I saw this book and the sound of angels singing let me know that it was going to be GREAT. A cornucopia of orgasmatastic greatness that would be well worth everything I went through to find a copy. Amazon was temporarily out of stock and it took me days to find a copy in my price range but I did and I ordered it...and I waited...and I waited...and today it came and I devoured it.

 

In These Words is a manga about Asano, a psychiatrist who helped catch Shinohara, a serial killer. Now Shinohara has agreed to cooperate as long as Asano is the one who takes his confession. This sounds like the recipe for so much delicious craziness doesn't it? Like nothing good can come of giving in to a serial killer's demands, right? Right. Nothing good does come of it and it was divine candy for my mind and my eyes.

 

Here's the thing, since Asano started on Shinohara's case he's been having these absolutely psychotic nightmares. Nightmares about him being held captive, raped, and tortured repeatedly. What is it that makes this manga even more of a mindfuck than it would have been if that was the whole story? The way the novel begins. You first meet Asano when he's approached by a wealthy stranger who ends up drugging and kidnapping him. You're never told that the stranger is definitely Shinohara and I wondered for the whole novel if it was a nightmare or a memory. Then I began to wonder if the other nightmares are actually memories and then I got the feeling that Asano has his suspicions too. 

 

And then there's Shinohara. Holy freaking serial killing psycho. He's creepy, calm, and did I mention creepy. Also, I'm pretty sure Shinohara is the only one who knows what the hell is going on. The reader's lost, Asano's lost, and Shinohara is laughing at everyone and I got the feeling that he's only allowing himself to be held because it's part of his plan. What his plan is, I had no idea and I wasn't able to focus on trying to figure it out because I kept being startled on how absolutely messed up Shinohara is. 

 

No. Seriously. Bloody, covered in semen, violent, twisted, sexual, knife wielding bucket full of crazy.

 

Oh, and then there's the artwork. GGAAHHHHHHH! SOOOOO GORGEOUS! I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it.

 

I say all of this to say that if you love M/M and especially if you love the darker stuff, that you need this graphic novel in your life. Don't be put off by the fact that it's manga and you need to tread it a little differently. There are instructions inside on how to read manga. It takes a minute to get used to but then the story sucks in you and takes over your life while you're reading it and it is sooooooooo good.

Father Figure by Kichiku Neko & TogaQ
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 Stars for being such a Unique Taboo Read that Scrambles My Senses

Blood relation, just how important is that? How strong could that bond be? Is it possible to love a total stranger? Especially if that stranger shared an unbreakable bond with you?

Gabriel developed an unhealthy obsession with a man, a stranger he had hoped to get to know better and ultimately be loved by. Uriel was the father he had longed for ever since he was a child. He was bitter when he found out Uriel has a happy little family of his own now and a favored son two years his junior upon leaving his mom behind. He hated the other woman who took away what should have been his and his alone. No one should compete with him for Uriel's attention and affection. Uriel owed him that. And he will make sure his father understands it even if he has to hurt him in order for him to learn. Afterall as the saying goes "spare the rod, spoil the child", an ironic phrase for them but it is one Gabriel deemed as the right recourse to steer his Father's affection towards him.

What transpired between this pair of long-lost father and son upon their ill-fated meeting was supremely taboo and disturbing enough to make you feel so wrong and conflicted for even reading it, yet you will find it hard to stop. You just had to know why, why Gabriel did what he did, and to find out what would Uriel do to salvage both of them from any further destruction? Do we really owe that much to our own child? How much are we willing to sacrifice for own flesh and blood?

Love can be the most beautiful thing in this world. Love can also be the ugliest thing when directed by a distorted perception. Love can be hellish. To a man like Gabriel, to love is to possess wholly, to claim full ownership, to be kept close by his side irregardless of consequences. I am still unsure if all those vile acts Gabriel subjected on Uriel is even remotely redeemable.

Since the story is narrated all by the perpetrator himself, we would get to feel his every volatile emotion and his twisted reasoning. At times, the intensity of his insanity makes me shudder with disbelief and horror. Books of such nature fascinates me till no ends. Being in the mind of a delusional, unstable person gives our mind such a great workout. Needless to say, there's never a dull moment in this book. My adrenaline was kept high throughout the reading.

I must say, the angst in this story is just superb. It has precisely the right amount to keep me satisfied and on a constant emotional high.

Okay, to be on the blunt side, this is a taboo book and it is ILLUSTRATED. I repeat, IT IS ILLUSTRATED. The taboo acts are ILLUSTRATED. There, I got it off my chest and feeling much better already. I can assure you that TogaQ's artwork is to die for and the illustrations are aptly applied. It heighten the experience and shake up our emotion. If you wanna know, there are a total of 19 illustrations in this book. I wish I could show some of it here but I had to refrain from spoiling the story and lessening the shock effect. Plus I would hate to be flagged by those well-meaning-GR-police. I must clarify that not all of the illustrations are smutty, there are a couple of those safe-for-work types too.

If you are those who aren't easily disturbed by taboo reads that contains high level of incest with a dose of dark psychological and criminal theme, then this book should be a winner for you. Angst addict would definitely adore it too. As for those looking for sweet romance.. please look elsewhere. The only romance to be found here is an utterly twisted one.

On account of how much this story had lodged itself deep within me, a 5 stars rating is a given thing. In fact, most books that graces my 5 stars shelf are those that had left its indelible mark on me.


Side note to all: For sake of world peace and personal safety; NEVER EVER have unprotected sex, NEVER EVER forsake your own children. OR you might just find yourself reliving Uriel's nightmare.

