'Tortured Souls'' is one of the most vividly imagined, tightly compressed novellas ever written by the incomparable Clive Barker. At once violent and erotic, brutal and strangely beautiful, it takes us into the heart of the legendary ''first city'' known as Primordium, the site of political upheaval, passionate encounters, and astonishing acts of transformation. Dark dystopia fantasy with beings that look like cenobites from Hellraiser, a dry dusty desert, a corrupt monarchy governed city.