Publishers Weekly
11/02/2020
After Brooke Holland, the heroine of Foster’s intriguing if uneven debut set in a contemporary world that has feel of the Old West, is attacked in the shed of her family’s isolated homestead by Stephen Cawley, a member of one of two local drug-running family, she ties him up and makes her husband, Milo, and their two daughters travel with her on foot in winter weather, to bring him in for the federal bounty offered in Shaw Station, 100 miles away. Brooke tells them that she fears that other Cawleys might be coming, but doesn’t admit that the attack on her was far from random, leaving them to have faith in her drive to risk her family’s well-being in order to bring a dangerous man to justice. Brooke’s backstory unfolds at a natural pace, leading the reader gently into feeling compassion for her. Unfortunately, no other character gets similar care, and a conflict between the two rival drug-running families follows a predictable course. The high-tension setup suggests Foster will do better next time. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
A fugitive story layered in frigid atmosphere, Foster's modern-day-set corker carries an Old Western appeal.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Dark as an ice cold winter's night, Fiona King Foster's debut novel is a pitch-perfect noir thriller, set in a rural tundra in a world populated by loners, homesteaders, and the kind of people who most typically lurk in the shadows.… Foster keeps the tension high, running at a constant throbbing pulse, and showing all the things we'll do to protect our family and our future.” — Refinery 29
"In this intense literary thriller, a family ekes out a precarious but peaceful living on a remote farm in a dystopian future. As is often the case in thrillers, an interloper arrives to disturb the careful balance in the household—in this case, it is an escaped prisoner whose chaotic presence will most likely cause all sorts of revelations to come to the fore." — CrimeReads
“Remarkable…. With this part–feminist Western, part–dystopian odyssey, part just plain-old nerve-jangling thriller, Foster does a terrific job of maintaining the page-turning pace of her narrative…. Packed with heart-stopping misadventures.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[A] suspenseful, tightly written country noir…. Foster reinvigorates the familiar perilous journey trope as she portrays Brooke's steely determination to save her loved ones. Exuding that irresistible blend of courage and vulnerability that defined Daniel Woodrell's Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone (2006), Brooke drives this propulsive wilderness adventure, made all the more chilling by its shockingly realistic vision of a country ravaged by culture wars.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Beguiling. . . . Part adventure novel and part crime novel. . . . Foster keeps the tension high. . . . [Foster] effectively keeps readers in suspense all the way through.” — BookPage
“Fiona Foster has written a tension-wire novel, suspenseful from the first line to the last. A story about a fractured country quickly transforms into a study of the ways in which the darkest parts of our history follow us around like shadows. There is something gripping here, a nuanced dissection of how violence begets violence, damage begets damage.” — Omar El Akkad, author of American War
“The Captive is a wonder, a wild horse in the sure and steady hands of the brilliant Fiona King Foster. Electrifying and otherworldly, The Captive gives us a new feminist heroine, an Offred traversing Cormac McCarthy’s hazardous dreamscapes. Through the ingenious and fierce-hearted Brooke Holland, King takes us to the very sheer edge of survival, love and loyalty. This debut novel reads like a lightning storm, and then it stays with you, leaving a profound impression—ghostly, gorgeous and moving.” — Claudia Dey, author of Heartbreaker
“In this riveting debut, King Foster vividly brings to life a gritty, hardscrabble and all too plausible near-future and a resolute heroine who defends those she loves throughout a harrowing ordeal. The Captive is a propulsive, word-perfect thriller about the ghosts that haunt us and the strengths that lie within.” — Saleema Nawaz, author of Songs for the End of the World
Saleema Nawaz
In this riveting debut, King Foster vividly brings to life a gritty, hardscrabble and all too plausible near-future and a resolute heroine who defends those she loves throughout a harrowing ordeal. The Captive is a propulsive, word-perfect thriller about the ghosts that haunt us and the strengths that lie within.
Claudia Dey
The Captive is a wonder, a wild horse in the sure and steady hands of the brilliant Fiona King Foster. Electrifying and otherworldly, The Captive gives us a new feminist heroine, an Offred traversing Cormac McCarthy’s hazardous dreamscapes. Through the ingenious and fierce-hearted Brooke Holland, King takes us to the very sheer edge of survival, love and loyalty. This debut novel reads like a lightning storm, and then it stays with you, leaving a profound impression—ghostly, gorgeous and moving.
