Captive in the Dark

Dark. Holy mother of god dark. I feel almost as mind f-d as the girl in the story. I had to remind myself at times that she was being raped, it is rape. So many mixed emotions with this story. Props to the author though, she went balls to the wall on this one. Absolutely no compromise in this story, characters are who they are and their actions show this. Going to step away for a while before I read the sequel to get a better feeling and process the story. I have always gravitated towards gray characters and darker stories but I may have just found my hard limit.

I am really torn about what to rate this book. I don't want to give it a full 5 out of 5 stars due to the subject matter of 'sex slaves'. But I can't deny how wonderfully written this book was, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't captivate me from the very beginning. Every emotion and every feeling Livvie is experiencing can be felt coming through the pages. Fear, anger, sadness, hopelessness, and pain are the main ones you feel and are meant to feel. The last things that you want to feel toward her captor, Caleb, but begin to do so are curiosity, passion, and hope. Livvie's survival and raw primal need to somehow get through this, especially toward the end, is gripping.
This book makes you think and wonder at things you don't ever show more desire or want to happen to you or to any person you love, but it opens your eyes to a world that most certainly takes place and to things we take for granted daily.
I am going to keep my rating at 4 out of 5, but I'd be lying again if I didn't say I sway more toward the 5 out of 5. show less

I enjoy the dark and twisted. Seriously I do. I’m messed up that way. From the enthusiastic star rating and gushing endorsements (is that a gross adjective to use here?), I thought I would be able to get into this more than I did.

Dark and twisted is what came to mind when reading this one’s blurb. The artsy cover (love it), combined with the plot description, makes it promise to be something different, something daring. It probably would have worked better if I was a straight out erotica fan, but unfortunately, despite the brief stalking session and Caleb’s initial exploration, it jumps too quickly into action before I gave a damn about either of the characters or any eroticism that could result between them.

Stockholm Syndrome is show more never hot. Some may argue that is not what she has but she matches all of it to a T. She has no other reason to start getting emotion for him with how he treats her and what he plans to do with her. There is no great characteristic about this man that stands out and makes him shine in the dark he traps her in. For them to have bonded is because he made her completely psychologically dependent on him.

Yes, she’s a strong character for her situation, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to this unfortunate side effect. She’s a vulnerable, unloved person with horrible self-esteem who wears baggy clothes that hide her body.

She’s kidnapped by a ‘slave trader’ who wants to break her, train her, and sell her off to an enemy for his own purposes. The story possibly could be exciting, could have worked in a twisted, off the wall way, but instead I find a broken “master” who is plagued by his own self-doubts and tragic past. A decently likeable heroine who had no logical rhyme or reason for feeling anything other than hatred and horror toward this man. The sexual stimulation makes little sense to me considering what’s going on.

The first half had what I suppose is found to be the troubling kink by the majority. After a scene or so the kink pretty much never happens again.

The pacing is relatively slow and Caleb’s reasoning behind what he’s doing seems too thin a motive to carry this story all the way through. Also is there a rule with this type of erotic fiction that the dominant male can only be abused and emotionally terrified of other people?

Writing style is actually decent. The author is able to convey desperation well. She also avoids melodrama, which is easy to lapse into with this type of tale. As a negative, some of the girl’s inner monologue is not believable with it’s phrasing later on.

Overall I grew bored quickly, not stimulated, found the emotional background of Caleb cliché, and had no empathy for the heroine being able to develop realistic attraction and emotions. This story is in no way filled with kink and experimentation after the first half, but instead sinks into woes and angst. It is dark, it is risky, but it doesn’t make a good story or anything erotic. show less

Wow, well..... I have read a few reviews about this book and a lot of people described it as dark. It did not strike me as dark as some other books did for some reason but just very cruel.

