'D/S: A NOVEL' Kadet explores dark side of Eros

The novel glimpses the world of kink.
By ROB STOUT
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
"D/S: A Novel, & quot; by Gary Kadet (Forge, $25.95).
& quot;So you think it is about whips and chains? & quot; Perry Patetick, the troubled protagonist of Gary Kadet's debut novel, asks us in a prologue that foreshadows much of the book. & quot;You think it's about sex? & quot;
Not quite. As a journalist for a small New England newspaper, he takes us down an illusory path that begins one day when he naively ventures into an S & amp;M sex shop only to be lured from his bland, incomplete existence by the darker side of the human libido.
He first pitches the story to his editor and is assigned to report on this otherwise hidden subculture. Not surprisingly, his transition from passive observer to passive-submissive occurs with very little moral agonizing upon meeting Karenina, a real estate agent/dominatrix. It is this fall from what could narrowly be considered grace, and his initiation into various fetishes, which is realistically and brilliantly captured by Kadet.
Patetick's early adventures provide some rather lively sketches of this leather-clad existence that not only take place in shadowy dungeon-like clubs, but suburban living rooms, and internet chat sessions filled with rather expressive, yet realistic language.
Most of the author's descriptions stand in stark contrast to the popular (sometimes glamorous) images of such practices, often upheld by other forms of media. Even at its most outrageous, this world of kink is full of inert, tragi-comical characters who, like Perry, are filled with the compulsion to assume a new persona and the desire to feel real emotion.
drawn in: As the story unfolds, Patetick, like the reader, is drawn further into newfound indulgences. During his single-minded search for ecstasy there develops a subplot in which he and Karenina fall in love and make plans to leave their respective spouses and the world of S & amp;M altogether. However, when she is found beaten to death, Patetick becomes the prime suspect until he is able to free himself from the scrutiny of the murder.
Although parts of & quot;D/S & quot; may cause some raised eyebrows or a bit of throat clearing, it is clearly a literary effort grounded in the best legacy of writers, such as William Burroughs, who frequently set their novels in terms of Eros. Neither will readers extend their sympathies to a protagonist who dresses up in leather, cheats on his loving fiancee, loses his job, and for a time is implicated in the murder of his lover.
But Kadet's work is an intelligent and startling debut.