloan. Cleverly, she frustrates both them and the reader, revealing partial truths and giving selective accounts, forcing those listening to her tale to knit together the threads of her ordeal and discover what she – and Caleb – have gone through since we last saw them. Least you be worried that Caleb is completely hidden from view, don’t panic. He is still very much a part of the story, his third person presence peppered between Livvie’s first person narrative, providing support and cadence to the tale being told – and revealing his inevitable crumbling in the face of his past, his future and his feelings for Livvie.
I have asked myself many, many times why I empathise and, yes, actually like Caleb. He is everything I should abhor: a human trafficker, a murder. But there is something in him that just barely stops him falling into the category of irredeemable villan. Does he hurt Livvie? Yes, physically and mentally. Is he a good person? Not really. He’s certainly no candidate for sainthood. I can only boil it down to one thing – that his life, over which he’s had virtually no control, has dictated who he is. He was made. As he himself says:
‘I wasn’t born a monster’
Watching Caleb in Seduced in the Dark was close to painful and he affected me far more than any other character, because, in the end, I saw him as the victim. Seeing him dismantle himself, emotional stone by emotional stone, and eventually confront a ghastly truth (a truth I actually suspected at the end of book one) left me feeling very raw. But his erosion, the torture of his character, never felt gratuitous. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was necessary and a big reason why the book’s conclusion works – both in terms of plausibility and from a moral point of view.
Partway through the novel, Livvie says the following of Caleb:
‘In the dark, he seduced me. I didn’t want the seduction to end.’
Livvie’s acknowledgement is undoubtedly valid but the truth is that it’s actually her who seduces him. She who shines light on the man dwelling in the shadows and makes him consider the infinite blackness around him.
I’m not going to talk about the more major secondary characters in Seduced in the Dark – Dr Sloan, Agent Reed, and Caleb’s acquaintance Rafiq – because I think that it’s important their respective roles in the story are discovered by the reader. I will say, however, that I was intrigued by the byplay between the two FBI agents and I get the sense that Roberts, while concluding Caleb and Kitten’s story with Captive in the Dark, has left the door wide open for a tale involving the two of them.
There is a song I adore by Placebo, Running up that hill, a wonderful cover of an original Kate Bush track. It’s not cheerful. It’s not flowery. The lyrics are painful. It’s about hurt and dark places. And it seduces me every time time I hear it. Seduced in the Dark is its literary equivalent and I loved it.
Tickle your fancy? Click on the following links to buy Seduced in the Dark: Amazon.co.uk (Kindle ; Paperback), Amazon.com (Kindle ; Paperback).
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