Darkness Bound

by Larry Brooks

Two strangers with a taste for unusual sexual pastimes embark on a private game of sexual fantasy and perversion, a game that soon turns deadly, in a chilling tale of erotic obsession, betrayal, madness, and murder. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

It went a little something like this:

Karen: Hi honey, I'm home from the women's conference my shrink sent me to. Guess what? I want a divorce.

Dillon: Aw, man! Is it my leather fetish?

Karen: Ew! Get out.

Dillon: Man, living in this motel sucks. At least I'm a hotshot stockbroker so I can use my 2 hour lunch to do my favorite thing: shop at Nordstrom's!

Hot Chick: You like what you see?

Dillon: Wow! It's a girl dressed in black leather! Shaaa-WING!

Dillon's Boss: Hey, honeybuns. C'mere.

Dillon: Yessum? By the way - I love how you're all bossy and stuff. If only you wore black leather, and weren't hideous...

Dillon's Boss: Knock it off, hotshot. Hey, here's a primo career opportunity. Invest this union group's retirement fund. And don't screw it up. See ya later, sweetheart.

Ring-ring-ring

Dillon: Hello?

Hot Chick: It's exactly midnight. Isn't that significant and erotic? Just wanted to mesmerise you with the sound of my voice. From here on out, you'll be ridiculously obsessed with me and my black leather outfit.

Dillon: Umkay.

Hot Chick: Meet me at x bar. Tomorrow. I'll bring my cigarettes.

Dillon: Hot dawg!

Hot Chick: Jeez, is this 1986 or 2001? Why am I dressed like Tawny Kittaen in a Whitesnake video?

Dillon: I'm sorry. Did you say something? I can't stop watching you smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Shaa-

Hot Chick: Yeahyeahyeah, I know - shaa-WING. Here. Let's make out in the parking lot, and then I'll make sporadic midnight phone calls to you over the next few weeks.

Karen: Dillon, what are you doing here? I'm going out to see my new friend. Who is suspiciously similar to YOUR new friend. I don't have time to talk to you.

Dillon: Er. Alright. I don't really know why I'm here anyway.

Karen: Wait! I think I still love you!

Dillon: Squee! Really!

Karen: No. Nevermind. Just kidding.

Dillon: Aw.

Karen: I might love you again if you didn't have that that icky leather fetish. It's just so...so...fetish-y. Blah.

Dillon: That's ok. Cuz I have a girlfriend who calls me at midnight, sometimes. And she let me kiss her once. And she gave me some really tasty inside stock information that I completely trust, because she's always wearing black leather, and I made the most important client investment of my whole career based on her tip. All of our money is tied up in it, too. Oh - and, um, she dresses in black leather all. The. Time.

Karen: God, I hate you.

Hot Chick: Well, Dillon, now that we've slept together, I feel, like, so, connected to you.

Dillon: Gulp - I can't believe you actually have a tattoo. Your edginess knows no bounds. I love you. Black leather. Gaaaaaaaahhhhh...

Hot Chick: Meet me on Monday at blahblah hotel in Canada. I made your flight reservations. When you arrive, sit at the bar till x o'clock. Flirt with the male bartender. At x o'clock, not one minute sooner, go up to the room. I'll be watching - if you don't follow instructions - no dice.

Dillon: Sha-WINNNGGGG!!!!!

Benjamin: You missed your last appointment, Dillon. What, do you think I'm JUST a psychiatrist? How am I supposed to be established as a minor character with potential if you never keep your appointments?

Dillon: Yeah. Sorry about that. Should I tell you some more about my mother?

Benjamin: Absolutely.

Dillon: Wow. That bartender wasn't the least bit interested in me. He must not be gay. He should've been all OVER this. And - oh, holy crap! There's a hog-tied, naked, fat dead guy in this hotel room! Eep! It's Mr. High Society! OMG! I think...I think...OMG, I think Hot Chick set me up! Wait. I know. I can fold up that fat man, stow him on the bottom shelf of this room service cart, and hide him with the table cloth. Then, I'll put him in the trunk of his car, and drive him to his house and ditch the car. That'll put Hot Chick in hot water. Heh. See what I did there?

Hot Chick: Wow, men sure are stupid. Here, want some more wine?

Karen: Yeah. Wine always makes me tell you even more secrets about Dillon. I'm so glad I met you at that women's conference that my shrink, Benjamin, sent me to. Between the two of you, you managed to convince me to kick Dillon out of the house. You can knock it off with the backrub, though. That's kind of weird.

Dillon: Thank goodness this multi-million dollar estate doesn't have a security system, or any staff on site. Otherwise, I'd never have been able to get into the house after I left Hot Chick's husband's car in the garage.

