Till Death Do Us Part...or Something Like That

Oct 25, 2019

I was recently offered the opportunity to read an advanced copy of “A Love Not Deceased” written by Eric Kapitan, and now, you get the opportunity to hear me talk about it! Being knee-deep into Spooky Season, this book was a very good choice and a very quick read. This book is not easy to synopsize without giving away some pretty spoilery plot points, so I am taking the easy way out, and using the quote from the back cover of the book: “Maggie understands loss. She’s said goodbye too many times. Now with those troubles behind her, she’s ready to embrace everlasting love. The question is, is life ready to let her have what she wants? The moment she meets Michael, she’s determined to ensure she doesn’t lose him. Little does she know, how hard she’ll have to fight to make her lifelong dream a reality.”

So, to sum this book up in one sentence, troubled girl meets troubled boy, they fall in love and start having super freaky sex, some shit goes down, and things get real weird. Overall, I liked the book, and the concept. One major complaint I have about the book is that it felt underdeveloped. There was no flow to it, and it felt like the author kind of buried the lead with a lot of really important plot points. It also felt very rushed. It’s difficult to care about a character and relationships without time for the character and relationships to be developed.

I also hated Mike. I thought he was a huge douche canoe and didn’t have any redeeming qualities, at least not for me. I understand why Maggie is drawn to him, I really do. Psychologist Casey will now explain…Maggie had a very troubled past full of people she loves leaving her. Then she meets a very confident and seemingly put-together guy with an obscene amount of similar interests. Not only does he check all of her boxes, but he is also into the whole “Little Girl/Daddy” dominant/submissive relationship, which really speaks to Maggie’s abandonment and insecurity issues. So, that is all to say, I get why Maggie seems to love Mike, but I would also have liked to see a couple more redeeming qualities, or at least a deeper love from Mike for Maggie. Mike’s seeming indifferent kind of takes away from the climax of the book, when if he was flawed, but really loved Maggie, it would have given it more of a punch.

This book definitely took some turns that I was not expecting, and that was a nice change. I pride myself on being able to tell where a book is going, and find a good deal of books very predictable. This book was not, and that was great. I love the concept and the overall dark tone. I, for the most part, liked the character of Maggie. I thought her storyline was the most developed part of the book, and her descent into madness was pretty smooth. The fact that she was also a horror-erotica author was a nice touch, and added an aspect of life imitating art.

This was my first book of Kapitan’s and I think he has a really cool voice as an author. I will definitely be reading more of his stuff in the future!