When Gemma’s escape attempts end in near death, Ty rescues her, returning her to captivity, using such handy teachable moments to instruct her on outback ecology. Abandoned child turned wasted drifter and stalker, Ty is now an expert survivalist, bent on teaching his abductee admiration and respect for the harsh world in which he’s imprisoned her. Her captor, Ty, in his late 20s, is a less-successful creation.
Privileged Gemma, 16, is sympathetic and believable.
From its compelling opening, the novel delivers taut suspense and a riveting plot in a haunting setting. While not as taut as the author’s Stolen (BCCB 6/10), the book offers plenty of tension and secrecy, making it a satisfyingly escapist piece of realism.This debut novel about an English teen’s abduction and imprisonment in the Australian outback unfolds as a letter from captive to captor. Ashlee is a tantalizing figure, and her sexually charged take on the Game amplifies the uneasy and disturbing tone of what’s already a feral pastime. The technical side of the mystery is murky and implausible (and occasionally preachy), but when the story moves into the secrets of the Game (which Damon dubs their “own private Fight Club in the woods”) and the shame and doubt of the protagonists, it takes off into a creepy and atmospheric psychological puzzler. Emily and Damon each fear the worst-Emily her father’s culpability and Damon his own-yet they’re compelled to seek the truth about Ashlee’s death. As narration alternates between the two teens, it becomes clear that Ashlee’s death involves what Damon and his friends, including Ashlee, call “the Game,” an adrenaline-soaked interval of pursuit and physical combat in the deep woods. Damon, Ashlee’s boyfriend, is devastated by Ashlee’s death and haunted by his inability to remember the events surrounding it due to drugs and booze. Emily is positive that her father didn’t kill her schoolmate, Ashlee, in a post-traumatic flashback to his war experience, but she’s the only one, especially after he pleads guilty to manslaughter.
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