THE DELILAH COMPLEX

Author: M.J. Rose ISBN: 0778322157 1/2006 EROTIC SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

As one of New York's top sex therapists, Dr. Morgan Snow sees everything from the abused to the depraved. The Butterfield Institute is the sanctuary where she tries to heal these battered souls. The Scarlet Society is a secret club of twelve powerful and sexually adventurous women. But when a photograph of the body of one of the men they've recruited to dominate—strapped to a gurney, the number 1 inked on the sole of his foot—is sent to the New York Times, they are shocked and frightened. Unable to deal with the tragedy, the women turn to Dr. Morgan Snow. But what starts out as grief counseling quickly becomes a murder investigation, with any one of the twelve women a potential suspect. The case leads Detective Noah Jordain—a man with whom Morgan has shared a brief, intense connection—to her office. He fears the number on the man's foot hints that the killings have just begun. With her hands tied by her professional duty, Morgan is dangerously close to the demons in her own mind—and the flesh-and-blood killer.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE DELILAH COMPLEX is a richly imagined erotic thriller.

The title of the book refers to a Biblical character, Delilah, who broke the strength of a Jewish hero by having the hair that made him strong cut off. In this story, we meet a number of women who are part of the Scarlet Society. They are an unusual group of sexual dominators, but leave their play to meetings set up with a group of carefully screened men. They don't know the men well, but they have an intimate connection, and are troubled when the men in their society start to disappear. Though deeply paranoid regarding their privacy, they come to Morgan for help with their grieving process.

The police receive information indicating that the missing men are dead, and Morgan gets mixed up in the dangerous murder investigation. She can't break doctor-patient confidentiality, and yet she knows the police need her information. Meanwhile, she becomes more high profile in the community so the press harasses her for sound bites, and her boss pressures her to publish an article about these uncommon women. It's quite a situation for one busy woman to handle.

This novel is taut and multifaceted--very interesting to read. I had a hard time putting THE DELILAH COMPLEX down!

Heather Hiestand