Booklist (starred review)
[A] suspenseful, tightly written country noir…. Foster reinvigorates the familiar perilous journey trope as she portrays Brooke's steely determination to save her loved ones. Exuding that irresistible blend of courage and vulnerability that defined Daniel Woodrell's Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone (2006), Brooke drives this propulsive wilderness adventure, made all the more chilling by its shockingly realistic vision of a country ravaged by culture wars.
Entertainment Weekly
A fugitive story layered in frigid atmosphere, Foster's modern-day-set corker carries an Old Western appeal.
CrimeReads
"In this intense literary thriller, a family ekes out a precarious but peaceful living on a remote farm in a dystopian future. As is often the case in thrillers, an interloper arrives to disturb the careful balance in the household—in this case, it is an escaped prisoner whose chaotic presence will most likely cause all sorts of revelations to come to the fore."
Refinery 29
Dark as an ice cold winter's night, Fiona King Foster's debut novel is a pitch-perfect noir thriller, set in a rural tundra in a world populated by loners, homesteaders, and the kind of people who most typically lurk in the shadows.… Foster keeps the tension high, running at a constant throbbing pulse, and showing all the things we'll do to protect our family and our future.
Omar El Akkad
Fiona Foster has written a tension-wire novel, suspenseful from the first line to the last. A story about a fractured country quickly transforms into a study of the ways in which the darkest parts of our history follow us around like shadows. There is something gripping here, a nuanced dissection of how violence begets violence, damage begets damage.”
BookPage
Beguiling. . . . Part adventure novel and part crime novel. . . . Foster keeps the tension high. . . . [Foster] effectively keeps readers in suspense all the way through.
Pasha Malla
"Rarely does a first novel feel so fully, expertly realized as Fiona King Foster's The Captive. There's everything here you'd want from a book: compelling characters, suspenseful storytelling, crystalline language, and a portrait of a near-future that, though troubled, pulses with a human heartbeat of love, and honour, and hope."
Library Journal
08/01/2020
In Foster's The Captive, Brooke Holland lives with her husband and two daughters in a secessionist state, happy to have buried her violent past. When escaped criminal Stephen Cawley attacks their farm, she easily repulses him, but she's convinced that he came to deliver vengeance and persuades her family that they must flee to the nearest sheriff. Her aim: to capture Stephen, claim the bounty on his head, and take her family far from harm (75,000-copy first printing). Thornton's Pickard County Atlas opens one night during a roasting late-Seventies summer in the Nebraska sandhills, as sheriff's deputy Harley Jensen follows young troublemaker Paul Reddick through the streets after the Reddick patriarch finally holds a memorial for a son murdered decades ago, his body never found. That brings Harley in touch with Pam Reddick, eager to quit marriage and motherhood, who's attracted to his dark past (30,000-copy first printing).
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-03-03
A woman is challenged to protect her family—and her previous history—in this remarkable debut.
Brooke lives on a secluded cranberry farm with her husband, Milo, and their two daughters, 13-year-old Holly and 8-year-old Sal. It’s a hard life in a rural secessionist state, but they have a home and each other. Then, during Brooke and Milo’s overnight trip to a town auction, a fugitive’s bounty is announced publicly, and Brooke recognizes the escapee’s name—Stephen Cawley. Her immediate reaction is palpable: shock, panic, and a rush of fear-fueled adrenaline. It’s clear that Brooke has dark secrets and that she’ll do just about anything to keep them hidden: “Deep down, Brooke knew she had no right to this life….She should have run farther in the first place.” An altercation back on the cranberry farm quickly confirms the presence of danger, and Brooke takes life-threatening matters into her own hands, setting out with her family across a bleak and unforgiving landscape. With this part–feminist Western, part–dystopian odyssey, part just plain-old nerve-jangling thriller, Foster does a terrific job of maintaining the page-turning pace of her narrative—and of Brooke’s angst-ridden story. The action is full of (often violent) surprises, and the plot exposes one secretive layer after another, embedding a highly contemporary feel to the tale despite its futuristic setting.
Packed with heart-stopping misadventures, this novel makes outdoor challenge–style outings look like a walk in the park.
