DARKNESS BOUND
By: Larry Brooks
(Author Contributed)

Darkness bound.... "What's a nice boy like you doing writing a steamy book like Darkness Bound? I've been asked that a few times, and the answer has more to do with what the story means than what it is. This book is about intimacy and vulnerability, about the opportunities for bliss that arise when one risks, and the price one pays when that risk is with the wrong partner. My favorite line from the novel is spoken by Dillon, the protagonist, when he says, "I want to embrace the ridiculous with utter sincerity." The story pushes a lot of buttons for people, and as an author I think that's fun, even if I can't always address their concerns. The idea began when I was at work one day, bored stiff and wishing there was a great new hot movie out - which there wasn't - and began constructing what that movie would be in my head. That eventually became a screenplay, which landed me my agents and a little attention in Hollywood. But not enough attention - my wife, Laura, suggested turning the story into a novel, maybe they'd buy that instead. People ask me how long it took to write this book; the answer is ten years, if you count the life of the screenplay upon which it is based. After the success of the book I went back and rewrote the screenplay, which promptly became a finalist in a national screenwriting competition. The two forms - novels and screenplays - are very complimentary if you understand and embrace the differences." (Author Contributed text from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY)

From Publishers Weekly (October 2000)

"Teasingly erotic, Brooks' first novel is that rarest of sexual thrillers, in which the sex isn't gratuitous but a convincing means to an end. Unfortunately, the book's erotic cover may cause horror/thriller fans to overlook this title on the bookshelf. What begins as a way for Seattle stockbroker Dillon Masters to live out his sexual fetishes turns into a high-stakes game of strategy and deceit, in which the prize is life. The players in this game are few - including Masters, his wife, his mysterious lover (whom he calls "The Dark Lady"), her husband, a detective, a psychiatrist and a lawyer friend of Masters - but the many extremes each takes to destroy the others are shocking. Midnight phone calls, secret dalliances and dangerous play-acting ensue until Masters realizes he's caught in a complex scam and could be pegged for murder. The novel's final scenes burst with the intensity of a first-rate horror film, and it's difficult to detect a loophole in the intricate plot." - Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.