When I first picked up this Amazon First Reads title, I was excited to find out that the book started with Noelle and Evan already kidnapped and figuring out the circumstances in which they find themselves. I was worried for a bit that this would be one of those books where there was a hundred pages of exposition just to get to the point in the story that the synopsis set up. Then I got really worried that, at nearly 400 pages, this book was going to just have failed escape after failed escape and there would be a lot of filler in the book between capture on page one, and escape on page 350 or whatever.

I was pleasantly surprised when Noelle and Evan escaped in the first act. The narrative was a bit disjointed, going from their escape from this harrowing experience to jumping ahead several years and having them be at completely different points in their life, but I was so happy that there was more narrative there than the kids just being stuck in captivity the whole time, that I stuck with it. The middle of the book was a little mushy (lots of Evan roaming around trying to solve the mystery, and even more of the two of them debating their own complicated feelings about each other), but the book was well written enough to keep me reading until the end.

I'm on the fence about spoilers for this book... I generally do spoilers for books I don't recommend so people don't have to actually read the book to know the details. And I don't do spoilers for books I do think people should read for themselves, because I don't want to ruin in. I think I'm erring on the side of doing spoilers because I'm not sure this is an "OMG you have to read this" type of book.

The kidnapping plot that Noelle and Evan are caught up in is one where a shady group of very powerful, very wealthy individuals participate in a game where two people are kidnapped together and forced to make difficult choices. The audience can "rent" one or the other of them for anything they want (in this book, it's intimated that Noelle was "rented" repeatedly for the purpose of being raped, Evan was "rented" for the purposes of being physically abused, sexually abused, etc.), and the captive being rented has the choice of allowing themselves to be "rented," or saving themselves at the cost of the other captive losing a body part of some kind. For example, "Noelle, you've been rented. You can come with me and find out what that means, or you can avoid it... but avoiding it will cost Evan one of his eyes."

There are two reasons Evan and Noelle escaped where others did not. First, they committed to "leaving together and leaving whole" (i.e., they wouldn't leave each other behind and they wouldn't ever allow the other person to be injured to save themselves). Second, they had an ally in The Collector, a member of the audience who prides himself on his ability to understand human nature... and uses his opportunities to send the captives gifts and treats to help provide them with a means of escape. It's not entirely altruistic; there are all kinds of wagers on who will die, how they'll die, etc. and he bets on the longest odds possible... both of them escaping.

Anyway, Even and Noelle escape and spend the next several years in relative peace... until Evan, who became a private investigator, comes across a lead indicating that others were kidnapped the way he and Noelle were, and that the game they were a part of is very much still operating. He tracks down Noelle (who moved across the country to live a simple, obscure life working at a bed and breakfast), and the two of them decide to put an end to the game once and for all. They find out more details about the game and The Collector... and this is where it gets a little off the rails.

Early in the book, it was established that Noelle and Evan already know one another. And hate one another. Because Noelle's mother was murdered, presumably by Evan's wealthy father, who presumably got away with it due to his money and influence. It turns out that Evan's father not only really did murder Noelle's mother... but did it because she stumbled upon him watching the game, and he was covering it up. The people who run the game then kidnapped Evan and Noelle as a way to intimidate Evan's father... which Evan's father apparently accepted.

At the very end, they end up finding out where the participants and organizers of the game have a once-a-year orgy (for lack of a better term), sneak in, and poison everyone in the room, thus ending the game.

Overall, it was a story that kept me reading until the end... but by the time I got to the end, I felt like it used one (or a few) too many contrivances, and one (or a few) too many bizarre plot twists to keep the story grounded and believable. Which is a shame, because the first half of the book was a dark, grounded thriller ... with an ending that was more over-the-top fantasy. I wish it would have ended as strongly as it started.

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Created Mar 06, 2024 at 5:46pm • Submit your own review...