Rules of Contact: A Novel [Paperback]

Kristen Heitzmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2035

Claire Boudreaux abruptly walks away from her medical residency, hoping to change the course of her life. But she cannot imagine the brutal nightmare that’s about to tear her world apart.

When the earth splits open and swallows her car, Claire becomes trapped in a subterranean maze, the site of a deadly game in which women are ruthlessly used and hunted by men for the voyeuristic entertainment of an unseen audience. Here, right and wrong have no meaning. Only the rules matter.

Claire’s sole hope for survival lies in trusting a barbaric man who claims her as his captive, insisting it’s the only way he can protect her from the other hunters. A fierce combatant, Rafe has lived his entire life inside the game and doesn’t believe her wild tales of the world outside. As he educates her in the brutal and degrading rules of The Hunt, Claire desperately attempts to break through Rafe’s unswerving allegiance to the laws of his world and open his mind to the existence of another reality.

A harrowing tale that will grip your soul, The Rules of Contact raises provocative questions about the ultimate nature of morality and the value of human life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Christy Award–winner Heitzmann leaves the vineyard landscapes of the Secrets series and goes subterranean for a gutsy departure from romance mystery to explore the depths of human depravity. When a medical resident's career and life caves, she falls prey to ruthless men following savage rules of contact that brutalize her and others in the dark place where she lands. Claire Boudreaux must learn to trust her captor, Rafe, in order to save her life, and she must teach him a new set of rules that could save the lives of others. Though Claire and her former boyfriend, McKee Gallagher, had drifted apart, their desire to right the horror of the underground world they uncover brings their dreams back together. Heitzmann takes readers through a raw and surreal labyrinth of sexuality, rape, brutality and murder to show that these actions rise out of the heart of a darkness so vile that only coming face to face with it and dying for others can overcome it. This postmodern suspense novel where everything is not as it seems and plot twists keep coming till the very end is provocative and shockative. (Feb.)
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About the Author

Kristen Heitzmann is an award-winning, best-selling author of seventeen novels. She wrote her first book while home-schooling her four children. Kristen and her husband, Jim, make their home in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (December 31, 2035)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400073081
• ISBN-13: 978-1400073085
• Shipping Weight: 0.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

More About the Author

Kristen Heitzmann is the bestselling author of seventeen novels, including The Edge of Recall and the Christy Award winner Secrets. An artist and music minister, Kristen lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Jim, and their family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking tale, February 21, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rules of Contact: A Novel (Paperback)

Isabelle Claire Boudreaux abruptly walks away from her John Hopkins medical residency when it looked like the infant she tried to save didn't make it. Her Gram left her the farm so Claire goes there to consider her future. Something strange happens while she drives her car and the next thing she knows she is waking up in a gigantic hole in the ground that swallowed her up and she has nothing on her to climb to freedom. She hears voices soshe heads to them hoping they can help her; only as gets closer to them they sound like patients having seizures.

A man attacks Claire, but Rafe intercedes. He tells her he will protect her if she agrees to be bound to him. Not sure what he means, she has little choice so she accepts his terms. He escorts her to his sleeping quarters in the underground bomb shelter and rapes her. Claire realizes men are predators abusing women unless the female is a bound slave to a particular male. People fight to the death over food and other items as killing is encouraged. Rafe has been in this society since his infancy so cannot grasp what his new slave sees as horror; instead he welcomes the security of the underground...Still they escape together knowing the underground leader will stalk them to protect his realm and fearing the FBI will learn of his murders even as he struggles to comprehend an ethics system radically different than the one he was raised in.

Kristen Heitzmann provides a thought provoking tale that focuses on the nature vs. nurture debate, on community values, and related to the latter on what is a law. Though Rafe grew up under a kill or be killed system, Claire, once she moves a bit past the shock of the rape, notices how he quietly tries to help those less fortunate without being noticed. Once she accepts him for what he is, she begins to care for him even though some might insist she is a victim of the Stockholm syndrome. Readers will fully enjoy this exciting cerebral tale that will have the audience ponder differing societal values and ethics as globalization leads to more complex international relationships.

Harriet Klausner