Customer Reviews

Stacking in Rivertown

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Sometimes a book grabs you by the hair and drags you through its pages. This is one of those. Stacking in Rivertown is the story of Beth, a young, married woman just finding success as an author. Her world unravels as her five-year 'amnesia' fades and she recalls being held prisoner in a brutal S&M prostitution ring (she and the other captives were forced to perform in violent and tortuous plays for wealthy clients). After the group again captures Beth, her psyche and traumatic childhood are vividly explored with such clarity I felt I knew her soul. Just the description of what goes through Beth's mind while being bound and locked inside a box gave me nightmares for a week. This is not a light and happy read, but if you want an intense book that evokes deep and not-very-pleasant emotions, this is the book for you. With lessons in survival, the depths of pain and love, and just how far one needs to go to be free of ones demons, this book captured me from the first page and I highly recommend it. A truly stunning debut by Barbara Bell.

I'd heard about Stacking in Rivertown through a review posted to an online list. The reviewer described it as a really good SM novel, a literary piece of work with hot SM. That piqued my curiosity. Well, I'm not at all sure that SM novel is the description that I'd use. The book I read had a lead character who was the victim of kidnapping, abuse and non-consensual slavery, who fights her way out again and again only to be recaptured, physically or mentally, by a brutal man who somehow claimed to love her.

Don't get me wrong. I actually found myself liking this book. It is well written and has some beautiful and moving passages and a central relationship between two women that is compelling and saved it for me. I got to a point where I needed to finish it because I cared about how it would turn out. That's my highest recommendation.

I was disappointed, however, in the BDSM aspect, especially given the review that got me interested. The SM scenes turned me off because they were non-consensual, the use of a whip something to endure. I guess I understand why BDSM seems to be always portrayed as evil in popular media, but I don't like it.

Ms. Bell is talented and creates an atmosphere and characters that are memorable. I just wish she'd found a way to tell her story without steeping it in the S/M world and then twisting what some people find to be a pleasurable activity.

I really believe the only reason this book doesn't have an overall average of 5 stars from readers is that some object to Bell's portrayal of the BDSM world. The twisted, sordid edge of that world described in the book is only a backdrop for the journey of the main character from traumatic loss of memory to acceptance and some healing. It's beautifully realized and assured in a way few first novels are. I cried at the end, which is something I almost never do. A compelling, fascinating story--and not a piece of erotic fiction, despite the cover art.

Stacking in Rivertown" by Barbara Bell i just finished reading one of the books i mentioned earlier, "Stacking in Rivertown", by Barbara Bell. It is an intriguing and encouraging first novel attempt, with some evocative writing. i found the characterization a little vague, but perhaps this is intentional as the protagonist is a bit vague on her past as well. She has endured a traumatic childhood filled with sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, poverty, and isolation prior to her first encounter with the pimp, Ben, and her primary coping mechanism appears to be selective memory loss. A murder she witnessed while bound, during a scene, is a key element here and a driving force of her subsequent actions. The BDSM comes in on a couple of levels: most obviously, the persistent pimp obsessed with Becca uses his "stable" of 'slaves', male and female, to cater to clients interested in BDSM "plays". The arduous process of "breaking" the prostitutes and making them dependent on him (aided by the established players, who also "seduce and "make over" the initiates into their captive lifestyle) is largely nonconsensual for the newbies, but highly D/s in nature. It is to Ben that they all actually submit, rather than just to the clients. He teaches his proteges to learn both ends of the whip. The main body of the book concerns a year's "journey", during which Becca (or whatever name her current incarnation is using) leaves her husband (for reasons not entirely satisfactory to this reader), encounters Ben again, and attempts to escape him permanently by constant travel and identity changes, including a male persona. An unanticipated romance with another woman, a famous (fictional) singer alters Becca's plans, and she finds herself in an increasingly compounded set of desperate situations. "Stacking in Rivertown" is not a happy novel, but it is an emotional and introspective one. For one familiar with the realities of consensual, negotiated BDSM, some of the flashback scenes were arousing, (if taken out of context of the storyline) and my mind filled in the missing details, . To her credit, the author does not seem to be making a definitive statement about BDSM - in fact - compared to some of the brutal and incestuous treatment Becca receives at the hands of her family, it seems slightly civilized. At one point, Becca even uses some of her knowledge of bondage and seduction to enhance an erotic scene with her lover. Overall, it is a story about someone who, haunted by their past and pursued by the present, tries very hard to die but ends up learning to live. ~MWvixen~ HELL's Librarian Mistress of HELL

