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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Electrifying,
This review is from: Captured (Paperback)
This is a gripping and suspenseful novel. Once started it is very hard to put down.
The story is simple and could almost be a short story. Kenny has a brain tumor and has been given weeks to live. He makes a short list of people who he feels he has let down or failed to acknowledge during his life, wanting to make amends to them before he dies. One of them is Callie Barton, a friend from primary school whom he hasn't seen in years. With the help of a friend who is a former police officer, he finds out that Callie went missing several years earlier. Her husband was the prime suspect but was never charged with her disappearance, which remains unsolved. Kenny feels it's his responsibility to Callie to find out what happened to her. His behavior becomes increasingly unhinged, but given the brain tumor it never feels like a completely unrealistic scenario. The tension builds throughout the book. I was in a constant state of suspense, wondering how far Kenny would go and whether his assumptions were correct or incorrect. I was horrified by his behavior, and yet somehow he sustained my sympathy as well. Author Neil Cross was previously the lead scriptwriter for the TV series Spooks. He has a sparse writing style - few adjectives, minimal character development - which suits the novel. Be aware that it is fairly violent in parts, but it's still a terrific read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tracking Down Your Childhood Crush, With a Crowbar,
By
This review is from: Captured (Paperback)
Captured is a really great plot, the writing style is a bit amateurish though. At times it reads like a picture book in describing what a character is doing, rather than reading like a normal novel. For example the start of chapter 4 "After work, Mary went home to a Victorian terrace on a steep hill in Totterdown - a brightly painted house on a street of brightly painted houses, blue and yellow and green." You feel like there should be a brightly drawn picture next to the text you should be holding up to a child to see. This is a bit of weird style for a violent thriller novel. This could well be because Neil Cross is a script writer and not really a novel writer. Although he has quite a few books to his name, this sort of style is in a lot of them, the style doesn't add to the story.
In Captured, Kenny an unpopular lonely simpleton type child has grown up to be a bit of a loner. He's been told he has a tumour in his brain and will be dead in a few weeks. Kenny decides he needs to apologise to those he has let down, such as an almost victim of child abuse who Kenny didn't stick around to protect when he could see what was about to go down, and couldn't identify to the police later. Kenny also wants to thank those who were kind to him, there aren't many, but one was a little girl named Callie who went to his school and although never public acknowledging she was friends with him would cross legs with him under the desk and stuff which of course in Kenny's mind made her his best friend. After school holidays she never returned to school and a devastated Kenny never heard from her again. Now Kenny's dying and he just wants to see her one last time. Only no ones heard of her for years, she's not on any of the social media sites and even her husband Jonathan claims she just walked out on him one day and never came back. Kenny doesn't believe his Callie would do anything mean like that and is determined to get the truth from Jonathan by any means. Since Kenny is going to be dead anyway, there's no consequences for his actions. However is Callie really the type of person Kenny's romanticised visions of her project? Or should he have just concentrated his last days telling those who are his current friends he appreciates them? It's a worthwhile read, Kenny isn't the most likeable of characters so you don't really feel for him when he's struggling to find the truth about Callie. His constant referal to his VW Kombi van as a combi with a c instead of K does illustrate he is not the brightest of characters which does help the story but becomes a bit annoying to read this typo over and over again. You don't know if you want him to be successful or if it would be better if he just had a seizure and it all ended for him before interfering in others lives.
4.0 out of 5 stars
It kept me interested from the first sentence..."Kenny wrote the list because he was dying",
By
This review is from: Captured (Paperback)
Revolving around Kenny who is using the final weeks of life to 'put things right' with the people he feels he has let down, the story keeps up pace and uses a minimal cast list. I found it easy not to care too much about Kenny because although seemingly likeable he was also aloof...almost automated. This isn't a negative point though, his character is so focused on his task that it fits the plot well. Because he's dying, the reader can empathise with him and the way his thoughts turn to making his peace with people...it certainly gives the author license to write an unusual story about obsession and human failings. I found especially interesting (and touching) the bad memories he has of school, of being picked on and teased, yet the gratitude and warmth he felt for someone who stuck up for him and showed him kindness stayed with him to the end...however rose tinted. The human mind is so simple yet so complex!!
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