“Mortal Companion: An Erotic Tale of Love and Vengeance”–quite a read

Califa, Pat. “Mortal Companion: An Erotic Tale of Love and Vengeance”, Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004.

Quite a Read

Amos Lassen

“Mortal Companion” by Pat Califa is a book for those who find comfort in reading about explicit sex. It takes place in a world where taboos are taboo and the reader enters this world stage by stage until the ultimate climax which just makes you wonder if there is going to be a sequel.

We meet Ulric, a vampire in the throes of depression. Life, for him, has become a chore and not even sucking the blood of those who want to join him has any meaning for him. Finally, he meets Mary Beth Wolcott with whom he is excessively smitten. He wins her heart and her soul and she becomes his mortal companion whom he renames Lilith. They begin a journey into Ulric’s past and Lilith discovers that Ulric was once the victim of the ancient order of the Germanic Knights of the Sepulcher. His body and mind were raped as was his soul and fed upon his own half sister who swore vengeance. Ulric’s half sister is something more than a vampire—she is a woman intense on pleasure through bodily damnation. She plans to use Lilith as way to avenge her situation. However Ulric and Lilith are so swept up in their own love and world that they maintain a false sense of security. When they enter the bondage and sadomasochistic community and bring forth a child, Lilith finds herself completely possessed.

All of the explicit sex is purposeful as it relates to the worlds of submission and dominance. Their love is what causes their undoing as well as their bonding. As we look at sexual roles—male/female, top/bottom we are taken on a journey of voyeurism. Here is steamy vampire fiction which is well written but not for the easily offended. Filled with complex characters who are human enough to make the reader care, this is nowhere near the usual book. The smoldering passion entices and holds the reader and the violence is also exciting.

This is not a book I can recommend to everyone as I do not want anyone to be offended. If you like a lot of eroticism and are into vampires, this is a book you definitely will want to have a look at.