The main male character Caleb the Abductor is displaying psychopathic behaviour from beginning till the end of the novel and his POV is blood-chilling to read. The clear detached manipulation of the mind of his captive got me angry on more then one occasion and I found myself silently praying for our girl to get a chance to run away. Second thing that was good about this novel was he fact that I tried to understand Livvie's reactions to all that torture and conditioning. Fact of the matter is I still haven't got a clue how to react. Her position was show more horrible, and there is nothing I could conclusively write that would support her decisions or not. What would any of us do if we found ourselves in such a situation? Not knowing will you live or die, not knowing that if you live it would possibly be a fate worse then death....brrrrrrrr....

The biggest impact that the author delivered was awareness. The fact that sadly human trafficking is real and happens every day. Maybe not under these exact conditions but it does. I must admit that I am curious how did CJ Roberts envision this story to end and will read the books to follow. show less

In my continuing 2013 quest to read things that have been on my Kindle for a really long time, I finally got to this one.

Ok. Where to begin? Is it well written? Definitely. Did it hold my interest? Yes. Did I find it thought-provoking? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No. Do I have to have enjoyed it to find it worth reading? No. Am I conflicted about Caleb? Not one bit.

Caleb's a sick SOB & no amount of recounting how he came to be such, did a thing to sway me to rooting for, liking or absolving him. I knew I wasn't going to be giving this guy any passes when it was disclosed that he'd watched Livvie through the fence at her highschool for weeks before she's taken. Really. I was interested in him in the same way one is interested in the show more criminally insane & sadistic. In that way that you would sit on a jury & not flinch as he's sentenced to spend the rest of his days in a locked down psychiatric facility with a team of MDs & PhDs trying to unwind his psyche. Call me a provincial chica, I don't want the heroine to "help" this guy. He can't be "loved" better. There is no special snowflake that can "fix" him. He needs clinicians to get to work on that. For years. And even then, not a guy I'd spend a second whinging on about his damage, scars & feelings.

That is what I felt as I read this book. I didn't feel sympathy or solace or anything close to redemption relating to Caleb. And to my mind, that's perfectly fine. He wasn't acting out fantasies, he was perpetrating a criminal endeavor on Livvie. He felt absolved at times because he deemed actions "her choice" but there's no freedom in the matter when the underlying act is against one's will. What I did get & find utterly fascinating with regard to Caleb, is the question: When is it that you become the thing you hate on your quest for revenge? And how just is your cause when you've destroyed & damaged innocents in the the way others did to you when you were so? That old proverb about digging two graves when you begin your quest has always fascinated me. So that, was my only draw to read on about Caleb. And yes, I wanted him to die at the end of this whole thing. I hold hope that he still meets his end in the second book. No matter how things played out, I couldn't get past the notion that Livvie was not Caleb's first captive. He'd done this before to other girls & women all in aid of his quest to get to Vladek. And the fact that the "Flower Auction" is about obtaining virgins, leads me to believe that the ages of the captives is not a strict 18 out of some moral obligation to keep it on the legal age side. Girls. NOT women. Livvie being marked as "special" & having "got to him" for this story didn't take that ugly angle away & even if no one else cared about the others, their fates & Caleb's hand in it, I did. We have not so nice government funded facilities for people who kidnap, violate & sell people because those are actual crimes & Caleb is a perfect candidate to wend away his days in one.

Very early on in the story, I was hoping this was Livvie's recounting of what happened to her to the authorities. Her point of view read that way to me. I'm still hoping to find that it was so. She had my sympathies & that she further became a victim of Stockholm Syndrome was even more sad though completely understandable. I'd allow it for any person in that situation, but definitely for an 18 year-old highschool girl. She was not, to me, a reliable narrator because of the situation she was in. She vacillated between states. At one point, she mused that he had always been in control of himself with her & had always explained why he was doing one thing or another. Per the other POV supplying Caleb's story, this simply is not true. It's clear that Livvie does not have anything near the whole of her story, by her own words, but she allows herself sometimes to think that she does. She compartmentalized, rationalized & sometimes, idealized what had been done to her. That she wondered at why he was like this when he was so handsome & could surely get women easily, as if being good looking gave some sort of bye on being a sick soul, was sad & disturbing. Not in a "How can she think that given what he's done to her" but in a broader "No one should have that expectation & allowance to begin with" way. I couldn't get over the beating & the rape & the original stalking & kidnapping to consider anything that happened consensual on any level but allowed that she needed have her veil to view through. Coercion & want of survival negates any physical response, positive (or temporarily powerful) feelings toward Caleb that Livvie felt. He wasn't a choice. He was a self-imposed lack of options & one of last resort. If nothing else, it was an interesting character study of an abused & detached character. Actually two.

