Exit to Eden

It's no secret that Anne Rampling, "the pseudonym for a bestselling writer who makes her home in San Francisco," is really Anne Rice (Interview With a Vampire). And the initials make it seem more than likely that Rice is also A.N. Roquelaure, author of those S&M porno-bores, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (1983) and Beauty's Punishment (1984). In any case, the obsession with sado-masochism and bondage-and-discipline continues at full tilt here - even if the porn is dressed up in pretentious dialogue and glossy pseudo-romanticism. Lisa, rich and gorgeous at 27, is a major member of The Club, a resort in the Caribbean that offers sex-slaves to its kinky, super-rich clientele. Elliott, a 29-year-old photographer, primarily homosexual, with a "flawless body," has just signed on for two years as one of The Club's 30 new sex-slaves. So, in alternating chapters, Lisa and Elliott narrate their doings at The Club - while recalling their youthful "training" in the arts of domination and submission (complete with "the round black weights he clamped to my nipples" and other charmers). Elliott, a bit rebellious at first, is treated to whipping, rape-wrestling, and such; Lisa, who's smitten at first sight, uses "a dildo in the form of two penises" to subdue him further; much kissing of leather boots ensues. But then Lisa and Elliott break all the Club rules by taking their sex-marathon to New Orleans - where they trade life-stories, find new uses for butter and cinnamon, and muse on the deeper meanings of their sex-rituals. . . until the powers-that-be from The Club intrude, briefly, in the happily-ever-after fadeout. Leather-lust meets the white-wine set - in a soggy serving of pornoquiche. (Kirkus Reviews)