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The Captives
The riveting story of a woman convicted of a brutal crime, the prison psychologist who recognizes her as his high-school crush—and the charged reunion that sets off an astonishing chain of events with dangerous consequences for both
As an inmate psychologist at a state prison, Frank Lundquist has had his fair share of surprises. But nothing could possibly prepare him for the day in which his high school object of desire, Miranda Greene, walks into his office for an appointment. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan private practice and landed him in his unglamorous job at Milford Basin Correctional Facility in the first place, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda’s case. But Miranda is just as beguiling as ever, and he’s insatiably curious: how did a beautiful high school sprinter and the promising daughter of a congressman end up incarcerated for a shocking crime? Even more compelling: though Frank remembers every word Miranda ever spoke to him, she gives no indication of having any idea who he is.
Inside the prison walls, Miranda is desperate and despairing, haunted by memories of a childhood tragedy, grappling with a family legacy of dodgy moral and political choices, and still trying to unwind the disastrous love that led to her downfall. And yet she is also grittily determined to retain some control over her fate. Frank quickly becomes a potent hope for her absolution—and maybe even her escape.
Propulsive and psychologically astute, The Captives is an intimate and gripping meditation on freedom and risk, male and female power, and the urges toward both corruption and redemption that dwell in us all.
As an inmate psychologist at a state prison, Frank Lundquist has had his fair share of surprises. But nothing could possibly prepare him for the day in which his high school object of desire, Miranda Greene, walks into his office for an appointment. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan private practice and landed him in his unglamorous job at Milford Basin Correctional Facility in the first place, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda’s case. But Miranda is just as beguiling as ever, and he’s insatiably curious: how did a beautiful high school sprinter and the promising daughter of a congressman end up incarcerated for a shocking crime? Even more compelling: though Frank remembers every word Miranda ever spoke to him, she gives no indication of having any idea who he is.
Inside the prison walls, Miranda is desperate and despairing, haunted by memories of a childhood tragedy, grappling with a family legacy of dodgy moral and political choices, and still trying to unwind the disastrous love that led to her downfall. And yet she is also grittily determined to retain some control over her fate. Frank quickly becomes a potent hope for her absolution—and maybe even her escape.
Propulsive and psychologically astute, The Captives is an intimate and gripping meditation on freedom and risk, male and female power, and the urges toward both corruption and redemption that dwell in us all.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
450 people are currently reading
2217 people want to read
About the author
Debra Jo Immergut
4 books109 followersDebra Jo Immergut is the author of the novel The Captives, (June 2018), and Private Property, a short-story collection. She is a MacDowell and Michener fellow and has an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. A magazine editor and journalist, she has also taught writing in libraries, military bases, and prisons. Her work has been published in American Short Fiction, Narrative, and the Russian-language journal Foreign Literature. She lives in western Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 289 reviews
May 29, 2018
Frank Lundquist is a psychologist at the Milford Basin Correctional Facility for Women. He recently suffered a scandal that led him to close his very successful private practice in Manhattan. The basement office of a women's prison is not the future he had envisioned for himself. With his failed marriage and a heroin addicted younger brother things in his life seem to be in a constant downward spiral.
Then one day she walks into the room. She's a new inmate at Milford Basin and also Frank's high school crush. He was, and still is, completely obsessed with Miranda Greene. She was beautiful, a star athlete, and had a congressman as a father so what could she have possibly done to lead her through these prison doors with a 52 year sentence? He knows that he is morally obligated to pass her case to someone else but it doesn't appear that she remembers him so what's the harm if he continues treating her?
This is where things get complicated.
I found this book to be exceptionally well written. I was invested in Frank and Miranda's story but I also loved the side stories that went along with it and how they slowly connect with one another.
Sometimes being held captive within our own minds can be the most dangerous place of all.
