Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2467071 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 250 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With its brief but explicit descriptions of male homosexual violence, this unusual mystery explores the distinctions between aggressive physical abuse and voluntary participation in sadomasochism. Bruce MacLeod, a Southern California therapist (whose practices seem rather questionable), has a new client: television actor Frank DeSilva, who was abducted and brutally raped by a pair of men. Frank won't go to the police: he didn't see his abductors, who put a hood over his head, and he fears the publicity. Bruce is gay and his own tastes run to S&M, so he recognizes Frank's experience as one that could have come straight from an S&M handbook. Soon the police call in Bruce as a consultant: two other men have been abducted, and their accounts are similar to Frank's. One of the two, Charlie Stuart, wants to stay off the record and makes Bruce uneasy--something about his story doesn't sound right. Then Bruce's own emotions begin to interfere; he terminates Frank's therapy and embarks on a relationship with him in what appears to be Townsend's ( The Leatherman's Handbook ) working through of a sadomasochistic fantasy.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Adventure, Love, S/M, Incest
"A handsome actor is kidnapped, tortured, and raped by two men who keep him blindfolded throughout the ordeal. His therapist, Bruce MacLeod, soon discovers other men in town who have gone through the same experiences. MacLeod's investigation leads to adventure, love, S/M sex ... and a father-son partnership that's gone too far."--© zebraz

Erotic gay suspence story
The overbearing Charles Iverson Stuart III and his son, Charles IV, have been kidnapping handsome young men, imprisoning them in a purpose built dungeon and subjecting them to torture and brutal rape. The abductions go unreported until they pick on aspiring TV actor Frank DeSilva. Frank seeks help from therapist Dr Bruce Macleod, but for obvious reasons he does not want to go to the police. However when the police direct two more victims to Dr MacLeod as consultant it seems that they have the beginnings of an investigation that cannot be avoided.
The handsome Dr Macleod himself is gay, and into S&M, or SM as he prefers, something enjoyed between loving and willing partners. Things become complicated when Bruce recognises the reciprocated stirrings of attraction with his purportedly straight client Frank, and while his professional ethics won't allow him to act on these feelings while he is counselling Frank, that doesn't stop the two of them getting together immediately he discharges him.
What future though is there for Bruce with Frank, who is concerned about the effects any hints of his being gay would have on his acting career, and how will Frank react to Bruce's SM interests. What chance is there of stopping the two sadistic abductors before they go too far when their victims refuse to go public through fear of humiliation.
Larry Townsend creates an interesting tale with likeable characters; one even feels a touch of sympathy for the young Charles IV. Masters' Counterpoints is a story of suspense, a detective thriller and a love story which includes, but is not dominated by, plenty of explicit action as each victim describes to Dr MacLeod in detail his treatment at the hands of his abductors.