While the landscape is beautifully portrayed and deftly mined for subtext and symbolism, the novel can’t overcome its central contradiction. 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. This debut novel about an English teen’s abduction and imprisonment in the Australian outback unfolds as a letter from captive to captor.
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