COMMANDER AMANDA

Amanda Nightingale is an agent with British Intelligence.

Born Amanda Rosemarie Hastings, she married the dashing and handsome Guy Nightingale. They looked to have an idealic if sedate life ahead of them but the War intervened and Guy headed off to fight while Amanda remained at home and chose to serve in FANY, the First Aid Nursing Yeomancy. Because of her dedication and her station in life, she quickly rose in rank to that of Commander in the organization, equivilant to that of Major.

When the call went out, secretly of course, for volunteers to work in the Special Operations Execution (S.O.E.) behind enemy lines to gather intel for the upcoming D-Day invasion of the Continent, Amanda stepped forward and was selected along with three men from far differing backgrounds.

Time was short, training was scant, the intelligence needed urgently, and the group parachuted into occupied France with Amanda taking the cover of an innocent schoolteacher named Yvette. The innocence part was not going to last long because her arrival is noticed and she is taken prisoner and her life will change drastically.

Over time and the course of five recorded adventures, Nightingale will go on to first be awarded the highly prestigious George Cross, given to those who "perform deeds of the highest valor outside the conventional battle lines" and that last phrase definitely describes her exploits. She will also, shortly after the end of the War, run for Parliament and win easily for the region of Northminster.

But along the way will be the most horrendous, disgusting, degrading series of horrific rapes, torture, bondage, and sadism that one could ever imagine. And the victim of all these terrible events is Amanda Nightingale. And though she will come to hate her oppressors and will exact her revenge many times, she also learns how much she enjoyed it.

I first bought a copy of the initial adventure back in the mid-90s and eagerly opened it and was amazed at how good the writing was. I was a tad perplexed for the first 50 pages or so as to where the story was heading but I enjoyed the style of prose the author was presenting so I hung in there.

When the beautiful and dedicated Amanda lands in France and is caught immediately, I had an idea what was coming based on the blurb on the back but I had no concept of how bad it would get or how much Amanda would change.

I never finished the book.

I had the second book as well having bought it at the same time. I read a ways into it. I never finished that book.

I knew there were three more in the series. I never collected them.

I am not a prude as shown by the number of racy, sexy books I have read and written about.

I hated this series ONLY because I cannot stand sadism or masochism.

The writing is superb and that might be the biggest reason for my dislike. The author can depict a scene beautifully and the reader is there and understanding everything that is happening with amazing clarity. That is how good the writer is.

When the "action" starts, then, there is no hiding what is happening. The reader knows intimately how it feels and just has to take it to make it through.

Or close the book and toss it with disdain. Which is what I did.

Maybe I am a prude.