Hot Chick: Dillon! What are you doing here?

Dillon: Setting you up.

Hot Chick: Nuh-uh. [executes plot twist] I'm setting YOU up. Now you're a suspect in my husband's disappearance, AND your career is in the toilet because of that fake stock tip.

Dillon: No. [reverses Hot Chick's plot twist] I'm setting YOU up. Now you think I'm in love with you, and you think we got rid of hubby's body, but it's really in my freezer.

Hot Chick: Dude. [tries another plot twist] I'm totally setting YOU up. Now you think I'm buying your stupid plan and I'm gonna give you a million bucks.

Dillon: Whatever. [undoes Hot Chick's plot twist and tries one of his own] Now YOU think I'M buying YOUR stupid plan, AND I figured out that you and Benjamin have been in cahoots since the beginning, AND I've got the detective who investigated your last murder on my side. We've got a plan.

Hot Chick: Wait. I lost track. I have no idea what's going on anymore.

Karen: It doesn't matter. Because even though I'm in the process of divorcing Dillon, and I kind of thought I hated him, when he asked me to help him plant a 3 day old corpse in the engine room of his lover's yacht, and then spend a couple hours in there with it while the rest of the plan played out, how could I say no? After that, though, I'm going to throw a wrench in everyone's plans, because I came up with a plan that doesn't suck.

Hot Chick: Oh. I thought it'd be over sooner. Like, 30 pages sooner.

Karen: Nope. Because after I lose the catfight, I end up hog-tied and almost suffocate while Dillon tries to kill you. He doesn't quite do it, but then Benjamin busts in and surprise! He finishes you off and cuts my ropes, then sails away with your corpse on the yacht. Or...something. Dillon and I get back together, though. And sometimes, I smoke cigarettes and wear leather gloves.

Hot Chick: Sigh.

The End.

Three stars - two for the book itself, and one because I had so much fun snarking it while I read.

[Sue Coletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another incredible thriller by Larry Brooks. I started to read this book without knowing anything about it and was initially thinking: Huh? He's writing about sadomasochism? But this is a Larry Brooks novel, so I knew I was in expert hands. And I was right. This intense story twists, turns, and flips upside down. Rather than shining a light on fetishes it focuses on how acting on one's own dark fantasies can go very, very wrong, where an attraction to the forbidden can turn deadly. I loved all the characters. When you find yourself rooting for everyone, including the antagonist, the author did a fantastic job of rounding his characters. Such is the case here. The Dark Lady is the antagonist, and I absolutely loved her! She was so fun to read. It's not often a male author can capture the essence of female characters without them sounding like they're written from a male perspective. Larry Brooks can and does. Besides the storyline, my favorite aspect of this novel was that all the characters were both good and evil. None were above showing their dark side when it suited them. This is a tough review to write because I'm dying to discuss the sharp rights, lefts, backflips, somersaults...I could go on and on. To ruin this story wouldn't be fair. You'll just have to get your own copy. Then come back to this review and let's chat. Until then!

[Kimberly Morehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first time reading this author, and I am happy that I did. I got the audio version read By James Patrick Cronin, who did a fantastic job! The story was crafted around a long series of relationships, lies, cheating, murder, betrayal and trust. A full cast of characters to get to know and follow on a sorted series of affairs. Grips you right from the start, throws in twists and turns often. Kept me entertained to the very end!

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommended that you overlook the mediocre ratings for this book and take it for a spin! I think you’ll be happy you did.

Note that I listened to the audiobook on Audible, it was narrated by James Patrick Cronin. There’s a possibility that my high rating on this book (compared to other readers on GR) could be due to the listening experience that a great narrator provides. It’s hard to say in this one.

I’m grateful that I didn’t see the rating for this book prior to listening to it on Audible. If I had, I probably would have put it at the bottom of my very long ‘to read’ list. Most often, I first review the ratings on GR prior making the decision for what book I will listening to next, and a book in the range of 3.0 is rarely one I choose to listen to. So, this is one of those times that I’m happy I didn’t look here first before listening. I dare you to take a chance with this one 😁

[J R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on Hoopla, Darkness Bound by Larry Brooks published October 1, 2000. This was Brooks first book and learned about this after reading Story Engineering. Since he wrote a book on writing I thought I’d read one of his books.

Brooks taught writing and has written many successful novels including books on writing. In fact, Brooks first published novel, Darkness Bound, sold to a major New York publisher on the very first submission, with virtually no changes or rewrites required, and that it went on to be a USA Today best-seller. “How? Certainly not because I'm the next Stephen King, a fact history has proven to be true. Rather, because it was designed and written according to the principles of the Six Core Competencies. And, because of the efficiency they imparted to the process, it took only eight weeks to write.”

