Bloody Passion
Laura Tolomei
eXtasy Books
Oct 31, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55487-417-0
eBook
158 Pages
Dark Fantasy, Gay, Horror, Ménage, Paranormal, Shape Shifting, Halloween, m/f, m/m, m/m/m
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Cedric was brought to a Druid for training when he was just a boy. “…he has dark connections,” claimed his mother. Perhaps, but these did not show through until one day, many years later, when his mentor abruptly left their village, claiming the darkness around Cedric and that which would certainly follow was too great to be overcome.
Sure enough, a creature of the night arrives and begins to steal the village’s animals as prey. The resultant hiring of a hunter and the friendship between he (Rory), the Druid (Cedric) and a young man named Newlyn, seals the fate of all involved.
One beast is killed, only to release an even greater and more evil monster. To capture this one, Cedric must solve the puzzle of a terrible nightmare that has plagued him for years, one he intuitively knows will reveal things better left buried.
In Bloody Passion Laura Tolomei has written a tight short story about the true, mixed nature of man, and what can happen if that nature is not controlled or put to work for the forces of good. I say short story, because the rest of her novel is filled with page after page of explicit male on male sex and an occasional m/m/m or m/f/m Ménage à trois.
This brings me to the critical portion of my review. First, Laura has/had no way of knowing I have publicly stated I will read no further works from eXtasy books. She sent me the book for review because we are internet friends. Having agreed in advance to the review, I will complete it.
There are the two issues I have with eXtasy books: Regarding the first book I read from this company, they stated quite clearly they were not taking editorial responsibility for the work being published; second, the sex was so much more prevalent than story, that I felt the story was nothing but a structure on which to hang the erotica. I went so far as to say there was an uncomfortable similarity to pornography.
Laura’s book? First of all, the editorial disclaimer does not appear in this book. Second, the overall calibre of writing is very good, although I did pick up on several misspelled, missing and misused words that a competent proofreader should have caught. The mistakes did not affect my reading experience. Third, while I feel there was again a disproportionate amount of sex to story, the work felt like a legitimate piece of fiction.
Bloody Passion went beyond my comfort zone for M/M erotica, but the book kept me engaged from start to finish. Laura Tolomei writes this type of fiction with a sure hand and obvious skill. If sizzling hot m/m erotica interests you, then I would say Bloody Passion will reward you for your time.
Copyright: © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009
I would like to understand something.
In the rewiew you say that you liked the story even though there was too much sex. You say that this story kept you engaged until the end, but there’s something strange. A lot of sex, between whatever genders or numbers, doesn’t mean there’s no storyline and it remains a very good novel.
But it seems to me that you have talked too much about your dislike for the publisher, which has nothing to do with the story and this is not fair especially because you called this a book’s rewiew.
By all means I spent a very intriguing and exiciting time reading this book.
Piero
Pingback: New Horror Review from Clayton Bye | world of fiction
My best answer is that I consider the publisher as playing a huge role in the final presentation of the book and it, in fact, should be mentioned (when necessary) in a book review.
Next I would point out the positives mentioned in the review:
“In Bloody Passion Laura Tolomei has written a tight short story about the true, mixed nature of man, and what can happen if that nature is not controlled or put to work for the forces of good.”
“the overall calibre of writing is very good,”
“The mistakes did not affect my reading experience.”
“while I feel there was again a disproportionate amount of sex to story, the work felt like a legitimate piece of fiction.”
“Bloody Passion went beyond my comfort zone for M/M erotica, but the book kept me engaged from start to finish. Laura Tolomei writes this type of fiction with a sure hand and obvious skill. If sizzling hot m/m erotica interests you, then I would say Bloody Passion will reward you for your time.”
At The Deepening World of Fiction, I look at all aspects of a book and then state my opinion as clearly as possible.
I’m glad you enjoyed reading Bloody Passion.
Clayton Bye
Editor and Reviewer
Clayton Bye is one of the fairest, most even-handed, and even GENEROUS reviewers I’ve ever had occasion to read. It’s part of the reason why I’m thrilled he agreed to review for The Deepening.
My guess is that, if Clayton found the sex a bit over-the-top, I would have found it downright trash. That he says it borders on pornographic, especially considering that Clayton has a very even-handed definition of erotica versus porn, I’d say that, for most, this book is way over the top of what would be defined as quality literature.
The author and her fans/friends/clique/pals/supporters should be thrilled to have gotten this balanced and positive a review of a work that, were I to have received it for review, I probably would have sent it back with a fresh load of stinking hog manure as packing.
I guess DLKeur you are one of the fans/friends/clique/pals/supporters of Clayton then.
Your response is so hilarious and so not objective!
live long and prosper… on the shadow of Clayton of course! ha ha ha
Well, let’s see. He calls it fairly. He’s my editor-in-chief here at The Deepening. And, quite honestly, I bin ALL erotica. It’s not literature, in my opinion. It’s wet panty titillation for the sick of mind and/or endorphine addicted OCD perverts.
