Reviewed by Dan

Strong Content Warning:

Contains violence, torture, non-consensual sex and multiple instances of group gang rape involving prisoners of war.

Not for the faint at heart

TITLE:   P.O.W.

AUTHOR:     Max Vos

PUBLISHER:    Max Vos Inc

LENGTH:     125 Pages

RELEASE DATE:     January 20, 2017

BLURB:

After being taken prisoner by a Taliban Warlord, can Sam Stone hold on long enough to get his best friend back to his family and find love in the arms of Abbas, the handsome, blue-eyed Arab?

Sam has secretly been in love with is best friend and fellow Marine, Benoit, for quite some time and would not hesitate to die for him.

The macho Marine, Benoit, is shaken to his very core when he and his best friend are taken prisoners and made to do things that he would never have done, especially with Sam, who he knew had feelings for him.

Abbas tries everything to gain his families freedom when an unexpected man comes into his life that he starts having deep feelings for almost immediately.

Sam Stone has been secretly in love with his best friend and fellow Marine, Benoit, for a long time. It’s only after they were captured by a Taliban Warlord that he realizes that he would readily give his life to get Benoit back to his family. But it is Abbas, the Westernized Arab who steals his heart and helps Sam and Benoit regain their freedom. Now Sam has to learn to find true love and help heal not only himself, but the two men he loves deeply.

REVIEW:

I read this book a couple years ago, with a copy I got through a website recommended by the author, because at that point it wasn’t available through any mass-market outlet. When I heard that the author was re-releasing it, I was happy to jump on board to take it and do a review for the Love Bytes readers.

I have to say right up front that this book isn’t for ‘all’ of our readers. It probably isn’t even for ‘most’ of our readers. It is a book about what happens to two prisoners of war. Life for P.O.W.’s isn’t ever great. Sometimes it is far worse. Mr. Vos brings us a tale involving the demeaning of two men through starvation, beatings, electro-shock torture, a lot of non-consensual sex and prisoner gang rape.  There is a ton of sex. More sex than story in some spots, and it is not for the faint of heart. If you’re looking for a sweet romantic type book, you should probably pass it by.  If, on the other hand, you like your books like I do, on the darker, grittier side, then come on along for a ride.

P.O.W. begins with a helicopter being shot down somewhere over Afghanistan. There are three survivors of the crash, but there is soon a scene with the third survivor and the warlord who has captured them that will set the stage for the book.

Stone and Benoit are rough and tumble, huge, burly US Marines. Over a ten day period they will be taken close to hell and back. They will be gang raped, forced to have sex with each other, and come close to dying on several occasions. Stone is gay and Benoit is straight, but their captors couldn’t care less what orientation they are. They are both captives to be used in any sadistic way the captors want to use them.

Is there hope? There is always hope. And who is the very handsome translator? Can he help the two men escape?

I enjoyed the story. It is brutal. If I’m being honest, some sections seemed a little far-fetched, particularly how basically every single guard had sex with the prisoners and the section near the end of the book with US Immigration, but it is a fictional story. It doesn’t have to stick to real life facts.

I recommend you give it a try, but only if you’re like me… into the dark and gritty. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon