An exploration of ancient taboos Taboo is a novel that explores those areas of life generally considered off limits. It is a mystery, a romance, a probe behind convention to look for reality. The bringing to light of what has been previously hidden from ourselves....this is the process at work in Taboo. Horrors, fears, irrational drives come bubbling up to the surface from an ancient past. Taboo contains a dilemma capable of many possible outcomes, what actually transpires will both surprise and enlighten you. This is the third novel by David Stuart Ryan, in many ways it is his most ambitious and mysterious as he plays with both time and place to produce a non linear picture of our lives. The story begins in modern day Amsterdam but quickly reverts to the invading Russian armies killing and raping the civilian German population as the war comes to its apocalyptic conclusion. This becomes a metaphor for the continuing war between man and woman when communications break down and misunderstandings multiply. The novel takes you back through the preceding weeks to see how the fatal confrontation described in the early chapters took place. The heady initial romance is all the more poignant because we already know the outcome. Or do we? The second part of the novel reverts to linear time and we are able to follow the succeeding involvements and realise how these are affected by what has happened in the past. One image of a woman begins to merge into that of another, especially as these romances are conducted in the same Amstersam hotel room. The original protagonists and lovers now meet up again in Germany, but too much has flowed uder the bridge for the meeting to be anything other than climatic. And what of the other lovers on the way, was one of these the true romance of a lifetime? Only you can judge. Taboo sets out the characters and the circumstances, for you to put the jagged broken pieces back together again and form your own picture.
