Blog

A psychological thriller that creeps off the pages and into reality.

Who else grew up hearing ‘It costs you nothing to be kind’? This book is an excellent example in why that’s not always the case.

Having previously read Laurie Faria Stolarz, author to several other wonderful series like ‘Touch‘ and ‘Blue is for Nightmares‘, it comes as no surprise to me that this book drew my interest.. but it was nothing like her others.

This book could be difficult for some. The character is young and under quite a lot of mental strain, she’s struggling, and for good reason. Just be aware that this is not an easy story and there is no happy ending.

Trigger warning:
There are many scenes and situations in this book that can be unpleasant to read.

*Spoiler Alert!*

---

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

Publication date: January 2020
Pages: 310
Genre: Young adult, Fiction, Psychological thriller
Series: Book 1 of 2: Jane Anonymous

Dedication: For those brave enough to share their honest truth and the attentive listeners who really, truly hear it.

Can one harmless action cost you your freedom?

Holding a gift for her best friend Shelley at the small shop where she works backfires when Shelley returns early from her trip. Retrieving the bracelet should have been nothing, a quick stop, in and out again but.. A potential customer’s distraught plea for entry has Jane making a decision that may cost her everything.
She lets him in.

The rain made him look defenseless somehow.

It only takes a moment and Jane finds herself subdued, drugged, and stored in the stranger’s trunk.
Seven months of her life.
Gone.

“He took me. Mom … You have to help me, Mom. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m in the trunk of his car.”

Waking to find herself held captive in a small, bare room, Jane takes stock of her prison. Her kidnapper has supplied her with clothes from her favorite brands, preferred snacks, and even the shampoo she uses.. And it dawns on her with a horrifying sort of clarity that he has been watching her, following her, and planning this for a very long time.

Did he buy them just for me, knowing what I had in my drawers back home? How was that even possible?

She wracks her brain for who could have done this and.. why? For what purpose?

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that he chose all of us specifically for some reason.”

It isn’t long before she meets Mason, another victim, who’s somehow able to move through the ducts of the warehouse they’re held in. He visits her often and, the more time that passes, the more Jane clings to his presence for sanity. They speculate on why they’ve been taken and make plans to escape.

In truth, it didn’t matter what he talked about. It was his companionship that meant most—like an intoxicating drug shot up inside my veins, warming all of my cold places, lightening up my darkest thoughts.

Their lives here are carefully managed by a points system and the rules are simple: They’re to keep their rooms and bodies clean and tidy. For each chore or task met they’re rewarded with a point. A certain amount of points allows you to make a request for approved items. And anything given.. can be taken away.

The monster wasn’t stupid.

Everything goes sideways when circumstances force Jane to make a break for it earlier than planned. Unable to find Mason, and unwilling to leave without him, she squanders precious time searching for where he’s being held but.. her captor has returned and time has run out. Relying on desperation, she finds the strength and determination to get away, barely managing to avoid recapture.
Walking into the first police station she can find, disoriented and in shock, Jane recounts her abduction in fits and starts.

This is where Jane’s story really begins.

For the purpose of this memoir, you can call me Jane Anonymous. For the purpose of my sanity, I’ve chosen to do this in secret. Accordingly, all of the names in here, for both people and places, are fake. I want to tell my full story, and I can’t possibly do that if I’m paranoid about being identified. And while I’m on the topic of story, until now, I’ve never attempted to write my own.

A young girl’s innocent action quickly turns into a horrific nightmare as that small act of generosity plunges her straight into the arms of a psychopath.

Four Stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Do you feel safe?
Jane should have been.
A stranger took advantage of her kindness and tore the ground from beneath her feet.
Will she ever feel safe again?
Will you?

A look behind the curtain into the repercussions we face when a simple choice has devastating consequences.

---

About the book: The book is told from Jane’s point of view, past and present, as she tells her story in the only way she feels comfortable.. through writing. We’re shown a deeply personal glimpse of the wreckage of Jane’s life after she returns home to find that she wasn’t the only one damaged by her disappearance, the subsequent psychological impact of being held prisoner, and the difficult journey towards healing.

The horrifying experience has Jane and her family struggling to recover in the aftermath.

Her mother is spiraling further into her own anxieties. Her friends continue to move on as though nothing has happened, mostly unburdened by the tragedy, and only too happy to speculate on the mystery of her worst nightmare. And Jane, still paralyzed by uncertainty, finally takes a step towards moving forward. When a bond is formed between her and an abused dog at the animal shelter she volunteered at ‘before’, earning his trust allows her to slowly emerge from the protective shell she’s built around herself.. and find her own path towards redemption.

Well written. Had me on the edge of my seat.

Jane: She’s an extremely resilient young woman, even carrying a buttload of emotional trauma from the ordeal, she keeps moving forward. Mentally scarred by the experience, Jane is left feeling disconnected from the people in her life, and often overwhelmed with the day to day. She doesn’t like the same things as before, feels pressured into acting ‘normal’ for everyone, and doesn’t understand what will make how broken she feels less of a burden for everyone around her. It’s heartbreaking.

She’s left with questions that seem to have no answers. Why her? What is she supposed to do now.. after everything she’s been through?

Attempts to reacclimate to normal life leaves her floundering for where she fits in and all to aware that her experience has also affected the people who love her.

Mason: I found Mason’s character questionable from the beginning(Trust issues, you know?). There are so many things that just don’t add up for me, inconsistencies, and he seemed too collected.. had too much freedom to come and go. He could have left whenever he wanted so why did he stay? For Jane? She had only just arrived. He must have already been ‘exploring’ the building, the ‘warehouse’, so why didn’t he just leave?

Lonely and exhausted, from the constant state of fear, she clings to the visits from Mason.. a strange and mysterious boy in the walls. Is he what he appears to be? Should she be more cautious? But it’s too late, she’s become infatuated, he’s kind and his humanity comforts her in this dark place.

For days this book has battered the inside of my skull. Would it still have happened had she been more cautious? Would the monster have found her elsewhere? Why was she chosen? How do you protect yourself, your family, from these predators?

How does a monster choose it’s prey.. And why?

Who is Martin Gray really?
And how did he pick me?

Overall? This book was dark, intense, and emotionally demanding. The constant reminder that, while this is a work of fiction, these circumstances can and do happen in the real world. Fun fact? About 100 cases every year are classified as abductions by strangers for children under the age of 18. If you didn’t have nightmares before..

Maybe my words will somehow help save some poor soul from making the same mistakes I did.

Yours truly,

Jane Anonymous

Disliked: Short chapters and it definitely reads like a YA, a young YA, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Just saying. And What. The. Heck kind of ending is that? Seriously!? The build up, the tension, the expectation, and then..
Ah hah! Almost had you there.
I have no intention of spoiling the ending for anyone who hasn’t read it yet but, while it wrapped things up quite neatly, I wasn’t entirely satisfied.

---

All together? I would recommend this book but I wouldn’t say it was ‘enjoyable’. I would call it.. a haunting cautionary tale for today’s youth.

Have you read this? What did you think?

Follow Read Betwixt Words on WordPress.com