Customer Reviews

Tortured

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The year is 500 C.E., and the land of Brittania is brutally being plundered and conquered by the vicious Saxons. The self-proclaimed king, Lord Aeglech knows no mercy when it comes to the native Britons. You either follow his rules, or you die.

Sierra is nothing more than a slave, but one the Saxon king values. She is Druid; a seer of the past and future. After her mother is ordered to be murdered for hiding her young son from Lord Aeglech, a betrayal punishable by death, Sierra is forced to apprentice the king's executioner, Balrogan. Nine years now, Sierra has wondered what the fate was of her young brother and clung to the last words of her mother, "Dunna fear." Those words gave her strength through the cruelty that has consumed her life, helped to shape her into the fearless woman she has become.

Now a Roman soldier, Dryston, has been captured, and when the torture that Balrogan unleashes on him proves fruitless for information regarding the rumors of a rebel army drawing near, he is turned over to Sierra. Lord Aeglach has assigned her a new form of torture...that of her body. Rather than punish him, they form a pact to help each other escape.

"She was his pleasure, he was her survival." Pg. 101

Now freed from her man made prison, Dryston must free her from her self-imposed prison, because the more time he spends with the prickly Sierra, the more he feels a connection to her.

The title implies more than just the torture of the hero Dryston or that the heroine Sierra is the apprentice to the executioner, Balrogan. Dryston may be physically tortured but so too is Sierra mentally tortured everyday of her life. Numb to the pain and anguish of what her life has become since her mother's death nine years earlier, Sierra begins to yearn for something each time she's in the presence of the Roman prisoner. My heart went out to Sierra as she opened herself to the longing for love. No longer is carnal pleasure, her one form of escape, with Cearl, a young stable hand, able to quench her need. That yearning now rests in the hands of Dryston, and that yearning proves to be yet another form of torture.

With her broken spirit from the pain and terrible existence that was Sierra's life, she finds a sense of peace within the embrace of the Roman. Sex had always been used as a tool of escape, but with this man, it has become so much more. With Dryston, as she learns to trust, she senses she can be more than the empty, nameless, genderless being she has been for the last nine years. She can be the woman she now longs to become.

Amanda McIntyre's books never fail to move me. The harshness of the times, the cruelty, the survival seems so terribly absurd considering how we live today. I think we all need to thank our lucky stars that we live in the times we do. Tortured is driven with the need for hope during such tumultuous times as was that part of history. I felt as if i were whisked away to that time and that land. The vivid descriptions and steady rhythm of the story made for one disturbingly touching tale of hope, love and survival.

A recommended read for any Medieval lover. And one that is set in the beginning of the Middle Ages, that you don't see often at all!

After reading the rave reviews I was surprised by how little depth this book has. The first third of the book is interesting - where we see how Sierra's life as a captive unfolded under the harsh rule of Aeglech. But once she and Drustyn made their escape the book descended into mediocrity. It was cliched and predictable with under-developed cookie cutter characters. It's labeled "erotic" on the cover but the "love scenes" are very uninspiring. The premise was good but it seems that the author just didn't know what to do after the main characters escaped from the high drama of the castle environment. I'm very glad this book was given to me and that I didn't spend a dime on it.

I was ensnared by the man's look on the front of this cover that I had to buy it. I don't know why, but I was just fascinated by his expression. After reading the description, I was so taken by this book that I immediately had to read it. I actually expected the female protagonist, Sierra, to be a whore with prisoners. The description led me to believe. It also made me think that she was some week female under the influence of her enemy.

I was so completely wrong. Not only does Sierra only have sex with three people the entire novel --two because she wanted to and one because she is pretty much forced--, but she is one of the strongest heroines I have ever read. She watched her mother, who had the gift of sight, being forced to work for the enemy Saxons, who later murders her for hiding Sierra's brother. Sierra and her brother, Torin, are then forced apart. It is thought that Torin is left for dead, while Sierra takes up her mother's job as the Saxon king's Seer. Her entire life, Sierra never loses her fire, her hope, or her determination. When she sees Dryston, she sees her chance to escape and doesn't hesitate to snatch it.