Thank you to Harper Collins/Ecco and Debra Jo Immergut for sending me an advance ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Then one day she walks into the room. She's a new inmate at Milford Basin and also Frank's high school crush. He was, and still is, completely obsessed with Miranda Greene. She was beautiful, a star athlete, and had a congressman as a father so what could she have possibly done to lead her through these prison doors with a 52 year sentence? He knows that he is morally obligated to pass her case to someone else but it doesn't appear that she remembers him so what's the harm if he continues treating her?
This is where things get complicated.
I found this book to be exceptionally well written. I was invested in Frank and Miranda's story but I also loved the side stories that went along with it and how they slowly connect with one another.
Sometimes being held captive within our own minds can be the most dangerous place of all.
Thank you to Harper Collins/Ecco and Debra Jo Immergut for sending me an advance ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 23, 2018
Here is yet another book where the cover is too YA for the content. Anyway, we know from the onset that a crime has been committed because high school ‘it’ girl is, many years later, in prison. While incarcerated she comes under the care of a former classmate who is now a psychologist. This guy was (and still is) obsessed with her. It is clear that both characters exist in captivity. One in obvious ways and the other in ways that are less apparent. What follows is a spellbinding psychological tale of deceit and control. Immergut takes this well worn trope, shakes it up and gives us something that is fresh and vivid even though it’s told from alternating perspectives. This device works here and fleshes out the backstories rather nicely. The prison scenes seem particularly authentic as well they should given that the author volunteered at prisons for years. This is a terrific and psychologically incisive novel that kept me utterly engrossed.
May 30, 2018
I haven’t seen much early buzz about The Captives and I’m not sure why, the blurb alone is eye catching and the cover caught my eye immediately as well, and then I started reading this gem. A profound and sharply intelligent crime novel is a rarity, don’t get me wrong, I love my crime fiction and devour it weekly, but most of the books that fall under the umbrella of CF don’t hold a candle to The Captives, this is a special book from an incredibly talented writer, they type I won’t soon forget.
This flips back and forth between Frank and Miranda’s perspectives and each were equally enthralling. Miranda is in prison, at the start her crime is blurry but you do know she is serving serious time and her lack of hope and total desperation is heartbreakingly apparent. Frank may not actually be a prisoner himself but he is a slave to his own tortured soul and his pain and despair was also woefully raw. Their relationship is harrowing yet beautifully restrained, not having any clue how things would play out kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and you just know things won’t end well for these two.
Immergut’s prose is lyrical and astute, her knowledge of the inner workings of a women’s prison is glaringly clear and heart wrenching all at once, some of these women’s personal stories were achingly sad. There was such an authenticity to this aspect that it was hard to stomach at times, but nothing so disturbing that I was bothered too much. I was reminded of Laura Lippman, it had that same well executed sophistication as both her plotting and writing has and I bet fans of her work will enjoy this one as much as I did.
The Captives in three words: Intelligent, Enthralling and Keen.
This flips back and forth between Frank and Miranda’s perspectives and each were equally enthralling. Miranda is in prison, at the start her crime is blurry but you do know she is serving serious time and her lack of hope and total desperation is heartbreakingly apparent. Frank may not actually be a prisoner himself but he is a slave to his own tortured soul and his pain and despair was also woefully raw. Their relationship is harrowing yet beautifully restrained, not having any clue how things would play out kept me on the edge of my seat throughout and you just know things won’t end well for these two.
Immergut’s prose is lyrical and astute, her knowledge of the inner workings of a women’s prison is glaringly clear and heart wrenching all at once, some of these women’s personal stories were achingly sad. There was such an authenticity to this aspect that it was hard to stomach at times, but nothing so disturbing that I was bothered too much. I was reminded of Laura Lippman, it had that same well executed sophistication as both her plotting and writing has and I bet fans of her work will enjoy this one as much as I did.
The Captives in three words: Intelligent, Enthralling and Keen.
August 3, 2018
This is one of those novels where I’m a bit conflicted about my feelings. At one moment I loved it, at another I found myself a little underwhelmed.
