Michael Dunellen on Books

Some of my comments are going to be related to the first book so if you haven't read that don't read this.In the first book, it was pretty strongly implied that Judgement was in Italy. This one specifically states that it is. Just how this little criminal organization run by a bunch of over-egoed frat boys continues to exist, we still have no idea. It was interesting that the library was 20 years old. There was, of course, the reference to the LAPD, which kind of makes no sense if you think about it, but Callie and even Mischief never actually appear."So there is such a thing as a natural submissive. Fascinating."I found that line so annoying and frankly more than a little troubling. It took this clown that long to figure it out? But it apparently didn't prevent him from beating innocent women for the last decade or so.Personally, I would love a little quality time with Master Boyden myself but I'll get to that."If not for you, I would have been mistress and maybe now I would be free!"Interesting that their vaunted brainwashing skill is not always 100 percent effective. And while she was a thoroughly unlikable character, you kinda got admit she did have a point.Okay now... Mary... Mercy...whatever.Things worked out in the end, I guess, but I kind of wish someone had pointed out there are easier ways to find the Dominant lover you are looking for: clubs, classified ads, even the Internet... I realize that would have hampered the story just a bit, but still.As for Judgement, unlike Callie, I wasn't too bothered by anything that happened since she chose to be there. Except for...The strapping scene. It really struck me that it is kind of cowardly for a writer to tell us that the protagonist is getting a 250-stroke strapping and we only see 20 percent of it. It isn't that I was disappointed, I am just not buying it. The reason she stopped at 50 is that it wasn't believable after that and so it wasn't writable. And it should have stopped at 50.I was actually prepared to give this 4 stars since the story was mostly consensual but the part of the ending involving the murderer reminded of the fact that I want to see Tane and his merry band of sociopaths in prison at the very least.