Drawn by the noirish cover art of a nude lightly bound in red ribbon, one uncovers an insightful first novel in "Stacking in Rivertown," by Barbara Bell. This pageturner proves easy for the reader to follow despite its flashbacks, name changes for the ex-prostitute protagonist, and overworked metaphors.

From this cover, one might imagine that this novel is about S/M; however, even though some of its "plays," which are "directed" by Ben, a violent pimp, have a sadomasochistic tinge, "Stacking" is more about the posttraumatic stress disorder of Beth, a young woman who survives childhood sexual abuse and subsequent torture by Ben and his minions.

Reading this story requires a willing suspension of disbelief because many of the plot elements simply do not make sense. Nonetheless, the prose is lyrical in places, and there are some scenes that are very humorous.

The obvious opening statement for any review of this book is that it is not for everyone. It is strongly erotic, and deals with some sexual subject matters offense and disburbing to many. For those of us who are more adventerous in our reading habits, however, it is a deep, probing, heart and gut wrenching psychological study of the depths of depravity that some people will endure in order to survive. What separates this book from typical "porno" is its intelligence and depth. There are explicit scenes of sado-masochism and violent and kinky sex, but they are almost secondary to the main story, which is a richly and lyrically written story of a young woman who faces demons most of us can only imagine. The depth of the plot and the characters is what makes this book compellingly readable. The protagonist, Beth or Becca or any of the other identities she assumes, evokes a entire array of emotions from the reader - from admiration to irritation back and forth throughout the story. Ben, the antogonist, is forboding and frightening, and lurks thoughout the book like a great white shark, ready to attack unexpectedly at any time. Make no mistake that this is a fluffy turn-on book. It is beautifully written and deeply probing, making it more of a work of literary erotica.

Stacking in Rivertown is one of the most disturbing erotic-cum-psychological thrillers I have read since Topping from Below. The dark language and sinister undertones in this novel grasped me until its final page.

Beth has never been able to fully enjoy the success of her novel and her husband's adoration. She hasn't been able to bury the past that's haunted her for years. Beth knows that the man who had subjected her to the most abominable sexual acts -- she had been forced to play painful sadomasochistic games for wealthy clients -- awaits her return to said underworld. Also, she has blocked out the painful memory of having witnessed a fellow prostitute's brutal murder. In a desperate attempt at survival, Beth stages her suicide and assumes a different identity. But how long will she be able to live a lie? Will her pimp track her down? The climax will floor you.

The sinister language is one of the most impressive parts of the novel. Barbara Bell kept me speculating Beth's fate. However, the book sort of loses track of the story when the protagonist falls for a famous pop star. Other than that, Stacking in Rivertown is a hauntingly erotic novel that will keep you turning the pages.

I won't go into the story plot. This is one of the most intense erotica novels I have read to date. It's tense, full of pain and has a most surprising ending. I would recommend it. I do not give it five stars because I feel for some people it will be too much.

"Stacking in Rivertown" was fascinating, but I had to let it settle sometimes; it's thought provoking rather than a page turner. The protagonist's struggle to recover her past and escape from her present involved many events that would not be recounted in a mainstream novel. They place her in her story, which is not the quest told in many bdsm genre novels. The tale is dark because of the protagonist's situation, not for provocation or stimulation.

Barabara Bell is listed as a poet, and it shows. The plotting is execllent, the characters fascinating (even the reprehensible pimp), and the writing poetic and polished. Sometimes she reminded me of Tennessee Williams.

Definitely worth reading, but it is challenging.

Stacking in Rivertown was really a thrilling read. It was a bit of a shocker at times. The plot twists kept my interest and I found it particulary enjoyable. I look forward to the author's next book.