I thought the characterisation in this novel was fantastic, especially when getting to know Frank. Since the book revolves around just 2 main characters and follows each of their mindsets closely, we, as readers, get a deep insight into their thoughts, feelings and lives. I personally preferred getting to know Frank as I found his story more interesting to follow.
There is quite a bold claim on the front of this novel, that it’s “Gone Girl meets Orange is the New Black”, but I have to disagree. With that comparison, you would expect this novel to be fast-paced, clever, emotional, and witty. However, it is not all these things, and not necessarily in a bad way, I just don’t think it should be marketed that way.
This novel is very slow to get off the ground, and when it eventually does, it’s not very fast paced, more of a plod. I think the plot for this story takes a backburner to the characters. Where Frank and Miranda are so well developed and have strong, clear narratives, the actual storyline dithers a little bit and doesn’t really go very far. Of course, there is quite a definitive moment in the story but it’s mere pages from the end of the book and then isn’t given enough time to progress.
One thing I have to say is that the title of this novel is so well incorporated into the story! It works because Miranda is a captive, of course, she’s in prison, but Frank is also a captive. A captive of his emotions. I only figured this after I put the book down, but I thought it worth mentioning.
Like I said, I’m conflicted… I loved the characters and Immergut is a pro at making you become her characters, however, the story lacked for me after so much was promised.
(My final rating is 3.5 stars)
Thank you to Titan Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought the characterisation in this novel was fantastic, especially when getting to know Frank. Since the book revolves around just 2 main characters and follows each of their mindsets closely, we, as readers, get a deep insight into their thoughts, feelings and lives. I personally preferred getting to know Frank as I found his story more interesting to follow.
There is quite a bold claim on the front of this novel, that it’s “Gone Girl meets Orange is the New Black”, but I have to disagree. With that comparison, you would expect this novel to be fast-paced, clever, emotional, and witty. However, it is not all these things, and not necessarily in a bad way, I just don’t think it should be marketed that way.
This novel is very slow to get off the ground, and when it eventually does, it’s not very fast paced, more of a plod. I think the plot for this story takes a backburner to the characters. Where Frank and Miranda are so well developed and have strong, clear narratives, the actual storyline dithers a little bit and doesn’t really go very far. Of course, there is quite a definitive moment in the story but it’s mere pages from the end of the book and then isn’t given enough time to progress.
One thing I have to say is that the title of this novel is so well incorporated into the story! It works because Miranda is a captive, of course, she’s in prison, but Frank is also a captive. A captive of his emotions. I only figured this after I put the book down, but I thought it worth mentioning.
Like I said, I’m conflicted… I loved the characters and Immergut is a pro at making you become her characters, however, the story lacked for me after so much was promised.
(My final rating is 3.5 stars)
Thank you to Titan Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 19, 2018
Very commercial, very bland, forgettable for the most part. Worth the time - probably not. Redeeming qualities- a slightly different plot and not too long winded. Lacks in pretty much every area.
June 26, 2020
Este é o livro de estreia da autora, um thriller psicológico.
A capa, a sinopse, tudo me chamada a atenção para este livro. Já o queria ler desde o momento que saiu nas livrarias, ou até antes disso.
Devo confessar que temas relacionados com estabelecimentos prisionais é algo que me fascina e a autora criou um contexto onde conseguimos sentir o desespero, o medo.
Neste livro ficamos a conhecer duas histórias, a de Miranda e a de Frank. Duas pessoas completamente diferentes com passados e destinos interligados. Frank trabalha como psiquiatra no estabelecimento prisional e Miranda é reclusa condenada a 52 anos por homicídio em segundo grau. Devido a esta pena, Miranda encontra-se desesperada, não querendo passar o resto dos seus dias confinada aquele lugar, o que a faz pensar em cometer um ato contra si própria.