I was so completely enraptured by this novel: by Sierra's life and emotions, by Dryston's mission, determination, and tenderness when taking care of Sierra, and by the entire nations hope of being free from the Saxons. McIntyre weaves such a compelling story that one cannot help but be tangled up in. I actually completely forgot that this was meant to be an erotic novel because I was so caught up in the storyline. I am glad, however, that I did not read this book for the erotica. Honestly, the erotic scenes fizzled. They were short, lacked description, and were actually passable.

One of the best novels I've read in a long time.

"Tortured" by Amanda McIntyre will stay with me for a long, long time. I couldn't have picked a better time than Memorial Day to read this book. "Tortured" is about loss of personal freedom, survival instinct, and the timeless hunger for omnipotence in those humans who live to dominate others. The story takes place in a time when Christianity, hedonism, and superstition were at war with each other, and mankind was the prize. However, it is also an unforgettable love story. Dryston is a wounded warrior whose gentle touch and loving passion bring back to life a young woman who willed so much of herself into submissive oblivion. It is the unconquerable spirit dwelling deep within Sierra which captivates her captive. All she loved was taken from her as a girl, as her mother was hung before her eyes and her young brother dragged away to be killed. Nothing was left for her to keep. Even her long hair was chopped off. She was forced to dress as a boy and become the apprentice to a master executioner. Together, Sierra and Dryston form a bold plan of escape, heading toward their predetermined fate. This is a vivid, well-told tale of the rawness and uncertain times of the Dark Ages. Would we have acted in the same manner as Sierra and Dryston and others around them? Amanda McIntyre places us right in the middle of the story line, making us see how human spirituality and physicality become twisted under ceaseless torment and cruelty. Although the setting of the story goes back in time more than fifteen hundred years, humans still act in much the same way. There will always be those who quest for dominance, but mercifully, there will always be love and lovers to offer hope for mankind.

This is a very emotional book and my review has been very hard to write. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. The story is set in 500 a.d. I can not phantom how things were back then; not only life in general but for the people themselves... woman, man, or child. To have the world you live in, your home, your land, ripped apart due to war; enslaved to a ruthless ruler. What do you do when you find yourself lying with the enemy and you have no where to run? That is what life is like for Sierra.

The land she once knew is no more. The land of Brittania was conquered by the Saxons and their Lord (oh I would so love to call him names that I can not call him here for fear that my tongue would be cursed) has no mercy when it comes to the Britons. His rules are easy: do as I say or die. There is no gray areas in his world - only black and white. His way or no way. People lived in fear of what could happen to them, or their children, at the wrath of Lord Aeglech.

Sierra's mother, a druid, had the gift of sight. She aided the King of Saxon in seeing the past and the future. She passed this skill onto Sierra. Sierra also has a younger brother, he was her step-brother, but she loved him all the same. But her mother hid her young son, who was of cross blood, from the Lord and that was considered treason. Ordered to death by the King she served, Sierra witnessed her mother's death. With only her brother left to protect, they were captured and turned over to the King. The only thing that protected them was their mother's curse: "Let the dark curse of a thousand generations fall upon anyone who should cause harm to these children. The ancients-the gods and goddesses of earth, fire, water, and air-bless them. Whoever does them harm shall have his life and the lives of all his kin brutally taken." (pg. 54)
Lord Aeglech wanted the son dead and did not care about Sierra. That is until he found out she carried the gift of sight like her mother. Then the gift of sight bound her to Lord Aeglech - King of Saxon as his slave.

You could say that the curse is what saved her and her brother, but saved them from what? What life was to become of her when her mother was dead and her brother was... well, she did not what become of her brother. So, this gift, what good was it if she could not escape the only hell she knew and protect her brother.

