A Love Not Deceased by Eric Kapitan

Self published, expected February 2020

ISBN: 978-1-082219-35-1

Available: paperback

Eric Kapitan’s A Love Not Deceased is an eclectic mix of romance, sex, murder, and overall weirdness.  The story has a bit of everything, done to the right amount.  The sex isn’t too graphic, the gore isn’t over the top, every part fits together.  It’s a strange romance that will appeal to a non-romantic horror fan.  The only real drawback is the ending: it came too soon.  This story had more room to run: it’s a shame it didn’t.

Maggie, the story’s protagonist, is a wonderful study in contrast.  She’s 31, looking for True Romance, and saving herself for Mr. Right.  Casual sex and one night flings are NOT her thing.  Her current means of supporting herself, oddly enough, consists of customer service over the phone for a national sex toys company, and self-publishing erotica novels for “lonely and horny soccer moms”.  She has a deep-seated fear of losing those she loves, since she lost both her parents at an early age.  She finally meets her Mr. Right: Mike, a nice, stable, self-supporting fellow, who introduces Maggie to the world of sub/dom relationships… and she finds herself loving it.  Minor spoiler ahead: tragedy strikes when Mike unexpectedly is murdered, and Maggie begins her descent into madness,  with her actions getting  increasingly crazy and bloody.

The writing is a nice balance of exposition and dialogue, with a slightly dark overall tone.  The author shows he can write all situations equally well: the part describing Maggie losing her dad is genuinely touching, and will yank on your heartstrings.  There’s also some unexpected humor to lighten the mood.   The dialogue of some of Maggie’s conversations with her sex toy customers was hilarious, and the parts where Maggie and Mike act like excited kids over tattoos and rock concert tickets help to make them genuinely likable characters.  The first 50 pages of the story are strictly the background scenery for setting up the characters for the actual plot. However, it’s written well, and will hold your interest.  The last 40 pages are where the story cuts loose, with Maggie losing Mike, then going nuts.  Kapitan adds in a nice touch here, since a couple of the chapters are still written from Mike’s point of view, even though he’s dead… or is he?

It’s a quick story, and at 91 pages double-spaced, it’s a breeze to get through.  This brings up the only negative: the story ends just when it kicks into high gear.  Most of it is a slow buildup to  Maggie’s spiral into insanity.  Just when it hits the overload point, and it feels like the story is about take off at a breakneck pace for the finish line, it ends.  It would have been nice to see it keep going– there was a lot of potential left on the table.

Contains: violence, profanity, sex

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson