Pliable Mind

by Thomas Carver

Geoff is totally gonna fail public speaking. Every time he stands up, his hands sweat and he can't say anything but "um." Fortunately, Patrick, the weird guy who lives in the single at the end of the hall claims to know hypnosis, and after a few minutes of slow talking, Geoff's stage fright is gone.

But something else appears in its place: an unexplained attraction to Geoff's dorm roommate and the other members of the lacrosse team. Geoff starts to suspect that Patrick may have planted more than just confidence in his subconscious. He's pretty sure that hypnosis can't really turn a straight guy gay, especially not a pastor's son from Iowa. But something is making him obsessed with those lean California LAX jocks.

And worse, that same power seems to be affecting his alpha-male roommate, too. It's only a matter of time, Geoff knows, before one or the other of them gives in to the depraved desires planted in the backs of their minds, unless Geoff can somehow escape the sinister power that Patrick exerts over them both.

Genres: Romance

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2019

About the author

Thomas Carver lives the dream, with one foot in the midwest and one on the west coast. He's been seen at the opera and at the biker bar, a cocktail party and the alley behind the dumpsters. He's worked in the hot sun and the air-conditioned office, and knows all the gradations of pleasure between caviar on his tongue and sand between his teeth.

Reviews

[Teal]

DNF @ 48%

This is nasty.

If nasty is your thing, you might want to check it out. Carver is a very good writer, and he seems to excel at creating 1st-person narrators who are so unlikable that you can't wait to see bad things happen to them. And then he dishes out the bad things.

Unfortunately I'm finding everyone here deeply unlikable. And nasty does not float my boat. So, at halfway through, I have no emotional investment in the story.

I keep trying Carver's books because of how impressed I was by Just A Game. It wasn't nasty, exactly, it was more... rough. Yeah. Really rough. Which is not my kink, but the story was so well done that it didn't matter. Since then, I'll occasionally pick up -- and DNF -- one of his other books, hoping to find another that works for me, but so far no luck. Any sensible person would give it up for a lost cause. But this isn't the only author I've had this experience with -- impressive first read, everything else a flop -- and my track record says I'll keep hoping, the eternal optimist in only this one small area of my life. Oh well. If ever I do find another one of his books I like as much as Just A Game, you will certainly hear about it.

[Ed Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book by Thomas Carver. Every author has a style of story telling that sets them apart. Thomas Carver hits all my buttons. I love how he writes totally different stories, but there’s something about them that just resonates with me.

[Shagstudent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suggestable, Sexual, and Sustainable

When you’re young and hormonal, who can ask for anything more! Thomas Carver’s foray into hypnotic technique kept this reader on the edge throughout. Giving in to sexual subconscious fantasies just feels so right.

[Donna]

Dnf @56%

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good. Carver usually deals with themes such as humiliation, dominance, submission, and here you get those things framed around the issue of hypnosis. The characters are interesting enough, although kinda generic Carver tropes, but the MC has some interactions that raise the stakes between obsession and stalking.

The sex scenes are ok. Not scorching but then they're not meant to be. This is all about the mindfuck.