Let the Naughty One In

“Savagely Yours”

by Scerina Elizabeth, 2017

This book is a short story and each chapter has a different narrator. It's a bit of a gimmick, but I find it refreshing from books that slip into first one character's head and in the next sentence, another character.

This is an erotic tale of inhuman lust. To say more would give away the plot and various surprises—and those surprises are good. Early on there's a brief sexual encounter that ends with a character vanishing and another character wondering if it was all a dream—reminding the reader of Sheridan Lefanu's classic horror story “Carmilla”.

Indeed, this is an interesting theme in the story: the supernatural creatures are able to enter the dreams of the living. Paranormal stories mostly focus on creatures having super strength and immortality. Here they are as alluring and mystical as they are dangerous.

The writing has some newcomer mistakes, like using the same word twice in a sentence: “...my crew continued to get what they could get from the tellers.” And too often the author falls back on the passive voice. Lines like “There were two policemen standing on my front porch,” would be improved by employing the active voice: “Two policemen stood on my front porch.” The language is not bad, but it could be better.

Also, there are several problems with logic, like when a compound fracture is treated like an inconvenience or a silver cable is lying right where someone can use it to strangle the werewolf. The ending is seriously rushed and maybe even unnecessary.

Perhaps I quibble too much. The story is intended to be several scenes of erotica, intended more for pleasure than literary appraisal or horror. The sex scenes were very good, so it does what it's supposed to do. While there are some amateur mistakes, there is also a good deal of promise.

3 stars.