Spider Game - Fun and Exciting Board Game for Family Game Night | Perfect for Kids, Teens, and Adults | Great for Parties, Indoor Activities, and Gift Giving

This is not a book for readers who have no experience with stories that feature the darker side of lead characters. Many reviewers have liken Trap to an abusive, demeaning and a disturbingly violent man. Taking some of Feehan's dialog and descriptions it would be easy to think that. However, it would mean that the reader totally missed the pivotal element of the author's painstaking explanation of his background and how he struggled to find a way to survive the horrors of his childhood.It is also important to remember that the entire premise of the Ghostwalkers is that these are men and women who are far from normal and who have histories of horrors that have shaped them into something not of this world. Remember, this is a tale of fantasy and the worst of how badly people can treat people. How Feehan chooses to write these various characters is a direct correlation to their individual horror story. The defenses they have developed are neither right or wrong, they just are.Tray suffered the violent loss of his entire family at the hands of his own father. To survive he learned to shut himself down. He became the Iceman as a way to control the rage of pain and loss. It is only with the persistence of his Ghostwalker brethren that he has any humanity at all. Cayenne has spent her entire existence in a small cell suffering constant torture. It is Tray who rescues her in the previous book laying the foundation for Spider Games. For both this is an exploration of trust and love in the midst of the constant threats to themselves and their brethren.Tray primal possessiveness and Cayenne's extreme fear of people is carefully and painstakingly explained by Feehan. One had known love and family only to lose it all. The other knew nothing of family. Their mating means the chance for what was taken and for what never was. For all of Tray outrageous behavior the author always counters it with Cayenne's slow realization of Tray underling and almost paralyzing fear of losing her as he has lost some many others. As for Cayenne, she must learn the most basic of human interaction while fighting to survive. Not as easy road for either.The sexual scenes are intense and not for the faint of heart. It is rough, raw, and highly emotional. It the reader has no exposure to this turn in the genre then it is shocking and unsettling. But not abusive, but the consensual sexual exchange of two characters who preference are their own. And there is a lot of it which is why I gave this four stars. I could have done with less, but not by much.This is an excellent read but only if the reader is willing to stay open and understand that darkness in a character doesn't need it is bad. Tray and Cayenne are complex and extremely interesting characters. And most definitely the result and survivors of their painful and terrifying histories. It took me the whole book to understand them and to empathize.The closeness of the Ghostwalkers and their families is the thread that holds these characters together. It is this outlet that allows humanity to come back into all of their live or as in Cayenne's case be introduced. I recommend the book and am looking forward to more from the Bayou.