Good read indeed

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

She sat very still in her husband's favorite chair, sipping an exquisite Pinot Noir as she watched him die. That is the first line of this book. First time author, Larry Brooks, weaves a wonderful tale about people who are, except for two of them, pretty normal but who end up doing some pretty twisted stuff. The book has some 1st novel awkwardness but is pretty darned good otherwise. I'm looking forward to his next one.

[📚🌶️✨ Carli ✨🌶️📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Left completely and utterly dizzy.

This book was entertaining, for sure. I mean, how is the author going to turn it around next? But, dang, it certainly made you feel like you were on a Merry-Go-Round. I’m steel reeling. I didn’t know what was going on until 50% of the way through. It was very unrealistic what with all the games and backstabbing. Maybe too elaborate? It was good, but just be prepared to be turned around about 5 times a chapter.

[Shon Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I just really love reading New Authors. It's always nice to read another version of Dark. This book had me struck with excitement adventure it had Dark appeal and very much sex appeal also. I enjoyed reading and listening to this book.

[Dhamiera Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no way to anticipate what's coming next in this story. it twisted with a capital T. Veronica was the definition of crazy and men were all her puppets. The narrators did an excellent job of changing his voice for each character. it made it very easy to follow.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read a book written by my favorite novel writing guru.

[Monica T · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was sort of good. Just really slow.I got tired of listening

[Spade Sixx · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off good at first, but it drags. It could have definitely been shorter and more to-the-point.

[KC Grubbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh

[Kaine Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a great deal of time while reading this book agonizing over what I was going to say about it when I was done. I first grabbed it, almost at random, thinking that the cover and the description sounded like a thriller and murder mystery. Going in, after the first thirty pages, I was almost ready to toss it aside as unbearable trash. After another 60 pages or so, I had been hooked and demolished the rest in a single marathon session, save for the last 30 pages or so. Those last 30 pages very nearly destroyed the affection I'd developed along the way.

Now, to be fair, the book is well written and an engaging read, once one gets past the initial veneer of fetish romance. Honestly, this section could have been omitted almost entirely and not hurt the final manuscript much. All we need to know about our hero, Dillon Masters, is that he's into things that are a little kinky. There are sections in the middle that get into his twists a little more, explaining them - as much as he or his psychologist are able to, at least - and that would have served. Instead we have to hear about his collapsing marriage - apparently a side effect of his perversions - and his troubles at work, in great detail. Some trimming here would have done wonders, but slogging through it leads us to the actual meat.

Once Dillon and his beautiful "Dark Lady" really get down to the nitty gritty and their "game" turns lethal, things pick up quite a lot. Several judiciously used sections with unreliable narration and all of the characters drawing on their deepest "survival of the fittest" instincts lead to an intricate dance and cat-and-mouse game, and the author keeps us hanging as to who's really playing with who until near the end. He does an admirable job, and all of the characters are well fleshed out and have (if not rational) good reasons for doing what they're doing and how. Several small vignettes featuring one of the characters as a child, laying the groundwork for their later troubles, are well done and paced and the manner in which the author describes them leaves it up to your own discretion as to who he's talking about. The punchline, when revealed, is immensely satisfying.

Then comes the downside. Once the real danger has been dealt with, and all our characters are safely in their designated holding patterns, things have to be spoiled by an entirely too sugar-and-spice ending. This seems to be a common theme... hmm. Regardless, it's entirely possible that it's just my own prejudices - those that say a crime is a crime, and inflicting pain and suffering should result in punishment, not reward, regardless if the individual so rewarded carries the title "protagonist" or not - that spoils this kind of ending for me. But I was not pleased with the "happy ending," nor the manner in which it was executed, though the author did at least acknowledge and create several extenuating circumstances that make for a handy package rather than ambiguity or ruin.

Overall, I'd say it's worth checking out. Beginning and end aside, there's still 340 delicious pages between them, with fast and well-written prose alongside too many double and triple crosses and shifts of character that are actually appropriate to count.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Darkness Bound was a very well written book in many ways. You could tell each of the characters apart throughout the book because each of their personalities were very different and special in their own way. The way it read throughout the whole book was very organized. As I was reading I rarely got confused about what was going on.
The 2 main characters in the book, Karen and Dillon, are married. In the beginning their marriage is not going smoothly and Dillon isn't really staying at their house they have together. Dillon meets a mysterious woman named Veronica while he's at the mall one day and they end up having an affair as their relationship progresses. Veronica ends up being a little more than just mysterious, but also very dangerous too. She sets up Dillon and tries to frame him for murdering Veronica's husband. This is where the story starts out and it goes down a very long path that finally reaches the end after everyone in each of their lives gets caught up in this whole situation, and each have their lives and views on everything changed forever.
I would recommend this book for people that like to be kept on their toes and enjoy a mystery. Also this book is good for somebody who enjoys romance that is caught up with the problems of everyday life and trying to overcome these problems to try and have a better or more exciting life. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone who has to try and figure out stuff and put clues together throughout reading the book because you have to do that sometimes throughout Darkness Bound. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and I liked reading it.

