Book Review: Command Performance

Command Performance (Nathan VanHorn's Service To Country During The American Civil War Book 1) by P. J. Wright

Published on Amazon Kindle by Hypo To Helio Books (January 31, 2014)

170 pages

From the book description on Amazon: "CROSS-DRESSING TO CONFOUND THE CONFEDERACY Nathan VanHorn was a stage actor in 1862 Connecticut. He was skilled at playing (short) leading men, also teen boys—but what he was famous for was playing young women. Theater critics described his portrayals of ingénues as “uncanny.”

Nathan’s acting talents got him recruited as the perfect Union spy. What Southerner would believe that a moustached German man, an Irish crone, a panhandler twelve-year-old stripling, and a Southern belle were all the same Connecticut man?"

If you look for it, you'll find a decent amount of fiction involving crossdressing available in the Amazon Kindle store. Unfortunately, much of it is a poorly written attempt at explicit "erotica." What is really unfortunate is that even the well-written material falls into the erotica bin. What's missing are stories that have anything to do with crossdressing beyond fantasy fetishes.

Command Performance fills the need for fiction telling non-sexual stories involving crossdressing. It's fundamentally a spy novel, with a male protagonist who spends the book dressed (and presenting) as a woman. The setup to get him into the dress is believable and doesn't feel forced. The spy story works, although it is a little dependent on chance for my taste. The book sets up a second book, which is not published and never will be, but the story itself is complete.

As a crossdressing story it has mixed results. I wanted an exploration of how  he felt about dressing and how he felt dressed. There is above average attention paid to his outfits, but I wanted more, a level of detail where I could imagine standing in front of a mirror checking myself out. Crossdressing is very tactile; again, there was some recognition of this, but I wanted more. One subtle touch I liked is that Nathan finds himself liking being treated like a woman by the gentlemen around him, giving a touch of that emotional exploration I was looking for.

The book is $5.99 to buy on Kindle, free to read with Kindle Unlimited. There is a used copy in paperback for $1040.90!