If there's one thing I have learned, it is that Master Nage delivers. Master Nage is the penname for Steve Lazarowitz, a multiple Dream Realm Award winning SF writer of remarkable expertise. Another of his novels SCORCH is the 2004 Dream Realm award winner in the field of Erotica. His short stories are of a literary quality--which is to say they are beautifully written and work on many different levels--and nearly always deliver an O'Henry-esque punch at the end: a literate yet quirky punch which is at the same time perfectly appropriate and completely surprising. Lazarowitz's work is always on the cutting edge of creativity and displays a true literary brilliance. Hence, it is not surprising that in a genre like Erotica, where even competence is a rarity, Lazarowitz shines as a Master in more ways than one.

In SLAVE HEART, Sandra Castillo has an apartment, a job and a boyfriend--all in all a normal life in New York City--at least until she dreams she is lying on a beach dying in pain and blood. Waking, Sandra knows that the dream had been a vision of her sister Jaycee: a sign that her sister is dead. Over the protest of her boyfriend who thinks she needs a shrink, she calls Hollywood, Florida, where Jaycee lived, only to find that the number has been disconnected. Sandra kisses her boyfriend goodbye (for good), hops on a six a.m. jet to Miami and starts on an odyssey to find her sister. Some snooping around her sister's apartment leads her to the Bondage Shoppe, where Sandra ascertains that her adventurous sister had adopted the bondage lifestyle. Jorge, the shopkeeper and Dom, knew Jaycee well. Sandra convinces him to introduce her into the Miami bondage scene, though she realizes that she has no personal predilection for bondage. That does not prevent her from leaping into the life-style with absolute determination. Since Jorge recognizes Sandra's naivetÈ, she has to convince him of her resolve. Through sheer stubbornness (and maybe a submissive tendency she doesn't realize she has but Jorge recognizes), she convinces him of her interest. Eventually, with his influence, she makes the acquaintance of a Dom and gets herself accepted into an elite school for slaves, all to solve the mystery of her sister's disappearance and probable death.

Master Nage has produced a very complete, well-rounded novel that may be the best he's written. You will read this story looking for clues leading to the missing Jaycee, as well as follow the path that tracks Sandra's transformation from a typical vanilla New York City gal to a bona fide submissive. The search for Jaycee becomes Sandra's journey of personal discovery; this is also one of those quest stories where the heroine goes looking for one thing and finds something else: herself. On one level, this story reflects Master Nage's real-life experience as a Dom and his concern with giving an accurate rendition of the dynamics of a real D/s relationship such as he shares with his life partner dana. However, this fiction is not merely a D/s story, but is also a travel-log, Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal and Romance. The characterization is competently done, the characters well-developed and round, and the story line is well-plotted all the way to a satisfying conclusion with a little bit of a twist. And lest you think I am damning with faint praise, please understand that I find such competence is a rarity. That all of these elements--any one of which would have made a piece exemplary--are weaved so exquisitely into a single work is typical of the genius of Master Nage's work; it is yet another proof that he is nothing short of a truly gifted writer. Do I need to say this book is a keeper? Maitresse © May 2004