Apparently, I Like Torturing Myself

 

TITLE: Corrupt (Devil's Night #1)

AUTHOR: Penelope Douglas

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: November 7, 2023 (originally published November 15, 2015

PAGES: 503   

SOURCE: Kindle Unlimited

FROM GOODREADS: Dreams might be a heart’s desire, but nightmares are its obsession in the first novel of a dark romance series from New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas. 

Erika Fane’s boyfriend's older brother is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college's basketball team gone pro, he's more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than he is with her. But she saw him. She heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid... 

For years, Erika bit her nails, unable to look away. Now, she’s in college, but she hasn’t stopped watching him. He’s bad and the things she’s seen aren’t content to stay in her head anymore. 

Because he's finally noticed her. 

But Michael Crist knows the hold he has on Rika, how much she fears him. She looks down when he enters the room and stills when he’s close. He knows she thinks only of him. When Michael’s brother leaves for the military, leaving Rika alone and unprotected, he knows the opportunity is too good to be true. 

Three years ago, she put Michael’s friends in prison, and now they’re free. 

Every last one of her nightmares is about to come true.

MY THOUGHTS: I have a few disclaimers before I dive in.  First of all, even though I'm going to be bashing this book, I'm not bashing the author or people who have enjoyed this book.  Secondly, there might be a few spoilers here and there but I figure if you visit my blog, this isn't your typical genre (it's not mine either), so there's a good chance you won't read it anyway.  And finally, yep, I could have DNF'ed this and saved myself but I seriously wanted to know what happened and just how bad it would get.  Spoiler alert - it got REALLY bad.

Erica "Rika" Fane grew up with all the amenities a lot of rich, spoiled, entitled brats seem to have. Granted, she lost her father when she was young but that only solidified her entitlement because it made her the sole heir to the Fane fortune.  Her mother became aloof after her father's death and turned to alcohol and indifference, so Rika ended up basically growing up the home of rich family friends.  Also, in that home is her boyfriend Trevor, and his brother Michael.

Michael is a pro basketball star and every year on Halloween, he and his three besties turn into "The Horseman" where they terrorize their town for one night (insert abuse women, burn down things and wreck overall havoc) and get away with it.  Until one night they didn't, and Rika is to blame.  Rika is OBSESSED with Michael and tags along one night, the same night that leads to the imprisonment of three of the Horseman.  But now they are out of jail and want revenge.

Let me just say, I don't care how good-looking a guy is or how rich, if you are an ass, you are an ass.  And Michael is an ass.  Not only is he spoiled and entitled, but he is also mean and unfeeling.  He has always felt a connection to Rika and regrets that she dated Trevor but that doesn't stop her from encouraging his friends to reap revenge on a woman he adores.  And I'm talking physical abuse, near rapes, kidnapping her mother and gaslighting Rika on her whereabouts, freezing all her financial accounts and burning down her house. Rika is obsessed with danger and apparently pain and allows Michael to keep coming back for sex, even when she is stating in the prior sentence how much she hates him. 

I had planned on giving this book at least 2 stars.  I mean, honestly, even though it was probably for sadistic reasons at one point given the book is 503 pages, I did keep reading it.  But then came the epilogue.  The epilogue that flashes back to when Rika was 13 and she witnessed Michael strangling a dog with his bare hands after it was hit in the road and suffering "for its own good."  Yep, as if the crap I read wasn't enough, we just HAD to kill an innocent animal.  

There are three more books in this series which apparently follows the other three Horseman.  I have no desire to find out what happens to them because EVERYONE in book one should have died to begin with - except the dog.

MY RATING: 1 PAW