Held Hostage: A Story of Love & Mental Illness

by Bonnie McKeating

Meet James: A secret agent trapped inside the dire confines of the Mayview Hospital, a mental health facility, on a mission to liberate the prisoners of this institution. Only one thing stands between James and his freedom, his sanity. James is a paranoid schizophrenic, although this truth often eludes him, especially when the voices call to him in the form of a mysterious and dangerous woman he calls Eve. As he struggles on his road to redemption James must learn to confront his past in order to better accept and control his illness.

On this journey he meets Emily, a woman who will change life as he knows it. As James and Emily grow closer together James is forced to make a decision to either continue with his treatment or be with the woman he's come to love. What James must understand is Emily has her own dark secrets and that love does not always conquer all.


Held Hostage is a story about mental illness and the sometimes deathly hold it has on its unwilling captors.

It's a story about life, loss and the friendships in between.

But mostly, it's a story about love.

Genres: Fiction

171 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2014

About the author

Bonnie holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University. She previously worked as a Coordinator at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and as a Research Assistant and Policy Analyst at Transport Canada. Presently, she is a Program Administrator at McGill University. Bonnie lives in Montreal and Held Hostage: A Story of Love & Mental Illness is her first novel

Reviews

[Jay Douglass · Rating 4 out of 5]

The backdrop for this book is a sanitarium, or rather than using that dated term-a mental health facility.

James has serious mental illness, but he is able to be lucid enough of the time,if he takes his medication.

He is even able to show empathy and falls in love with Emily. It is important to remember that despite the stigma that still sadly prevails in society about those who are afflicted with this disease, that through treatment,very often these people become productive members of society.
The takeaway for me that despite the backdrop, this is a story of romance.

It's hard to believe this is the author's first novel.
It is splendidly written and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

[Grey Klee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf

[Cassandra]

This book was not what I expected. I usualy read BDSM/dark erotic type books, but a change of pace was good. It was a quick read. I really felt for James. I cant exactly say he had an exceptionaly hard life, but hard none the less. Faling in love, then having it taken away only to blame yourself, and under those circumstances, well any one would have a hard time, but with everything else.....I was glad to find out at the end the did get the help he needed and seemed to get better, hopefully the rest of his life easier.

[Betsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was captivating and went along very well. Throughout the whole thing, something about the writing bothered me and I finally figured it out about 75% in. It's written in present tense which is just kind of weird and awkward. Also, I felt like things developed and concluded very quickly, which should probably be expected in a 170 page novel. Other than that, it was a quick and easy read with story that I wanted to follow.

[Brian Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this book on a whim, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Writing about mental illness can be a real challenge, after all if it was so easy to describe and convey to others it would be much less of a burden to bear. The book is simply written but very authentic in the way it describes mental illness from the inside out.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has potential. A bit basic and needs more story. Could see this as a movie. Needed a grammatical editor.

[Bekka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad story, quite enjoyed it, but I'm not in love with it.