In The Arms of an Angel by Michael Elk
Reviewed by Spiros Bousbouras
http://www.thevalkyrie.com/stories/1misc18/angel.txt

My rating system:  * = Forget about it !    ** = Fair   *** = Good 
**** = Very good   ***** = Read it now !!

This story gets a ****1/2

Since the following review will reveal some things about the plot let me
give a general impression for those of you who prefer to discover the
details of it on your own.This is an excellent femdom story with a good
balance between physical and psychological dominance , attention to detail
and nothing too gross , extreme or perverted.The victim is unwilling
throughout almost all of it which is how I personally prefer it.

A young man is hitchhiking alongside a highway.An older woman picks him up
in her car and eventually injects him with a substance which sends him to
sleep.When he wakes up he discovers he is in a cell and eventually he is
informed that he will remain her prisoner for one month.  Almost every day
from then on she trains him to submit to her commands.Eventually she
ravishes him sexually and takes his (front) virginity.

The author takes great efforts to make this realistic and fill in all the
details.From the beginning Mrs (Angela , see the pun ?)  Schmidt enquires
about his contacts to make sure he won't be missed.She finds a convincing
way to get him to drive the car , to explain her fiddling with needles and
then to divert his attention from her preparations.We learn that she was a
nurse so she obviously knows about drugs and has experience injecting
people quickly and efficiently.Notice that when they change seats we learn
that there is no console or gear shift on the floor of the car.This
explains why , as Jamie the hero loses his senses , she has no problem
putting her foot on the break.

Then we have all the fine psychological details.Too many to give a full
list but here are some:  his cell is fairly dark and gloomy so that he's
looking forward to be taken out of there.For the same reason he is given
no recreation whatsoever while he's in it so that his boredom works
against him.The first time she talks to him after he has been captured she
makes sure he has been without food long enough to be hungry.Nevertheless
he refuses to obey.She just tells him that she will be coming every 24
hours and until he obeys he gets no food.Needless to say next time he is a
lot more agreeable.Then the way she immobilizes his hands.From a practical
point of view handcuffs would have been the simplest thing but the author
appreciates the importance of domination rituals.So instead of handcuffs
which would have achieved the desired effect in a second , he has Angela
use tape on her hapless victim.This prolongs the process.  Jamie gets to
experience each time how the freedom of his limbs is slowly taken away
from him as the tape is wound around them until he is rendered completely
helpless.But I have to say here that personally I find tape not very
erotic.Perhaps the author does since he's also used it in his "Date rape"
story.I would have preferred rope or even bandages.Another nice touch:
although Angela keeps repeating to Jamie that even unfettered he wouldn't
stand a chance against her she nevertheless makes sure he's always in a
position of physical restraint.And I mean literally every second from his
capture until the epilogue.If he's not in his cell then he will be in
bondage.This is important both for his training as well as for the
reader's enjoyment but it has one unpleasant consequence to which I will
return to below.

Apart from all these (and plenty more) long term designs to ensure that he
develops a submissive mentality , his short term obedience when out of the
cell is dragooned by a cat-o-nine-tails.  Simple yet effective in a
realistic way.Bottom line is Jamie sooner or later (usually sooner) ends
up doing exactly what Mrs Scmidt tells him to whether he likes it or
not.Furthermore there's never any room for doubt that it will remain like
this until she and only she decides otherwise.

So finally we arrive at the climax of the story which is when Jamie
forcibly loses his virginity.Angela announces what is about to happen and
tells him he can resist her if he wants.She even gives him an extra
incentive to do so.Well two of them actually.The only problem is he has to
try and resist with his hands tied behind his back !  This I find the most
contestable part of the story.As I have alluded to above it is certainly a
logical choice.  This way Jamie is always in restraint from beginning to
end and there's never any doubt about who's the boss.I will also add that
the actual physical confrontation which takes place is quite interesting ,
certainly a lot more interesting than what I would have predicted given
the very unfair odds.  But on the other hand it did leave me somewhat
disappointed that I didn't get to see Angela exhibiting her physical
superiority to its full extent.I suspect that many readers will feel or
have felt the same.I think it would have been best if in the beginning
they were fighting on equal terms.Then Angela after prevailing could have
tied Jamie up to make sure that he didn't flop around too much and spoiled
her fun as the story says.So we could have had a proper wrestling match
(with a bit of martial arts thrown in perhaps ?)  AND then have the scene
which actually appears almost in its entirety.

A couple of other minor objections:  when Jamie receives his treatment of
the strap we read that he was begging for mercy after the second stroke.I
found that a bit cliched.It doesn't fit with his frame of mind as
presented that he would beg at all.Cry out perhaps but not beg.Another
thing is that on a couple of occasions I found the author's use of
language somewhat heavy handed.The first time was when the hero describes
his thoughts after his handshake with Angela.Phrases like "Though by no
means contemplating an amorous future with her" seem to me rather over the
top for the general climate of the story.Not to mention that Jamie seems
to be reading way too much into a simple handshake.It makes sense that he
should be awakened at some point to her sexuality but two paragraphs and
with such choice of words is a bit too much.I had the same feeling about
some expressions during the rape scene like "...the tongue which I still
held firmly in its oral prison".Finally in the last sentence of section 7
, the narration suddenly switches from the first person which is the case
everywhere else to the third.I found that strange.

But let not these little complaints detract from the fact that this is an
excellent story which sent my head reeling on several occasions.My only
real complaint was that it ended too soon.