Title: Stolen: A Letter to My Captor
Author: Lucy Christopher
Publication: May 4, 2009
Source: Bought at Scholastic Warehouse Sale
Goodreads Summary:
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 letter from nowhere.
Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?
The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don’t exist – almost.
My Thoughts: This book was compelling. I was caught up quickly in the action of the story and suffered with Gemma as she woke up in the outback. I liked the point of view in the story. The format of a letter written to her captor really brings the reader into the action of the story and gives the reader a glimpse of her emotional struggles. I agree with the summary that the Australian Outback becomes almost a character in the book and it made me want to see this amazing desert for myself. It was disturbing to think about the lengths that someone might go to in abducting another person. I love the way that the author revealed a little at a time to the reader just as it was revealed to Gemma. I absolutely recommend this book to teens and adults alike–it is a look into the complex emotions of a victim with Stockholm syndrome.
