Title: The Human Cage
Series: N/A
Author: Wayne Mansfield
Genre: Contemporary / Erotic Romance / Horror
Length: Novella (138 pages)
Publisher: JMS Books (March 25th, 2013)
Reviewer: Thommie
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts
Blurb: Dale is a 23-year-old university student working on his thesis. Fortunately, rather than having to endure the interruptions and distractions at university, his “Uncle” Tom has invited Dale to stay with him at Walton Manor. In the countryside, he has plenty of space, almost continual silence, and a butler to cater to his every whim.
Dale and Tom have always had a mutual admiration for each other, and now they have the chance to explore this attraction. Yet Dale doesn’t count on falling in love with Dominic, the muscular Italian employed as Tom’s gardener.
Despite his feelings for Tom, Dale can’t help the fact that the more he sees Dominic, the more attracted he is. Unfortunately, Tom is a jealous man. Even worse, he reveals a hitherto unseen sadistic side, which frightens Dale. One night Tom’s jealousy boils over, and Dale finds himself punished for his feelings for Dominic.
From then on, Dale’s tranquil existence at Walton Manor is permanently shattered. Once things are set in motion, they are impossible to stop. After a final confrontation between Dominic and Tom, Dale discovers the most shocking truth of all.
Product Link: http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29&products_id=749
Review: Ah, this author, this author is driving me crazy. The more I’m reading his work, the more I feel like it’s a very peculiar one. Like an acquired taste. His characters are dare I say special, unique somehow, manly, or perhaps unearthed from the deepest depth of a very perverted imagination. You will find the typical gym ridden male bodies described in there and you will find the very ordinary, simply masculine typical guy, but the difference is that you will realize through his work that every single man is real. What aren’t real are the circumstances we meet these characters.
In this book, we meet Tom and Dale. Tom is forty years old, and honestly, this character is one of my favorites at large, description wise at least. I can’t stop thinking of the way his body is described in this book. As an individual, I’m not a fan of hairy men, but there was something about Tom’s body hair, the way the words were played in the text that I couldn’t shake off of my head. Damn it, every time I read another of this author’s book I feel like this huge pervert, peeking through a peephole at something that is not meant for my eyes.
Anyway, back to this story, I cannot begin to describe my frustration. This is one of them rare authors that have me opening a damn dictionary all along the read, yet he fails to create a serious plot. It’s like the plot is simply there as a means for the sex scenes and fantasies that are desperate to get out. You encounter every hidden fetish in there, forbidden acts, gangbang rape, bare-backing and cum-dump fantasies, all tangled in a mix of coarse and crude language and surreal background.
Dale here, is working on his thesis and his “uncle” is kind enough to invite him to his manor for the duration of his work. There is this infatuation the Dale harbors for his “uncle” Tom, this childhood fantasy, and idolization that leads at a weird kind of relationship between the men. Dale confuses all that with love and therefore allows Tom way too many things. But eventually Tom over steps the mark and Dale realizes that there is no turning back to the way he once felt for the man.
So far so good even if (again) it was very surreal. However when things between Dale and Tom take the down road, Dale immediately falls in love with Dominic… However, the raw, carnal scenes left no room for any romance in this book, and so Dale’s character came along as weak and poorly structured. His entire reaction to what Tom did to him, how he leapt into falling for Dominic, how Dominic was a mere body with no personality, and how Tom transformed from a mere human to… well much more. Oh dear, as I said the plot felt like mere means to all kind of sexual fantasies being played and in the end, the very END left me with my jaw hanging loose and me not quite so able to recover from the whole ordeal.
Bottom end as a book, story-wise, I don’t recommend it simply because there was no story worth reading in there. If, however, you’re in the mood of reading a very different kind of erotica, stripping it from all plot and baring it down to the “suck & fuck” scenes, keep in mind this is not your average erotica and you need a good stomach for this one. It is downright dirty and almost involuntarily arousing, with shocking elements and fantasies that have no place in real life, fantasies you might dare imagine but never act upon. You have been warned.
Now that being said I’m rating it 3 hearts because I’m that twisted and found this book oddly fascinating once I got my head around it.