cover image Deep, Dark & Dangerous

Deep, Dark & Dangerous

Jaid Black. Pocket Books, $15 (265pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-1612-5

In this purposefully over-the-top romp, Black goes in-depth on the underground Viking society that played bit parts in Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down. Sick of the superficiality of Tinsel Town, Hollywood starlet Madalyn Simon escapes to a remote village in Alaska. All is idyllic in her new environs until she and her visiting sister Drake are taken hostage by a medieval underworld society of Vikings called New Sweden. Separated from her sister, and forced to marry her captor, Otar Thordsson, Madalyn soon finds herself with serious Stockholm syndrome, wishing to escape, and yet falling inexplicably in love with her captor. Rambunctious and ribald, Black creates a captivating fantasy, replete with hulky enemies, twisty intrigue, steamy sex, and even some intimate reflections. Madalyn's human quirks and deficiencies, and disbelief at the absurdities of underworld life, are belied by her astute perceptions. Blithe and bubbly, Black cannot be faulted for her imagination.