Thanks for defending me Dawn, although I think the comment wasn’t worthy of a reply. Personal attacks or slights are to be ignored and never condoned. I will be deleting the comment.
To change the topic, I don’t necessarily agree with your stance on erotica/GLBT. There’s such a demand for these books that some epublishers are putting out new books every day.
What I do believe and support are books of this type that are written as story first. In fact, it is my public position that if you take out the erotica and still have enough substance left for an interesting story (or to create an interesting story), then it should not be considered pornography.
Unfortunately, most erotica written today fails that test. This makes your stance quite understandable, but as in any generalization, you are left painting legitimate writing with the same brush. It’s unfortunate and the offending publishers are a disgrace to the industry.
Oh, I wasn’t defending you, Clayton. I was defending me in my choice of editor and head reviewer. And I do think of most erotica as simply fodder for sick-minded perverts…just like Big R is for women who definitely lack fulfilling relationships.
DLKeur: oh dear… an harlequin vanilla missionary lover thinking that they are Pulitzer material! I wonder if you are any related to Clayton for responding so fast on my comment, that would explain the adoration you have for him.
Clayton: deleting comments that does feed your ego are extremely revealing. Your review is your opinion, comments should not praise only what you say. True reviewer would accept critics like authors and take the lesson of it.
As you wish. Your comment will remain.
I have no trouble accepting criticism. Not one bit.
However, I do not–ever–make my own criticisms personal in nature, as you have been doing with Dawn.
I suggest we call it a day… unless you wish to publicly apologize to Dawn.
HA! You are SO funny, Frederique. I HATE Big R, abhor missionary anything, and avoid like plague anything angst-driven. I much prefer a nice hard SF, a well-written action-adventure, thriller, mystery, suspense, or crime/detective. I adore an excellently written historical. I enjoy a classic romance (Look that one up before you leap yourself into the gooey, sticky stuff, because classic romance has nothing at all to do with girl meets boy/boy meets girl.), and the occasional real love story.
LOL thanks for the laugh… apologize to who again? she is nobody and trash a genre that she knows nothing about. She is just a groupie worshiping your feet. SHE should make public apologizes to erotic authors or maybe you should educate her that most of the erotic authors do have pen names and they also publish mainstream and urban fantasy. Adios!
Actually, Frederique, you are quite mistaken. I’m so far away from groupie status that it ain’t even funny. I use groupie for target practice at the range. As to “trashing” an entire genre, it’s born in the trash bin, and I’m certainly not going to rescue it from its fate just to bin it again.
WOW! I never tought I could start a WAR!
I was just cecking the net to see if Laura was releasing a new book, and I fell on this rewiew again. I didn’t remember it at first, but then I felt tha same when I started reading it, so… the fun started: I always enjoy a good exchange of opinions, and I really appreciate the ones that have been stated here except for one. I clearly remember that the poem “Howl” by Alan Ginsberg was under trial because somebody claimed it as not literature at all, accusing it to be pornography. Recently I appreciated the movie that explained the whole story using also parts of the trial. From that movie I understood that it is very difficult to say if a novel or a poem or anything that is written can be defined as literature (good or bad) in an objective way. So I really appreciate the work of rewiewers also because I couldn’t do the same, BUT I would never state publicly that something is trash. Rather, I would say that I don’t like it, that this is not my kind of literature, that I would not recommend it, and that’s because I would never state it as a universal truth, but as my own opinion.
I respect everybody’s opinions, and I always keep in mind that universal truths are a form of dictatorship.
Thanks for the fun fight you gave me, but I reccomend not to became personal because it is never good to judge people particularly those you don’t know.
You’re right. Frederique has so stuck his/her foot in it by passing judgement on who and what I am, what I like to read, and the rest of his/her ungrounded supposition.
I have clearly stated that I do not welcome Erotica. I have never and do not consider it literature or even grant it pulp status. However, what Clayton does is his to do; what I do is mine.
We make it very easy here: I won’t condemn it if I don’t see it. If you ask me, though, or, if you challenge me or mine about it, then you’ve opened the door for a response and respond I do.
I would like to clarify something…
This is from an earlier reply: “it is my public position that if you take out the erotica and still have enough substance left for an interesting story (or to create an interesting story), then it should not be considered pornography.”
Did you notice I say “it should not be considered pornography.” I was very careful to not say what I think of such a piece of fiction. BECAUSE I do my best to approach each book I review with an open mind and always remembering that A REVIEW IS NOTHING BUT SOMEONE’S OPINION, most often solicited by an author or publisher.
With this said, Fredrique’s impolite verbal attacks are not opinions (those I would welcome)–they are acts of aggression. And while Dawn is quite able to take on all comers, I will not tolerate such behavior.
Fredrique, if you can keep a civil tongue in your head, you are more than welcome to discuss my review of Bloody Passion by Laura Tolomei. Otherwise, I will ban you from this site.