'Seductions' (277 pp) was published by Pinnacle Books in November, 1984.
This was Garton's first published novel. Is it a classic of the 'Paperbacks from Hell' canon ?
The short answer is, No.
The novel is set in Northern California in the early 80s. The protagonist is a high school English teacher in his thirties named Donald Ellis. As the novel opens, Ellis has been plagued by vivid nightmares, which start off with visions of rivers of blood sweeping over hapless men, women, and children, followed by a woman's sexy voice promising to deliver all manner of erotic delights to Ellis, her spellbound listener.
Ellis's trepidation over the nightmares is reinforced by his latent ESP abilities, which include the ability to pick up on people's thoughts and intentions, as well as selected moments of precognition. Needless to say, Ellis and his nightmares are author Garton's unsubtle message to the reader that Something Awful is Coming.
Ellis's personal problems are complicating his romantic relationship with fellow teacher Anne Cramer, as well as his friendship with the nerdy student Kyle Hubbley. But these problems soon recede to the background as Ellis discovers that his younger brother Bill - a firefighter who lives in a house trailer - has become infatuated with a stunning woman named Eve.
What Donald and Bill Ellis don't know is that Eve is not a woman, but a 'succubus', a creature able to disguise itself in human form. A creature capable of igniting an erotic frenzy in its victims, priming them for an encounter that always ends very badly............
Even making allowances for the fact that this is a first novel for Garton, 'Seductions' never really comes into its potential. This mainly is due to the leisurely pacing of the first half of the book, which spends too much time on character development (almost as if Garton was trying to avoid accusations of crafting a schlocky horror novel, and tried too hard to give the book 'depth'). The fact is, no amount of exposition is going to make an alcoholic, self-pitying high school English teacher a dynamic and engaging character.........
The momentum picks up in the second half of 'Seductions', but mainly because the characters consistently overlook the obvious Warning Signs, either because these characters are besotted with the allure of the succubus, or consumed with one or another manifestation of personal angst and psychological travail that paralyzes their ability to think straight and take meaningful action.
i won't disclose any spoilers, save to say that the rationale for the existence of the succubus tries to mix the supernatural with sci-fi.........unconvincingly, in my opinion.
Summing up, 'Seductions' doesn't stand the test of time as a worthy exemplar of Paperbacks from Hell. While copies of the 2014 trade paperback edition can be had for affordable prices, this one is for Garton completists only.
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