Author: Lynn Kelling
Publisher: Forbidden Fiction
Cover Artist: Siol na Tine
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Publication Date: 04/12/2016
Length: Novel (~ 50K-100K)
Genre: Gay Fiction
Prequel to Arctic Absolution. It’s Jaye Larson’s nineteenth birthday, and all he wants is to spend time with his boyfriend and his mother—the people he loves most and who make life worth living. But, faced by his mother’s demons, the imperfections of his relationship with boyfriend, Kris, and dangerous, homophobic strangers, one by one, all of Jaye’s dreams are soon derailed. Plunging into a waking nightmare, shortly after going to bed alone, he wakes in an alley, pinned down by two men with slow, bloody rape and murder in mind. It’s just the start of Jaye’s fight for his life, and his sanity, as time and time again, he’s forced to make impossible choices and survive, no matter what it costs.
First of all I can’t believe it was the end of 2014 when I read Arctic Absolution. It is a sign of how much that book stuck with me that when I picked up Caged Jaye I very easily and readily picked up with Jaye’s character. This book explains so much. SO MUCH!
Starting this book even though Jaye was happy, excited to be celebrating his birthday and generally daydreaming about his future you just knew that Lynn Kelling was going to come in and destroy him. It was actually quite disconcerting waiting for that moment when it all went to hell and then when it happened it was gruesome, horrifying and a huge life altering experience. It was like being on a rollercoaster to hell with no opportunity to get off. Not only do you have to live through the assault you also have to stand by whilst he recovers and as he’s left broken and alone and the alone part of it is really very difficult. No one offers support or comfort. No one offers gentle words of reassurance. No one is there to see him off when he ends up in prison – its total author fuckery of your mind!
Gone is gentle Jaye whose most difficult task in life was to get his boyfriend to sleep with him. In his place is a terrified and traumatised young man who now has one goal in life – survival. Those good looks, that svelte figure and all that beautiful hair that in his old life were tools for flirting and feeling good about himself are now all he has left to ensure he stays alive. In a panic on the way to prison he devises a plan that could easily see him dead or worse and when he arrives he goes looking for the devil. The devils name is Cash.
Cash and his disciples are an interesting group who I went from hating to cheering and right back to hating again so many times I was dizzy. Jaye finds a saviour of sorts in Cash by selling himself and his soul but there were moments when Cash was gentle and that was like a balm to Jaye and it also made him more determined to do whatever the other man wanted. It was a trade pure and simple – Jaye kept his life by being Cash’s bitch.
I can’t begin to tell you about the torture and abuse that Jaye encounters in prison and to do so would detract from your reading experience. I will say it’s probably some of the most brutal I have read in a while, really this is Lynn Kelling far darker than even her usual shade of black. That being said it was worth it and I actually read it twice before writing this up.
If dark is your flavour then I would highly recommended.
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
I have a number of paperbacks, most of which are signed, to giveaway. Over the between now (11 Mar 2017) and 31 Mar 2017, every comment on the blog (this post and all other new posts), will be entered to win 1 of these paperbacks. There are also some misc swag items, so there will be a few packs of these to give away as well.
Thank you so much for your support over the last 4 years. Prism will be closing its doors on 1 April 2017. All content will remain available, but no new content will appear after 31 Mar 2017. As such all request forms have been turned off. Again Thank you,
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