Deception and Chaos by S.M. Soto

Sophia Cova lived a quiet, normal life, shadowed in sadness after the loss of her parents in a tragic airline accident. With her older brother being her only living relative and her anchor, Sophia is sure she's destined for a brighter future. But that was until she was taken.Stolen from her mundane, orderly life, she was drugged, and woke to every woman's worst nightmare.With only four grimy basement walls and a rancid mattress, she loses her sense of time, and preserves what's left of her dignity by hurtling herself into the safety of her mind. The men, the beatings, they come and go with no reaction, until she hears one word that sends an arctic chill through her body. Sold.On the eve of Sophia's bidding, all hell breaks loose in the mansion of horrors. Gunfire and screams erupt all around her, as panic rises.Snatched by one monster only to be taken by another, Sophia slowly starts to learn that not everything is as it seems. When secrets unravel, and the twisted game of cat and mouse ensues, The Puppeteer pulls his favorite strings and chaos brews. Lives are lost while the clock ticks, and only time will tell who will be killed next... WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, dubious content, strong language, and graphic violence. May contain triggers for abuse victims.

This book gives you a hell of a ride. It's all pretty implausible, both overall and in detail, but you don't stop and think about that at the time because you're along for the ride; and it's a good ride, well paced, full of excitement and striking images.

It kicks off with a bang in classic style: a normally capable man has been dropped defenceless into a mysterious situation of crisis and mortal peril, and an unlucky bump on the head has given him amnesia. Furthermore, people he can't see are talking to him inside his head.

It goes on like that for at least 70% of the book: by luck or good judgment, he gets through crisis after crisis as we gradually learn with him more about what's going on. Beyond the 70% mark, we've found out more or less what's going on, so the ride is still of interest but somewhat less exciting. The ending completes the picture of what's been going on; the details are implausible but at least they involve striking and memorable images.

This is probably Kapp's best book, and one of my old favourites, which I've been rereading from time to time over the decades. I deduct a star for implausibility; because it seems rather old-style sf for a book published in 1972; and because the last 30% is not quite as good as the rest of the book. But I warmly encourage sf fans to read it anyway.

Didn't like this one at all. :( Shy was a huge whore douche noodle, and he just never got any better in my opinion. Reading this one once was torture enough...