Frog: A Tale of Sexual Torture and Degradation

Reviewed by Kevin R. Tipple

Frog: A Tale of Sexual Torture and Degradation
By Claire Thompson 2002
Renaissance E Books

ISBN# 1-58873-125-1
Rating: ****

Jane sees herself as worthless and just existing with no expectations as this latest offering from Claire Thompson opens. She thinks that no one notices her and thinks of herself as unappealing and plain. But, she is very wrong as a married couple; Brenda and Robert have definitely noticed her and determined that Jane is a perfect candidate for their plans.

Jane unwittingly stumbles into their trap. Kidnapped and chloroformed, she is abducted from the local grocery store. Helpless, unconscious and oblivious to Robert's attentions to her quickly naked body while Brenda drives the getaway car, she is unaware of what is in store for her. She awakens to find herself being held prisoner by the couple to be used any way they see fit before they ultimately dispose of her body. Sex is just a small part of what they have in mind for her with the primary interest torture and humiliation.

Brenda sees the abduction and the getaway as an arousing event. She likes getting away with it and especially likes playing mind games with the victim.


"Jane didn't move and Brenda was concerned for a second that they'd overdone it for her first day. It didn't do to scare them so bad they lost their minds. More fun to keep them lucid; aware of what was happening to them. For Brenda it wasn't just about physical thrills. She liked to take a person and slowly break them down. Take an independent functioning adult and reduce them to a docile, totally submissive and obedient slave. Robert could use her, but ultimately it was Brenda who would own her."


While Brenda likes to play mind games and inflict pain for the sheer pleasure of it, Robert likes to inflict his manhood on them. Robert thinks that the victim should appreciate the fact that he is doing to her what so many women would crave if they only knew what could be in store for them should he deign to please himself as well as them.


"Robert was excited and happy with their newest acquisition. She was young and terrified and probably not very experienced sexually. He would have the privilege of breaking her in to all sorts of nasty and exciting practices. He would turn her from cold frigid bitch to wanton sex slave. He would teach her not to just submit sexually, but to crave it, to live for it. And despite his very selfish use of their toys, Robert was in fact quite attuned to what drove women wild. He knew how to take them to the edge and pull them back, and then push them closer, closer, controlling their experience until her finally let them go, pushing them toward their own little deaths, leaving them completely spent and, in his mind, properly used."


What neither suspects and Jane did not know, is that Jane has a previously untapped inner strength. Driven to the edge by repeated torture and forced sex, she begins to find within herself a will to survive. Not only survive but to begin to plan for her escape as well as revenge on her sadistic tormenters.

This novel is very hard for me to rate, as I like this author and her work. In the past, her works have always had an undercurrent of eroticism for me, which I found very lacking in this novel. Beyond the whipping, caneing and the like which I expect, there are scenes of urination, feces and needle play which I do not care for at all. Therefore, due to their prevalence throughout the novel, any erotic element for me was completely lost.

At the same time, for what it is as implied clearly by the title, it is well written. As in many of her other books, the victim finds an inner strength and begins to rise above her situation. The novel allows her to evolve and change, for the better and becomes something totally different than what the character was at the beginning. This character development is not weak but substantial as the novel moves forward and the secondary characters; in this case the married coiuple Brenda and Robert also fundamentally change. The graphic scenes serve to highlight the ongoing character development and other issues. Her novels are never just a series of sexual scenes loosely strung together.

Therefore, I am going with a four star ranking. Clearly, while this novel is not erotic in my opinion, it is well written and complicated just like her other works. Pain, humiliation and the inner spirit of a victim are the main themes. Far more so than in any of her other books, the author has provided a glimpse into the abyss and which was madness lies.