reviewed by Grant Bogart
The flat-out sexual intensity of the Golden Summer of '99 continues to drive my sexual juices into a constant frappé of desire that cannot be quenched by nightly fleshly revels, but must be supplemented by the forbidden fruit of exotic reading that crosses the thresholds into the forbidden. After a leisurely breakfast of fruit and juice on the patio overlooking the waves that relentlessly caress the Nantucket sands, I often avail myself of an erotic literary interlude before returning to the keyboard, to plumb the depths of creativity.
Insomnia delivers stories a cut above the usual stimulation. (I must warn readers of both sexes of certain drawbacks of reading such fare at the beach -- or, in the case of male readers, certain "advance forwards.") Black Lace Books, the pioneer of "erotica for women by women," here showcases the pen of Zoe le Verdier, one of their most wicked and powerful erotic writers. Zoe has written four full-length Black Lace titles, and so popular have they been that the publisher has chosen to publish nine of Zoe's short hot stories in one paperback, a first for this line of books. The book is a hard bargain for men and a wet dream for women, to say the least.
There's a dark, almost masculine feel to Zoe's writing that effortlessly intermixes realistic settings and situations with turn-on crude words seldom found in erotica by women. Each story in Insomnia not only provides hot satisfying detailed sex, but splendid unique plots as well --seldom touched in other Black Lace books -- that hit women and men in their sexual soft and hard spots.
Have you ever fancied making love to the brother of your husband? Zoe's "Trust" creates a raunchy situation at a wedding reception that makes a wife's being turned over to her husband's brother plausible, raunchy, and rationally justifiable -- and the sex sizzles.
Have you ever wanted five hot young men to choose from? Zoe finds the perfect solution to a college dorm problem and creates a unique fee arrangement when a sexy coed fails to fix the TV of five guys wanting to watch porn movies. The hook here, no pun intended, is the way Zoe allows the female protagonist to justify in her mind the turn-on of being the lust object of five young men. Zoe consistently, in every story, allows the reader -- especially the thrill-seeking but moral lady reader -- a rational justification for the lucky heroine's outrageous behavior. The sex with five guys is marvelously choreographed, with hot insights into how the lady feels as the five grope her.
Another talent of Zoe's is an understanding of the male mind. This is splendidly evidenced in "A Dangerous Addiction," where a man's susceptibility to lust for an unobtainable female is breathtakingly calculatingly sketched. This is Dostoyevskian character development.
Unlike some erotic collections of stories, Insomnia pays off in hot, detailed, graphic, satisfying sex scenes. You can visualize them. You can feel them. You can 'gasm to them, yet still feel you have read an excellent story.
Perhaps the hottest story is "Penis Envy," in which a heterosexual woman takes a job as a gardener for a rich couple, and finds herself inexplicably lusting for the cultured, beautiful wife of the house. The elaborate plotting that Zoe takes you through to the red-hot sexual pay off is storytelling and characterization at its best. And this is one of the best stories of strap-on sex you will ever read.
Zoe can do it all. She does male point of view better than any other woman erotic writer: just read "Jump Start" (a love-your-mechanic story). Rape by a stranger? Try "Read Me" -- an ingenious piece from a steamy lost diary that more than meets male and female expectations. Seduction by a colleague after a business meeting? "Relight My Fire" does the trick nicely.
Insomnia -- tasty, character-rich, dripping with sex -- is filled with tidbits that will make you really restless on your beach blanket.
The only drawback is Zoe's constant use of words like knickers and suspenders -- those proper Brit girls' terms for panties and garters -- and arse and bum. She also uses the word "fuck" a lot. But it works, especially in grab-your-attention first lines like this one: "November 15. My first thought when I meet a man is this: Does he want to fuck me?" I mean, you have to read a story that starts that way.
And you have to love Zoe's writing. There is dark sex -- bondage, humiliation -- in some stories, but it's done in a tasteful, non-misogynist manner. This is real writing. Real seduction. Real characters. Perfect sex. All the stories are set in today's time. Each story lasts around 20 to 40 pages. These stories are not candy sex; they deliciously combine real characters with explicit sexual choreography. Pick it up. It will get you up. You won't put it down.
