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75 pages, ebook
First published November 5, 2012
4 "I’m sorry, Mat. I’m so sorry." stars.(Me while reading this. Did that really just fucking happen?!)
Worn down by days of unrelenting fear and abuse, Mat and Dougie are packaged with the same ruthless efficiency as any consumer product: Dougie the pretty boy twink, Mat the rabid pit bull. They are led to the auction block as the showpiece of the house's collection.Trapped in adjacent cells awaiting their fate, the brothers are achingly close - close enough to hear the other's tortured moans - yet unable to see or comfort one another.
Mat would rather be beaten to death than play the role of obedient slave for sale, but Dougie, desperate not to be separated from his brother, strikes a deal with the pitiless Madame who runs the auction house and controls both their fates.I'd like to strongly warn readers of the following:
It might just be enough to keep them together - slaves, but together - assuming Mat even wants to be after Dougie fulfills his end of his with the devil.Each time I finish one of the Flesh Cartel episodes I find myself at a precipice...
Warning:
This story contains explicit violence, forced incest, and non-consent.
Review:
The Flesh Cartel #2: The Auction begins where Capture left off. And, oh, my god, I knew it would get worse, I knew the worst was still to come, but the reality was even harsher than I tried to prepare for. This installment will tear you up inside. Consider yourself forewarned.
As the title implies, in The Auction we witness more of the brutal and unforgiving conditioning and training of Mat and Dougie, as well as the preparation for their sale at auction. And what we witness, it left me speechless. And breathless. And horrified. What Mat and Dougie are put through in this installment is atrocious. Those poor boys. Every turn of the page had me thinking, “Well, it can’t get worse than that.” And then it did. It really did.
Because Mat and Dougie are living a nightmare most couldn’t even imagine. Raped—repeatedly. Beaten—regularly. Tortured and debased—day after day. And yet, somehow, they are still surviving. Their determination, their will, their love for each other, is the true core of this story. I don’t know how the authors continue to emphasize that aspect with everything else that is going on, but they do.
To say that I want to keep reading this series is not quite true. I’m afraid to keep going. I’m apprehensive about where it will take me. What I’ll have to endure. I know it’s going to mess with my head and my heart and my stomach. It’s going to twist my insides. But the author’s have me invested. And, as I said previously, Miz Haimowitz and Miz Belleau have their literary fingers around my neck, forcing me to keep going. I… have to.
I have to see Mat and Dougie get their revenge (particularly with The Madame). I have to know more about Nikolai. Who he is, why he’s doing the things he’s doing, what he’s going to do to the boys next… And I desperately have to know how this is going to end.
The Flesh Cartel is not for the faint of heart. It is depressingly dark and horrifyingly realistic. There is nothing glamorous or romantic about it. You won’t find any starry-eyed heroes or mushy sentiments of love. The Flesh Cartel gives you heroes full of grit and surprisingly unbroken spirits… and the only sentiments you’ll find are humility and fear. And hope.