Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Jan. 27th, 2010 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The Blurb On The Back:
It happened like this.
I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story.
A story from nowhere.
Lucy Christopher’s debut novel is a taut psychological thriller/character story told as a letter from 16 year-old Gemma, to her kidnapper, Ty. They met over coffee in Bangkok airport, only the coffee is drugged and when Gemma regains consciousness, she finds herself in the middle of the Australian Outback, with no one but her kidnapper for company. And it turns out that Ty has had his eye on Gemma for quite some time ...
Sophisticated and subtle, Christopher never peddles easy answers or facile emotions. Both Gemma and Ty are fully realised characters – neither entirely sympathetic, nor wholly reprehensible. Gemma’s first person voice is assured and convincing and her attitudes towards her situation are never less than convincing. The slow unravelling of her home life and the relationship with her parents adds to the tension. In turn, Ty’s story doesn’t unfold in a conventional way, with Christopher putting in enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing.
The Australian Outback also plays a role as a character in its own right. Described in vivid terms that draw out its beauty and cruelty, it’s a harsh and uncompromising place that can be read only by those who love it.
If there’s any criticism of the book, it’s that Gemma’s attempts to escape go on too wild and are never fully thought out, which did get a little frustrating but thankfully didn’t go on for too long. This apart, STOLEN is an incredibly powerful, tense page-turner that keeps you engross straight through to the end.
The Verdict:
A stunning psychological thriller that avoids easy answers, this is a page-turning must-read.
It happened like this.
I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story.
A story from nowhere.
Lucy Christopher’s debut novel is a taut psychological thriller/character story told as a letter from 16 year-old Gemma, to her kidnapper, Ty. They met over coffee in Bangkok airport, only the coffee is drugged and when Gemma regains consciousness, she finds herself in the middle of the Australian Outback, with no one but her kidnapper for company. And it turns out that Ty has had his eye on Gemma for quite some time ...
Sophisticated and subtle, Christopher never peddles easy answers or facile emotions. Both Gemma and Ty are fully realised characters – neither entirely sympathetic, nor wholly reprehensible. Gemma’s first person voice is assured and convincing and her attitudes towards her situation are never less than convincing. The slow unravelling of her home life and the relationship with her parents adds to the tension. In turn, Ty’s story doesn’t unfold in a conventional way, with Christopher putting in enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing.
The Australian Outback also plays a role as a character in its own right. Described in vivid terms that draw out its beauty and cruelty, it’s a harsh and uncompromising place that can be read only by those who love it.
If there’s any criticism of the book, it’s that Gemma’s attempts to escape go on too wild and are never fully thought out, which did get a little frustrating but thankfully didn’t go on for too long. This apart, STOLEN is an incredibly powerful, tense page-turner that keeps you engross straight through to the end.
The Verdict:
A stunning psychological thriller that avoids easy answers, this is a page-turning must-read.