Caleb's part being told in third-person was a good device because I really didn't want to get any closer to this guy than I already was. It was a welcome & for me, necessary, distance. For all his supposed conflict & feelings for her, in the end his issues & personal vendetta against Vladek outweighed the damage he'd wrought on Livvie. She was just going to have to deal, because he had some unresolved stuff & this was the only way that HE was going to be free & better in the end. She was still another link in the chain of women he'd used to attain his goal. That he admits it doesn't make him sympathetic & neither does that little introspective attempt at the 94% mark. That she accepted the inevitability of it doesn't make her free. But I do applaud the author throwing in that Livvie was going to attempt to go all out wanton seductress to counter the coveted virginal thing. I didn't buy her capable or inclined to a sex romp a day after she endured a gang beating complete with boot bruises all over, cracked ribs & a dislocated shoulder but... okay.

I've seen a lot of reviews by women who've raved & loved this but I haven't seen the masses saying they were handing this over to their husbands & boyfriends to take notes to be more like Caleb (a la Christian Grey). I find that interesting. I wonder if, all other things being equal, there'd be so much swooning if Caleb had been described as physically unattractive, fat, sweaty & hairy in all the wrong places (kind of like Tiny, because really, where it counts, Caleb, Jair, Tiny (& Tiny's friends) aren't so different).

One thing that did bother me was that the author gives somewhat random toss-in of Livvie having a boyfriend & siblings that she loves so much & feels responsible for but we never get anything from Livvie even hinting that she misses them at all. Livvie never even mentions her boyfriend's name in her narration. Though we do get a lot of her missing & conflicted feelings about her mother. There are also a few typos & misused words sprinkled around ("us" instead of "we"; "that" instead of "than"). I also must say that I didn't feel romance here or anything erotic & I checked, I still have my all-girl card. I definitely don't have whatever it is that the majority of reviewing readers have that triggered "hot & sexy" read. I got the "dark" bit. I'm just glad that I was able to find it interesting & worth having read. All this said, I have the second book on my Kindle, so I am going to read that next.

*Note* This is seriously an Adults Only read. Even then, proceed with caution & know your emotional limits. show less

The tricky thing about abusive relationships is that even the people in them don’t always realize that they are abusive. It is common for the participants (both abuser and victim) to have been victimized in the past, be it through neglect or active physical, sexual or psychological abuse. So often the dysfunction and abuse in their current relationship doesn’t seem bad or is more acceptable, because it isn’t “as bad” in comparison to what they’ve experienced in the past. The most complicated thing about these kinds of relationships is that sometimes these two very broken and dysfunctional people honestly do love each other, in so much they are capable of love.

All of this is true of both the characters in this romanticized show more abusive relationship.

Captive in the Dark is a fantastic example of why abusive relationships are so common, by utilizing two very powerful stereotypes about men and women, that are also very popular archetypes in books, movies and various forms media. Men are violent and domineering, while women are naive and weak. Therefore a man loves through force, and a woman loves through surrender.

In this story the reader is taken on an thrilling and emotional journey of learning how to love an abuser, while disempowering and blaming a victim for her abuse. It’s a pretty simple formula utilized by a lot a similar abuse/abuser fantasies. It is a very popular theme that can be found in almost every genre of romance from Fifty Shades of Grey to Beautiful Disaster, as well as many popular titles aimed at young adults.