[Manugw · Rating 4 out of 5]

PSYCHOLOGICAL FICTION BLENDED WITH MYSTERY

Dillon, a stockbrocker obssessed with a rich Seattle socialite, the Dark Lady, experiences the sweet charms of hot kinky sex and at the same time the bitter taste of betrayal. He suddenly finds that he was the subject of a conspiracy to murder the rich husband of the object of his obssesion, he had been framed and is trapped in a web where is very difficult to figure out an alibi, there are as many possibilities as characters involved
In the plot, the author was more prone to delve deeply into the study of the different psychological motivations of men and women in their relationships where love, erotism, sex, money and power get involved than on the criminal side of the story and many times you will start to question about yourself and your dark fantasies

Mystery is well worked in some gripping chapters, it also displays a neat prose and the motivations for the key moves of all the characters are thoroughly explained

Most of the times it is very difficult for authors to find a good ending to rich plots, in this case there is an exception, I do not agree with other reviewers who expressed that the ending was dissapointing, Brooks has found a suitable ending in line with the story, he did not wrap up the plot with a flimsy invention.

Good for Brooks. this is an accomplished novel for a first time debut

[Christie (The Ludic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two strangers meet. A woman without inhibitions…a man without limits…for a private game between two consenting adults.

Yeah, so it’s obvious why I chose this book- but it didn’t turn out to be the book I expected. Instead of a book filled with kinky sex, this turned out to be a rather well written crime story, filled with lots of twists and turns. Dillon Masters and his wife, Karen, separate. Dillon’s a stock broker with a penchant for kinky sex - something his wife doesn’t exactly share. So, when the mysterious woman of his dreams – a woman who seems to know all his dark desires - walks into his life, he can’t resist indulging in his fantasies. Turns out that this ‘Dark Lady’ is far more dangerous than Dillon had first giddily anticipated.

Lucky for the reader, though, Dillon’s no slouch - he’s able to more than hold his own with her and Darkness Bound turns out to be not so much a book about naughty sex, as a cat and mouse thriller where the players try to outmaneuver each other.

I read it in an afternoon and had a ball.

[LaDonna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The synopsis on the back of the book is more interesting than the book itself. I'm all for a good thriller, or a good sex book, and if you can combine them that is awesome. This book fell short on all counts. The storyline is too convoluted and the character development just seems a bit off. Some characters focused on early in the book, and rather intriguing have very little substance later in the book (the parts where they are mentioned seem thrown in as afterthoughts) whereas some very key characters as the plot develops aren't much more than mentioned in the early parts. The taboo sex advertised on the back cover doesn't come to life on the pages. Overall, it had potential but I found it disappointing overall.

[veoneo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really had potential to be really good if it weren't for the long drawn out ending. The storyline climaxed around the middle of the book and the other half of the book was beating a dead horse to a conclusion. There were a lot of repetitive details, mostly everyone trying to screw everyone and how everyone's story had to change. It didn't just change that little blip in the timeline. The whole story had to be retold. I eventually started to bore of the story and wanted to give up on the story, but since I already read the climax, I figured might as well find out how it ends. I ended up speed reading and skipping over several sentences, which not surprisingly, did not even affect the story in any way.

[Laurie Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read suspense novels, but I enjoyed this one. Good amount of sexyness between the main characters. Lots of twists and turns, I had a hard time putting it down. I loved how they constantly kept one-upping each other.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at my local booktrader's book store on impulse. Very good read!! Kept me turning pages and liked how there were twists and turns. I usually read cozy mysteries, but this book kept me enthralled to see what would happen next with the characters.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really good suspense story. Red herrings abound. Edge of the seat stuff at the end.

[Bethany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Piss-poor book. Doesn't live up to exerpt or publisher's preview. Plot v. thin in areas, and strains credibility in many other areas.

[Vanillahugz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twisted tale of what can go wrong if fantasy meets reality worth a read for sure !

[Andrew Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns....with great mental games. For a first novel, I think it was very good.

[Daniel Singh]

For How to craft speech stories by inspiration from written stories

[Mahesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started pretty boring got exciting then took forever to finish.

[barbara]

this author rocks - his books are amazing