A relação entre Frank e Miranda não se remete ao do estabelecimento prisional, sendo que estes já se conheciam antes, quando foram colegas de liceu. Quando Frank se cruza pela primeira vez, com Miranda reconhece-a de imediato, mas não denotou nenhum reconhecimento por parte da mesma. Será que ela não se lembra de se terem cruzado no passado? O que será que terá acontecido para Miranda ser a reclusa?
Nesta história ficamos a conhecer o passado de ambas as personagens, infâncias traumáticas, histórias de amor desastrosas e decisões políticas duvidosas.
Os capítulos oscilam entre ambas as histórias das personagens, entre o presente e o passado.
Para além da relação pouco ética e obsessiva que se irá estabelecer entre estas duas personagens, ainda ficamos a conhecer as “amizades” que Miranda vai construindo no estabelecimento prisional, umas desastrosas enquanto outras fascinantes
A capa, a sinopse, tudo me chamada a atenção para este livro. Já o queria ler desde o momento que saiu nas livrarias, ou até antes disso.
Devo confessar que temas relacionados com estabelecimentos prisionais é algo que me fascina e a autora criou um contexto onde conseguimos sentir o desespero, o medo.
Neste livro ficamos a conhecer duas histórias, a de Miranda e a de Frank. Duas pessoas completamente diferentes com passados e destinos interligados. Frank trabalha como psiquiatra no estabelecimento prisional e Miranda é reclusa condenada a 52 anos por homicídio em segundo grau. Devido a esta pena, Miranda encontra-se desesperada, não querendo passar o resto dos seus dias confinada aquele lugar, o que a faz pensar em cometer um ato contra si própria.
A relação entre Frank e Miranda não se remete ao do estabelecimento prisional, sendo que estes já se conheciam antes, quando foram colegas de liceu. Quando Frank se cruza pela primeira vez, com Miranda reconhece-a de imediato, mas não denotou nenhum reconhecimento por parte da mesma. Será que ela não se lembra de se terem cruzado no passado? O que será que terá acontecido para Miranda ser a reclusa?
Nesta história ficamos a conhecer o passado de ambas as personagens, infâncias traumáticas, histórias de amor desastrosas e decisões políticas duvidosas.
Os capítulos oscilam entre ambas as histórias das personagens, entre o presente e o passado.
Para além da relação pouco ética e obsessiva que se irá estabelecer entre estas duas personagens, ainda ficamos a conhecer as “amizades” que Miranda vai construindo no estabelecimento prisional, umas desastrosas enquanto outras fascinantes
May 7, 2025
You know the saying: don't judge a book by its cover.
But, in this case, it applies.
I should have known The Captives was going to disappoint by the cheesy cover alone.
** Warning! Spoilers include sexual predatory behavior and too many insta-love moments **
The YA-like story concerns Frank Lundquist, who is relegated to counseling at a women's prison after a client of his commits an atrocious crime.
He is shocked to see that one of his patients is none other than Miranda Greene, the object of his high school obsession.
Miranda is in prison for pretty much the rest of her useless life for her complicity in the death of an officer and having bad taste in men.
She can sense Frank's interest in her and decides to use his slavering devotion to get a prescription for sleeping pills so she can commit suicide.
Readers get a taste of Miranda's Orange is the New Black life and the lives of her inmate friends, the only interesting part of the book.
Unfortunately, we also get a taste of Frank's subservient, moony love for Miranda.
He hasn't seen her in over two decades, he has no idea who she is, what she likes, but, naturally, he's in lurrrvvvee.
Why? I don't know. Because she's hot?
From what he constantly spouts about her appearance, that's the author’s lame attempt to explain his insta-love for her.
He's so in LURVE with her, he devises a plan right out of a telenovela after her botched suicide is foiled when she is discovered in time.
Miranda will dose herself a second time and be rescued in time to be transported to the hospital, where only one guard watches her.
Frank will spring her from the hospital with his deadbeat junkie brother.
Brilliant plan, Frank.
Things almost go according to plan until Miranda balks at the plan.
After her first suicide attempt was foiled, she promised her parents never to do it again.
Frank is appalled. How can she do this to him?
