A new release by eXtasy Books, The Scorpio Caper by Bret Mallory, is the first in a series of announced Caper novels covering every sign of the Zodiac. If the rest of the series is as exciting and sexually charged as this one, we are all in for a wild and fun ride. This contemporary caper novel that takes place in exotic locations features hot, sexy men and women, adventure, intrigue, and best of all, is a witty, fast paced read by a talented author. Freddie Bonner, the boy wonder of independent film producers, takes his creative and whacky crew to the Cayman Islands to finish a soft-porn, sexploitation movie.

Freddie only agreed to do the tawdry flick to make enough money to further his pet project: a documentary about the Maya and their descendents. At the wrap party, Freddie meets Monique LeFranier, an exotic beauty of French and Chinese lineage. Freddie invites Monique to dinner and discovers that she is an anthropologist who is an expert in the Maya culture.

At dinner, Freddie hires Monique to be the technical director of the Maya film and the two return to their luxury hotel where they celebrate the new collaboration with a very hot sexual encounter. The crew heads for the Yucatan to start the filming, and strange things began to happen when they try to incorporate the Feathered Serpent Cult into the film.

The action explodes exponentially as the filming shifts from Merida to Cancun to Mexico City and then into the jungles of the Yucatan.
Kidnappings, assassination attempts, daring escapes and non-stop excitement follow the crew as they try to finish the film so they can return to Hollywood. The main characters of Freddie and Monique are treated as equals. There is no ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ type of encounters between the couple. Monique is a liberated woman who enters into the hot sexual relationship as a woman who knows what she wants and can be as aggressive as Freddie.

All of the characters are well defined and the descriptions are so real I felt as if I were standing in front of an ancient pyramid watching strange rituals. The sex may be too graphic and intense for some readers, but the romance is very real I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed By Melanie Roget
© March 2005