Since Sierra showed more fire and will than most of Lord Aeglech's army, so he made her the apprentice of the executioner. She was literally surrounded by death at every turn of day. How does one's soul live, how does one's heart feel alive when surrounded by so much death? She put a wall up around herself and learned to block any emotion, any feelings, any anything out of her daily life. Sierra started this life at the young age of twelve. Can you imagine living this kind of life at twelve. Whew... Sierra is a woman of strong will and determination. She is like no woman I have ever read about before. The woman I see before me in this story truly inspires me. Her soul is very raw, she is honest to the core, courageous, and very independent.

Nine years later....
Still living her life as the apprentice of the executioner, Sierra is still living in hell. The wall she built nine years ago has completely barricaded her heart to any type of feeling or emotion. Now, I don't want you think that she is total void of emotion. There is a young man, Cearl, who offers her a few moments of "companionship." He is a helper in the kitchen and a maker of the drums for battle. Her meetings with him allow for the briefest moments of escape as she would call it. But if she was to feel anything deeper, it would not be with him.

The Saxon army has burned down many villages, destroyed many fields and basically, they have pissed off a lot of people. Some of those people are forming their own army against Lord Aeglech. He grows worried about rebellion from the surrounding people.
Upon destroying one village in particular, the army finds a gem in the dust. A Roman solider in a Celt village. They bring him back to Lord Aeglech for praise.

Upon entering Lord Aeglech's world, Dryston (the Roman solider) soon learns first hand the evilness he faces. With the worry of rebellion, Lord Aeglech wants all the information that Dryston holds. He course of action: allow Balrogan, the executioner, to torture him until he caves or dies. But death would prove unfruitful for the solider because Lord Aeglech could not extract information out of him. So, the next step when Balrogan fails... send in the apprentice.

Lord Aeglech wants Sierra to use her gift of sight on Dryston to retrieve any information she can. When she is called on to use her gift of sight on Dryston, she gets more than she bargains for. For the memory in his mind is the last night before he entered Lord Aeglech's world... it was a night of passionate love making and when he realizes what Sierra is seeing, he recalls that memory to the full height of that night. Realizing what she is seeing, something primitive stirs in Sierra, something deep within her. Something she thought she was dead and buried.

He offers her a chance to break free of the prison she lived in. If they can form a bond together... then together they can break free...

I have given you the beginning... now for a glimpse of the ending... The next part of this tale is about two people depending on each other for support, for life and hopefully for love.

This book is simply amazing. You will feel things you probably have not felt in a while. Sierra has to re-learn how to trust, how to open herself up, how to love, how to feel... all over again. Ms. McIntyre's story telling is breathtaking! The words, the flow, the feelings... She puts you right in the story. I felt all of Sierra's heart ache, I felt all of her pain and her passion. The way she puts the story together... is astounding! I even had to re-read it for "research" purpose! The characters, the plot, the story telling... all seemed very real, very raw and very genuine to me. Sit back and you can really picture this happening. And that is the job of am amazing author, to make me feel like I am there. And believe me, Ms. A does marvelous job. And to leave this one a great note... you know how we love our hero's tortured... well, this time it is our heroine! Tortured!

It is the Dark Ages - in the land of war torn Britannia the Saxon invaders have ravaged the land pillaging, raping, burning, killing, and enslaving those who were left in their wake of destruction. Sierra is one of those life was spared but death would have been much easier than what she now has to face.

The malicious Saxon King Aeglech has spared her life because of her gift of the "sight" that she inherited from her mother (who was forced to serve him before her). He is the one responsible for the murder of her family and for taking away all that was dear to her. Now as if to add insult to injury he has ordered her to be the apprentice to his head Executioner. Sierra is forced to witness, and assist in the heinous tortures inflicted upon the prisoners in Lord Aeglech's dungeon. Growing up for nine years in this hellish existence Sierra soon looses herself and tries to become detached from the suffering and abominations around her. She finds some comfort in the arms of a young stable boy but the passion that she feels even though it does allow her some stolen moments of escape from her accursed life isn't love. Sierra wonders if she will ever again feel like a human being and if there is any chance at hope left. But hope sometimes comes when we least expect it and for her it comes in the form of a new Roman prisoner that is brought to the dungeon to be tortured into giving up what information he has. In this strong and honorable man Sierra sees what she has been waiting for a possible glimmer of freedom.

