Ravenous Bookshelf

Rating: 5 / 5 stars.

Gemma doesn't understand why Ty chose her; picked her out in the airport coffee shop with his piercing blue eyes, drew her close, and swept her away.

It soon becomes clear, though, that he has planned this out carefully. The wig, the fake I.D., the drugs.

Ty didn't just kidnap her on a whim.

This book is brutal and stark and utterly beautiful, just like the Australian outback where Ty takes Gemma. He tells her there is no one else; he tells her that this place isn't on any maps. And if this could be true anyplace on Earth, it would be Australia. There are no roads. No telephone lines, no airplanes, no people -- just the sand and the sun and the endless sky.

The setting is a palpable force in the narrative, woven into the structure and the atmosphere and the characters themselves, and that is part of what makes this often grueling story not just bearable, but compelling. Christopher won't let you disconnect from this world; you are drawn towards both characters, Ty and Gemma both, fighting to survive in a harsh landscape that strips everything down to the bare roots. The second-person narration, which I usually find gimmicky, is intimate and claustrophobic and heartbreaking here.

I don't want to spoil anything more about this book, so I'll just say that Stolen is pitch-perfect, and you may never be prepared to read it, but you should anyway. Trust me.