‘The Captive’ – Kit Burgoyne (Titan Books)

 

This week has ended up being great for reading; not just the books I went for either (well, ‘The Star Beast’ to one side…), things seem to be settling down a bit and I can now actually focus on what’s on the page :o) To balance things out a little, I’m back at work next week (fingers crossed) and I suspect that won’t be such a good time for reading. Lets see how that pans out…

Anyway! Horror has really worked for me this week and ‘The Captive’ has been popping out of various TBR piles in the flat (giving me those reproachful looks) so I put the two together and settled down for a read.

Underground revolutionary group, The Nail, and their newest member, Luke have kidnapped 23-year-old heiress Adeline Woolsaw, whose wealthy parents run the Woolsaw Group, a vast outsourcing company. They run everything from prisons and hospitals to military bases – quietly suffocating the country with the help of powerful friends in government.

The Nail’s plan: to use the kidnapping to draw attention to the Woolsaw Group and their terrible practices. But with Adeline bundled into their van, The Nail discover two things. The first is that she’s just about to give birth. And the second is that this isn’t a normal baby. In fact, it has devastating supernatural powers. Because the father of this baby wasn’t a man, it was… something else. Something that her parents make human sacrifices to on an altar in the basement of their Highgate mansion. And all this time the Woolsaw Group has been preparing the ground for the Woolsaws’ real aim: an infernal new kingdom that will rise with Adeline’s son sitting on its throne.

If this week has been a week for ‘finishing books and wondering where the time went’, ‘The Captive’ was a great way to round things off. What we have here is how ‘The Omen’ might have looked if Robert and Katherine Thorn were the satanists, but also a little ‘Good Omens’ style commentary on ‘nature vs nurture’. Add a ‘mother of the anti-Christ’, who really doesn’t want the job, and a woefully unprepared activist cell and…

Well, ‘The Captive’ just buzzes with its capacity to shock and surprise (often both at the same time) with a very solid mix of horror and action. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded seeing a little more horror but that’s just me; I’d say though that Burgoyne gets the balance right with these moments pushing things forward at just the right points. What I loved though is how literally nothing is what it seems… ‘The Captive’ has a real happy knack of sending the plot off, in mad directions, just when you least expect it. Anyone can betray anyone else at any time, it has been a long time since I last read a book that kept me on my toes this much :o) The timing on display here is just superb, especially when, and how, Percy (the anti-Christ) takes out his kidnapper at the garden party. There’s that capacity to shock but ‘The Captive’ also made me chuckle, just what this reader needed.

The theme of ‘nature vs nurture’ comes up a fair bit and I’ll be honest, I’m still getting my head round it. I mentioned ‘Good Omens’ earlier and while there are similarities, ‘The Captive’ isn’t a ‘Good Omens’; that’s OK though, I don’t think it’s meant to be. How Burgoyne handles ‘nature vs nurture’ here grounds ‘The Captive’ and stops it from becoming too ‘out there’. Percy can wreak destruction, on a large scale, but when you look at why he does it, well… Can you blame him? And watching Silvia attempt to bond with Adeline (during a sacrificial rite) goes way beyond ‘villain monologue’ into a new realm of ‘awkward English conversations’ that makes you feel a little sorry for both of them. Yep, even Silvia.

There is a lot to be said here and like I said, I’m still figuring it out. I guess what I’m trying to say, come for the plot but definitely make sure that you stick around for the more thoughtful moments as well.

‘The Captive’ was a brilliant read, one that I’m very glad I took a chance on. If you’re wondering whether to pick it up… Yes, yes you absolutely should.