Ginette B. (Niteowl7) reviewed on 2/13/2008 + 242 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 5

TOPPING FROM BELOW focuses on a sado/masochistic relationship between a journalist, Nora, and a music professor, M. Nora's sister, Franny, has been horribly murdered and the police have no clue to the identity of the killer. From reading Franny's diary, Nora is shocked to discover that her sister was involved in an S/M relationship with M. Franny had always been shy, somewhat plain and overweight. She didn't get many dates. So it was easy for M to lure Franny into playing the masochist to his sadism. Franny's needs for love and attention, especially from a man, has her descending into a hellish relationship where she ends up doing whatever M requests of her. He humiliates her over and over yet Franny can't let go of him.
Nora, living a life totally apart from her sister, seeing her for dinner once a month, is totally unaware of Franny's liaison with M. After her murder, Nora decides to start her own relationship with M and they end up agreeing that she can reenact Franny's experiences with M. M promises Nora that after a pleasing experience or 2, he'll reveal more about Franny's relationship with him. Despite warnings from Joe, the detective on the case, and Ian, her normal boyfriend, Franny jumps into a relationship with M thinking she will have the upper hand since she believes he killed her and thinks she can stay objective. But M is an extremely bright man and turns the tables on Nora. She begins to deteriorate morally, emotionally and spiritually. It's only at the end of the book does Nora regain her inner strength, guided by rage as M's depravity is starkly revealed to her. Makes for a surprise ending.
Yes, there's lots of eroticism in this book but it's more about humiliation than violence. I found myself annoyed at times with Nora. She allows her obsession about Franny's murder to overrule her logic and common sense. She listens to no one, not even Joe. This reminds me of some women I know and many I've read as "heroines" who say "I can take care of myself" before going out to walk a dark, crime infested street or camping alone in the woods in an area where a serial killer was last seen. With M, little did she realize that as she was trying to trap the monster, her own monster would emerge.

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