Review: Complex and Intriguing
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2014
What a debut novel!  It begins with the abduction of a woman on her wedding night, her subsequent faked murder and captivity, shackled to a bed in a cottage in the Lake District in England.  We never see the face of her captor, or learn, from him, any details of why he has done what he's done.  As her story unwinds, revealed bit by bit, in flashback, the reader jumps from one guess to another, based on tiny pieces of evidence that point at any of several suspects.  Everyone comes under suspicion at one point or another.  We learn, about half way through the book, who her captor is, at the same time that we learn other damning information about important people in her life.Though we now know who has her, and the bare story of why she has come to be there, the rest of the book still serves up surprise after surprise, with doubt thrown everywhere until the very last moment.  I've rarely read a book this absorbing, as I tried to figure out the motives of all the other characters, and how, or if, they are part of the plot.  I even suspected the man who eventually was revealed to be her savior, of possible ulterior motives, up to the end.It's a complicated story, with rich background information on everyone involved, or at least enough detail to see the depth of character of everyone important.  The writing was mature.  I was surprised to see that this was the author's first novel.  I'll be interested to see her next effort.I recommend this book to anyone, in any age group.  It will tie you up in knots trying to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle.