SUSPENSE AND THRILLER Part 2 - The Prairies Book Review

 

Burning Desire Fades: The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes, Part II by M. L. Stark

BY THEPRAIRIESBOOKREVIEW on NOVEMBER 7, 2020

A disturbing tale of deception and lies…

The second installment in The psychopath and The Girl in Black Prada Shoes series continues with Mary’s story as she finds herself further swallowed in a dark web of lies and deceits. The things between Paul and Mary are turning bitter with their children stuck in the middle. With the divorce proceedings on, Mary is fully entrapped in Drake’s sinister scheme. He is overly attentive to her, and their romance is blooming.

The first warning signal flashes for Mary when their vacation trip is interrupted by a sinister Asian mafia boss trying to recover his stolen money from Drake. Soon Mary finds herself running for her life with Drake at her side with mafia at their heels. The stakes rise when a plethora of sexual abuse and financial fraud cases open against the charismatic doctor. Dejected, Mary finds a ray of hope when the enigmatic Daniel Detwiler walks into her life. Will she take a chance or will her traumatic experience with Drake get in her way?

Stark nicely captures Mary’s internal struggle as she continuously questions her own decisions of getting involved with Drake. Several countries of world, including Hongkong, Spain, Holland, Croatia, Caribbean, United Arab Emirates among others serve as a picturesque backdrop for this pulp thriller.

Stark is good when it comes to sketching her characters, but she needs to work on her writing: the narrative jumps in timelines, causing confusion in readers’ minds, and the plotting is loose, making it difficult to stay invested in the story.

The inclusion of mob elements imbues this dark romance with standard pulp thrills. But more than a troubled romance, this is a study in psychopathy as Mary attempts to understand Drake’s twisted personality. As she delves deeper into the issues of her relationship with Drake, she realizes he is incapable of empathy, guilt, or loyalty to anyone but himself. Mary has come a long way from the naïve, overly simple middle-aged woman of Burning Desire who couldn’t see behind the charming façade of her lover to the assured, reflective woman of Burning Desire Fades. It pains her that despite plenty of red herrings she failed to see the real person behind his charismatic personality. With his shallowness, a grandiose sense of self-worth, and his lack of remorse, Drake comes out as a full-fledged psychopath, who uses flattery as a weapon to entrap his victim.

Any woman struggling with the uncertainty that can accompany dating a psychopath will find herself relating to Mary’s story.

The Prairies Book Review

SUSPENSE AND THRILLER - Part 1 - The Prairies Book Review

SUSPENSE AND THRILLER - Part 1

Burning Desire: The Psychopath and the Girl in Black Prada Shoes, Part I by M. L. Stark

BY THEPRAIRIESBOOKREVIEW on NOVEMBER 7, 2020

Dark and intriguing…

In Stark’s debut installment in the Girl in Black Prada Shoes trilogy, a middle-aged woman becomes prey to a manipulative psychopath. Fifty-year-old Mary is feeling insecure and unhappy: her husband of many decades Paul is unfaithful and living in Copenhagen with their children.

Alone in Spain, she starts seeing the charming Dr. Drake Lucifer Bates, a renowned doctor of complementary and alternative medicine, for a foot problem. It doesn’t take long for Drake to prey on Mary’s vulnerability. Needy and susceptible, Mary is drawn into repeated visits to Drake’s clinic and soon begins a full-fledged affair with him. As their relationship progresses, it becomes abusive and dangerous. Ignoring all the warning signals, Mary throws herself into the affair. On Drake’s suggestion she begins her divorce proceeding with Paul, unaware of the former’s sinister plan of feeding on her wealth.

Because the story is based on real-life experience, readers will sympathize with Mary and her struggles. The story gains more relevance, considering the fact Mary is not a young girl in her teens or twenties, but a mature fifty-year-old woman who has seen the world. It’s her neediness and desire to feel loved that makes her fall prey to Drake’s manipulative endeavors (their relationship stars after Drake forces himself on her during her first ever visit to the clinic). The novel’s pacing is uneven, and the writing needs polishing.

Sudden shifts in time period as she jumps from situation to situation while narrating her story hamper the flow of the narrative. But Stark skillfully construct a manipulating sexual predator in Drake in whom Mary finds a sympathetic listener who flatters her constantly. She becomes entirely dependent on him, alienating herself from her husband and family, and rationalizing away warning signals that arise. Mary comes out as a slightly unhinged narrator who consistently contradicts herself. Set in Macau, Bali, Spain, and Denmark with Mary at the center, this novel beautifully brings the setting and culture of each place. Graphic scenes of sex and violent rape as well as Drake’s manipulative ways, contribute to the dark atmosphere. Along the way, Stark skewers marriage, relationships, and infidelity. While the novel’s trajectory is predictable, Mary’s over-the-top gullibility and her impulsive actions are entirely believable. Despite its obvious faults, Stark succeeds in demonstrating how easy it is to fall under the sway of a charming predator.

The Prairies Book Review

 Book review by Gabriella Tutino

"This is not lovemaking but narcissistic brutality, a dark hell of burning fire."

The moment Mary meets Doctor Drake Lucifer Bates, she's intrigued by him. What starts out as a doctor's visit soon morphs into something more scandalous, as Mary and Drake start an affair. Between her rocky marriage with her husband, Paul, and the advances Drake makes during sessions, Mary finds herself drawn more and more to Drake, even as the red flags start to appear. This first book in the author's trilogy follows Mary as she becomes Drake's patient and soon lover, getting further entangled in a relationship that is hypnotic and passionate but also dangerous. Mary and Drake's story unfolds across the globe in this captive affair, as Mary tries not to lose herself over to Drake completely and get wrapped up in his manipulative schemes. 

Written in the first person and based on real-life experiences, Stark's narrator is engaging and self-aware. Mary is a dramatic, opinionated, and intelligent woman who can't stop herself from falling for Drake's sweet gestures and behaviors, even when he turns angry and aggressive towards her. In hindsight, she clearly knows that this relationship with her doctor was a dangerous, if tantalizing, mistake, but she can't help sharing the story with the reader, laughing at and judging her actions and desires through a lens of a now wiser person. Stark manages to capture the protagonist's conflicting emotions of repulsion and attraction and of feeling trapped by her situation yet thrilled at prospects. This is usually accomplished by having Mary's various thoughts mirroring each other. Mary's account of her relationship with Drake reads like an enormous confession, a secret shared over a bottle of wine.