 

[ I ran my fingers through his hair; it was soft. There was a kind of excitement that went through me then that felt sexual. This man was my father. He used to belong to someone else and now he belonged to me. ]

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: Father Figure
Author: Kichiku Neko (Author), TogaQ (Illustrator)
Publication Date: November 2011
Publisher: Guilt|Pleasure (Doujinshi Circle)
Type: Illustrated Novel - approximately 31,000 words, 19 illustrations
Genre:M/M, Gay, Taboo, Incest, Dominance-Submission, Noncon, Psychological Thriller, Drama
Tags/Keywords: gay, incest, taboo, dominance-submission, non-consensual, thriller, psychological, maledom, domineering male, rape, corporal punishment, caning, bodily harm, injury, murder, restraints, collar, leash, chain, hand-job, blow-job, oral sex, anal sex, rough sex, kidnap, captive, captivity, confinement, unstable mind, psychological disorder, mental disorder, obsession, stalker, stalking, voyeurism

Description:
A deep obsession with his estranged father leads Gabriel down a dangerous, twisted path.

This is an Illustrated Novel NOT a manga or graphic novel. It contains 19 illustration by TogaQ and the story was written by Kichiku Neko.



WHERE TO BUY:

PAPERBACK


EBOOK


View all my reviews

Ch 1: 3 stars
Ch 2: 3 stars
Ch 3: 4 stars

**Ordering details below** Look what the mailman dragged in today! My copy. Aaaghgh! It finally arrived.

Can I lick it?

YES I CAN!

So I suppose it's a good thing that I got impatient and tracked down another copy, because it took forever for this one to be shipped to me. The other one I swear I will not lick.

I'm going to post a few phone snapshots in a bit, but let me tell you this first: It's like In These Words was created especially for me. The art is super-gorgeous, never sloppy. The story itself so deliciously, excitingly twisted and sick. It has the exact sort of fucked up psychological experimenting in it that intrigues me.

Also, reading In These Words will make your IQ go up like 10 points, because they chose to present this yaoi in its original form. Meaning that you'll have to start at the other end and read from the right to the left, top to bottom, just not upside down. I love it! It adds to the atmosphere.

...my oh my...mindblowing art combined with an intense and dark and disturbing story..consider all my boxes ticked. Fuck yeah!

And although some reviewers mentioned that this should be called horror rather than yaoi, screw them! Screw everyone. To have someone lick your blood, to be told by a serial killer that he...well, see below..

Can it get any more swoon-worthy romantic than this?:p



I mean, LOOK AT IT..



Man, this is like being 11 years old all over again and falling in love with Cutter from freaking Elfquest. Look how spectacularly well they portrayed both MC's. Look at those emotions swirling through their eyes, look at those faces, those....ahhh!



Noooo Shinohara! Not all Dutch wives are boring...pick me! Pick me! Beh heh he.



Pom, pom, pom...



A bunch of tasty teasers....
















Where to get your copy?
Since this was somewhat confusing to me, I included ordering details: Volume 1 (chapters 1-5) used to be $16,- on Amazon (€12,55). However, it's no longer in stock. So if you order your copy from Amazon, it'll probably never show up! Instead, you'll find mostly used copies on Amazon and Ebay with prices that will go up from $80,- to $300,-. The reason? Volume 1 is getting rare! This is what the authors had to say about it on guiltpleasure.tumblr.com:

"ITW manga’s been out of print a month after its issue. DMI (the licensor) had assured us that they will not be republishing that title nor others (except Hentai) until at least JUNE. We have no hand in printing and reprinting the manga. Please do write to DMI to encourage them to reprint the ITW manga or likely, your order from Amazon’s not going to happen."

I found that if you search the internet, there are still a few pretty decently priced copies out there. Another option is to buy the ebooks via Kobo. This will allow you to still read the chapters 1-5 (they're currently working on making 6, 7 and 8 ebook proof too). However, you have to take into account that the quality just isn't as amazing and your ebook may not be compatible with your ereader (at least not with my Sony), but I managed to read it just fine on my iPad. Otherwise, just order the individual chapters from the Guilt Pleasure website (if they're not out of stock again, that is. *sigh*).

Something else; In These Words has these bloody cliffhangers, so it's good to know that "It will be another year before we have enough material for Vol. 2 but we are likely to do a trade for chapter 6-10. For now, it is released chapter by chapter until then.


Anyway, if you'll excuse me? I'm going to try all of this stuff at home now. Bye!

Found the book and it's a hard, intense and adult Yaoi book :-) love to read this book, a dark yaoi like view finder :-) a long time I have read a amazing yaoi book and it is a same lvl like the mangaka Youka Nitta and view finder :-D xx

This intense brutal, violent and very dark. You will find that you get over your limits, out of your comfort zone.

This is psychological warfare, who is the strongest physically and mentally, the psychiatrist has profiles and to obtain serial killer to talk about his murder or the serial killer who is strongest.

These murders are brutal and scary, nobody wants to have such a person love to feel his love rape day after day, cutting his victims. Talking about a crazy love and these men are powerless to defend themselves after all these days of torture and rape.

This series is amazing and there is chapter 6-8 that is published and I hope to find out who will win this mind games or mind rape, for that is what this is. The profiler is being weak, because he has nightmares every night and it seem supernatural to me like the serialisme killer have a telepathic connection to the doctor and to the special things he has done in his unique sacrifice that police can not see the connection to some cold cases. These nightmares are very real and scary, the doctor loses his physical strength for everyday that goes and there are conversations that seem random but maybe not are this. 

I will recommend this book for them that love to read out of your comfort zone and have read books like SF or the Flesh Cartel, for this book is in the same genre.