Review: Thrill Seeker by Kristina Lloyd

Sometimes, it’s nice to read a bit of light, escapist fantasy in your erotica. Thrill Seeker is not it; it’s dark and difficult and has no respect for the reader’s safeword. I have to admit that, sometimes, I even enjoy some pretty badly written BDSM on a bypass-the-brain, physical kind of level; stuff that has people do stupid things in the name of kink but glosses over the risk. Then I’ll read something that makes me remember just how bloody brilliant it is when a writer comes along and combines the hot-as-fuck kink with a well-crafted plot, characters you identify with and care about and a head-on intelligent treatment of the difficult issues. And that’s what Thrill Seeker is.

Natalie is looking for someone who can fulfil her kinky fantasies. She’s determined not to repress her desires but to live them. So she goes online, openly discussing what she wants, and finds a man who will kidnap her. Added to the mix are Liam, her fuck buddy who is a lovely, likeable character but vanilla, and Baxter, the ex she still thinks about constantly who did cater to her submissive tendencies but turned out to be still living with the wife he claimed to be separated from.

Here’s Natalie’s philosophy: “Basically, I could live or die; or at least, live a life not fully realised. Giving up on certain aspects of yourself, the parts others might find distasteful or threatening, is the easiest thing in the world. It’s the safest route, the path of least resistance. But I was starting to feel if I followed that track of inertia, my lost and abandoned fragments would return to haunt me.”

She’s completely aware of the risks she’s taking in sharing her kidnap fantasies online with a man she hasn’t even met, whose face she has never seen. But she does it anyway, letting him play out the fantasy without safewords or prior negotiation. The thing is, the encounter leaves Natalie dissatisfied; there’s no emotional connection. And so the quest goes on, eventually culminating in a dramatic denouement which eventually makes everything right with the world.

There are a few instances where there’s a twist in the tale, but you see it coming. But I think in this story, it works because it adds to the discomfiting tone of much of the narrative. There’s no big effort to conceal what’s going to happen, even if Natalie is unaware of it. The ‘reveal’ of the twist is not the point; the point is that jarring between Natalie’s perspective and the reader’s. You’re left viewing the book through the gaps between your fingers as you put your hands over your face and think, “Oh God, I know what’s happening here...”

It's a shame publishers don't invest more in erotica cover designs though. Not once did I think of Natalie as the sort of woman who would spend much time worrying about her manicure and nail varnish, nor did I think of the men as smart business types. 

I bought Thrill Seeker at Amazon UK. Published by Black Lace.