Captive The

A rural noir about awoman on a pulse-pounding expedition to deliver a fugitive—and forced toconfront her own past on the journeyIn asecessionist rural state that has cut itself off completely from urban centerswhere living is hardscrabble and poor but “free” Brooke Holland runs a farmwith her husband Milo and two daughters. Their life at the fringes of modernsociety is tenuous—they make barely enough from each harvest to keep going—yetBrooke cherishes the loving peaceful life they have carved out for themselves.She has even begun to believe she is free from the violent history she has kepta secret from her family.When escapedcriminal Stephen Cawley attacks at the farm Brooke’s buried talents surfaceand she manages to quickly and harshly subdue him. She isconvinced that he has come in retribution for the blood feud she thought sheescaped years ago. Brooke sets out to bring Cawley to justice planning to usethe bounty on his head to hide her family far from danger. Fearing that othermembers of Cawley’s infamous family will soon descend Brooke insists Milo andthe girls flee with her travelling miles on foot across an unforgivinglandscape to reach the nearest marshal. Their journey started at the onset ofwinter with little preparation brings already strained family dynamics to thebreaking point. As Brooke’s ghosts—both real and imagined—close in theruthlessness that let her survive her past may become the biggest threat to herhopes for a different future. What follows is a harrowing exploration of familyloyalty trauma and resilience.As haunting andpropulsive as it is powerfully written The Captive is a thrilling debut novel about the impossible choices we make to survive andprotect the ones we love.