Black Obsidian

I've written erotica, or porn, if you will, for thirty years and read it for forty. I worked at Penthouse, where the prose designed to make you jerk off was mass produced, and while it takes a talent to write it, it isn't what anyone would call literature. Black Obsidian, a tale of BDSM by Victoria Quinn, is about on the level of a letter in Penthouse Forum, only it goes on much longer.

With the popularity of the Fifty Shades books, it seems that there's a call for this kind of porn--men who dominate women. Now more than ever it's a tricky thing to write, because women who enjoy submitting to dominant males isn't a popular idea. But no matter how powerful the woman (and sometimes because she is powerful) it is a popular fantasy among women. Black Obsidian, I think, is geared toward women, but I suppose men could enjoy it, too.

The book is narrated by both the principles. Calloway Owens is the hunky dom, the head of a non-profit organization who is somehow filthy rich. He also, on the sly, owns a S&M club called Ruin, along with his brother (I have never talked about sexual fetishes with my brother). He has a sub, called Isabella, and has no plans on ever marrying or settling down. He doesn't even let women sleep over. This is how he describes himself: "Anytime I was out in the regular world, I wondered if anyone recognized me for what I really was—a dark and twisted asshole. The shit I was into turned most women away. The ones who were brave enough to stick around always changed their minds. My tastes were specific and they would never change, which was why I needed to stick to my world and not bother with the real one."

One day he is at a bar and a woman slaps him in the face, twice. Turns out she thinks he's someone else. She's Rome (these soap opera names!), and Calloway becomes obsessed with her. He doesn't just want to fuck her, he wants to make her his sub. He drops Isabella as if she were an old pair of shoes, and pursues Rome. He is of course tall and good looking, and has no trouble seducing her, but how to go about introducing her to the world of S&M? I might try incorporating it slowly, like with blindfolds, tying her up to the bed, or light spanking, but Calloway bosses her around like a tyrant. Unbelievably, she sticks with him. After all: "Nine inches of pure man with an impressive girth. He belonged in a porno."

And Black Obsidian is pornography. These two have all sorts of sex, though Rome has asked him to wait four weeks for intercourse. That doesn't stop them from oral sex. The sex is described in typical Penthouse fashion, with powerful orgasms and drenched sex organs, and no one is never not in the mood.

Quinn tries to elevate this by giving her characters pathetic backgrounds--Rome was abused in the foster care system (she even has a plate in her head!) and Calloway was beaten by his father--but it rings false. This book is about fantasy. If you've ever been in an S&M club, it's not like it's described here, it's more like looky-lous trolling through the demimonde. These two people are beautiful and smart, without pimples or warts.

Worst of all, this is the first book of a trilogy, so there's no resolution. I almost gave up reading this book because it was so trite, so I'm certainly not going to read any more about these characters. I hope it has a nice twist--that Rome is really a dominatrix and gets Calloway to be her sub. He really is a horrible character. I wanted him to die a gruesome death.

There is good S&M writing out there, from The Story of O to the Sleeping Beauty trilogy, by Anne Rice writing as A.N. Roquelare. Now that will make your hair stand on end!