Dryston was part of the Roman army until he and his brother Torin decided to stay in Britannia and build an army from the native people to fight the barbaric Saxons and once again to take back their land from the grips of the murderous invaders. When Dryston is captured by surprise in one of the villages and brought to the dungeons of Aeglech, he knows that he must escape and get word to his brother about the movements and numbers of the Saxons if their plans of attacking and crushing Aeglech's armies are to succeed. When the sees Sierra he can hardly believe that she is to be his torturer but she tortures him in more ways than one... this passionate young woman offers him an alliance if he will help her escape. Together they devise a plan to get them both out of the clutches of this Saxon hell. But what starts out as just an alliance for survival soon starts to become much more. Could Dryston be her savior in more ways than one could he be the savior of her soul and heart as well?

This is a book that has very complex characters and layers to it and I think you will enjoy each one. Ms. McIntyre has made a strong and yet emotionally fragile heroine in Sierra. Her relationship with Dryston is one that at first was all about survival but quickly became much more. I found this read to be both very intriguing, passionate and very deep. I think she has captured the essence of this violent and dark time in history very well and posed some very good interpretations of how those who lived through them might have felt and how they survived.

Though it is not your typical romance by any means I think that is what makes it so special. Its gritty and passionate uniqueness is one that touches the heart. I loved the complex relationship between Sierra and Dryston to see it evolve from one of dependence on the other to escape and survive then watching it change and soften Sierra and give her back herself that was nothing short of inspiring! (And it made me cry more than once lol) I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I hated to see it come to an end. I can't wait to read more from Ms. McIntyre, she truly has a unique and powerful voice. And though this was the first book I have read of hers it will definitely not be the last!

I tried to win this book when it came out, but with no luck I knew it was going to be a must buy for me, and I wasn't dissapointed! Tortured by Amanda McIntyre was just plain fantastic! One thing I loved was that after I read it I went over to Amanda's website to check out her other books, well what I found made this little reader a very happy girl! Amanda as put together a page for her inspirations, including music & media, a cast and pictures of landscapes to give you perfect imagery into what inspired Tortured! I was for one over the moon, Amanda even talked about the story behind this masterful creation! Brilliant I tell you, I was thinking... oh oh, that is how I imagined the waterfall or castle from her eloquent words, so full of life and a clear representation of the imagery in my own head.
I adored Sierra from the moment she stepped on the page, a woman just trying to survive and nothing was going to stop her. She has had a horrible and degrading existence. Only kept alive by the man who had her mother killed because he knew she could be of use to him in the future. Like her mother (a druid), Sierra was a seer, she saw the future and when the maniacal Lord Aeglech discovers this he spares her and kills her younger brother. His birth a betrayal to Lord Aeglech as he sees it, so he orders his death as he places Sierra with the executioner. An apprentice to the executioner Sierra becomes hardened to her surroundings where death and torture are an everyday experience.
Until...... until the arrival of Dryston. Captured and sent to the executioner to be tortured for his knowledge of the activities and plotting against Lord Aeglech he is resilient and strong and holds onto all his secrets. He would rather them kill him. But the evil Lord has other plans, that would be Sierra. He uses her to get information about his enemies from Dryston by her power of seduction. Something about Dryston pulls Sierra towards him, lust, desire, freedom. He could be her ticket out of here. And she knows that if she doesn't at least give it a try with him, she will die here. It will killer like it killed her mother.
I think the most enjoyable thing for me was Sierra having to learn that she couldn't use sex and her art of manipulation for everything. When Dryston starts working his way into her heart, Sierra is torn. It wasn't suppose to be this way. She was to get out, get her revenge and live her life, not fall in love with a man. She has had a hard life and can hold her own, but does she want to, does she want to choose to open up her heart and trust Dryston. And more than that, can he trust her?