It seeks to forgive the abuser for his many sins by giving him a sympathetic back story and a very earnest belief that he loves (or cares deeply) for his victim. Conversely, it casts the victim in the decidedly unsympathetic light, even when she is doing heroic or very understandable things, like resisting the abuser or attempting to leave the abusive situation.

What is the purpose of casting a victim in a negative light? Easy. It diminishes the many very real and horrible things the hero does to the victim, because “it could be worse” or “it wouldn’t be as bad if she wouldn’t fight him.” Suddenly all of the victims choices, that in the real world would be applauded as heroic, are cast in a negative light in the story. She is seen as being unreasonable, idiotic and even cruel/hurtful to the abuser’s feelings. After all, he loves and needs her. /sarcasm

The story begins when Caleb, a criminal in the sex trafficking industry, kidnaps the heroine with the intention of forcing her into training as a sex slave so that he may sell her to his enemy in an elaborate (aka convoluted) revenge plan. Based on the the set up alone this book screams dark, thriller or horror, not the erotica romance.

However, I don’t blame those who do see it as erotic and romantic, because the entire story is framed and presented as just that. Where a abusive, kidnapper is a reluctant hero and his unwilling victim is his lucky lady love.

Caleb is the protagonist of this story. It is HIS story of redemption and poor little Livvie isn’t even the antagonist. She’s merely the conduit through which he is finds forgiveness and love. Her resistance and reluctance to love her abuser is the obstacle that must be overcome.

If only she would give up her sense of self worth, and freedom to give him that love he so richly deserves. /sarcasm

Captive in the Dark is a actually very well constructed, though the writing isn’t that stellar (epic ellipse abuse, more telling than showing and an overwrought narrative style that made Caleb sound more like the aristocratic poet of a gothic novel opposed to a gritty streetwise criminal). The story pulls the reader in with the taboo titillation of seeing through the eyes of a predator, but it is littered with cut-away flashbacks and carefully worded internal thoughts that attempt to justify his actions and induce the reader to forgive Caleb’s loathsome behavior.

Judging by the glowing reviews and vocal fans of the series, it works. That alone shows that this book/series is worthy of recognition. Though, I withhold my praise, and respect when all of this work is being put forth to paint an abuser as hero, at the expense of his young, female victim.

I’m not going to judge people who like this book, because honestly I’ve loved a ton of books with questionable content. Rather I’m hoping that people who enjoyed this book, and feel affection for Caleb stop the next time they hear a story about a victim of domestic, sexual or any other kind of abuse.

When they wonder “why did she stay,” I want them to consider that maybe that victim loved their abuser as much as Livvie (and the readers) loves Caleb.

PS Sometimes it bothers me how when we turn the very real horrors of others (like victims of sex trafficking) into a titillating plot device for our entertainment and how that can diminish the true horrors experienced by the real victims. It is the privilege of the safe and empowered to play at being victims, while real victims suffer and die in obscurity. That issue makes me ponder the ethics of books and entertainment like this, not because it portrays this dark reality, but because it does so at the expense of realism and contributes to a misogynist narrative in our society. /end rant show less

Have you ever been recommended a book by a friend who swears that you will love it, no matter what qualms you might have about reading it? And you DO read it, because you trust that friend's recommendation, only to start to question your entire friendship with that friend because how in the fuck did your friend think you would actually LIKE this book?

Well, that just happened to me.

Basically, this book is a rather poorly written tale about Stockholm syndrome with a victim falling for her sadistic and abusive kidnapper. It's not sexy in the least; it is straight up abusive and disgusting, and I'm honestly concerned that this book has such a high rating.

It can be argued - didn't you know what you were getting into when you started reading show more this book?

In a way, yes. I knew that it was "dark." But I had been (falsely, it turns out) promised that it is "so much more" than a Stockholm syndrome rape victim falling for her irredeemable abuser.

It is not.

It is not.

I would now like to scratch my brain with steel wool until I forget that I read this. show less