He is willing to sacrifice his career for her and now she wants to destroy the happy life he has wrought of them together out of his fantasies.
So, what does this so-called educated medical professional do?
Frank takes away Miranda's right to consent by dosing her tea with a bunch of pills he's kept stashed away (just in case) something like this came up.
What a caring, considerate guy. Why doesn't he just assault her when she's blacked out while he’s at it?
There's some other ridiculous crap about drug smuggling in the prison and thugs tracking Frank and Miranda out in Timbuktu for revenge.
That's not important.
What is important is how despicable Frank is.
Sometimes, I wondered if he was 15 years old, not middle aged, because he sure spoke and acted like a hormonal, boneheaded teenager. But at least youth would explain some of his brainless actions.
Miranda is no prize. She has a talent for hooking up with losers and spends more time describing how masculine and sexy her sexual partners are. Clearly, she has issues.
That's not even the worst of it.
Miranda also lacks remorse. She is an entitled, middle-aged brat who takes no responsibility for her actions.
She vacillates between mentioning she may deserve her time in prison and penning a letter to the victim's family and stating she doesn't belong in prison because she was once a good girl.
The daughter of a one-time senator. How could she end up here of all places?
Easy three-word answer. You're an idiot.
And maybe so was I, a little, for reading this book.
But, in this case, it applies.
I should have known The Captives was going to disappoint by the cheesy cover alone.
** Warning! Spoilers include sexual predatory behavior and too many insta-love moments **
The YA-like story concerns Frank Lundquist, who is relegated to counseling at a women's prison after a client of his commits an atrocious crime.
He is shocked to see that one of his patients is none other than Miranda Greene, the object of his high school obsession.
Miranda is in prison for pretty much the rest of her useless life for her complicity in the death of an officer and having bad taste in men.
She can sense Frank's interest in her and decides to use his slavering devotion to get a prescription for sleeping pills so she can commit suicide.
Readers get a taste of Miranda's Orange is the New Black life and the lives of her inmate friends, the only interesting part of the book.
Unfortunately, we also get a taste of Frank's subservient, moony love for Miranda.
He hasn't seen her in over two decades, he has no idea who she is, what she likes, but, naturally, he's in lurrrvvvee.
Why? I don't know. Because she's hot?
From what he constantly spouts about her appearance, that's the author’s lame attempt to explain his insta-love for her.
He's so in LURVE with her, he devises a plan right out of a telenovela after her botched suicide is foiled when she is discovered in time.
Miranda will dose herself a second time and be rescued in time to be transported to the hospital, where only one guard watches her.
Frank will spring her from the hospital with his deadbeat junkie brother.
Brilliant plan, Frank.
Things almost go according to plan until Miranda balks at the plan.
After her first suicide attempt was foiled, she promised her parents never to do it again.
Frank is appalled. How can she do this to him?
He is willing to sacrifice his career for her and now she wants to destroy the happy life he has wrought of them together out of his fantasies.
So, what does this so-called educated medical professional do?
Frank takes away Miranda's right to consent by dosing her tea with a bunch of pills he's kept stashed away (just in case) something like this came up.
What a caring, considerate guy. Why doesn't he just assault her when she's blacked out while he’s at it?
There's some other ridiculous crap about drug smuggling in the prison and thugs tracking Frank and Miranda out in Timbuktu for revenge.
That's not important.
What is important is how despicable Frank is.
Sometimes, I wondered if he was 15 years old, not middle aged, because he sure spoke and acted like a hormonal, boneheaded teenager. But at least youth would explain some of his brainless actions.
Miranda is no prize. She has a talent for hooking up with losers and spends more time describing how masculine and sexy her sexual partners are. Clearly, she has issues.
That's not even the worst of it.
Miranda also lacks remorse. She is an entitled, middle-aged brat who takes no responsibility for her actions.
She vacillates between mentioning she may deserve her time in prison and penning a letter to the victim's family and stating she doesn't belong in prison because she was once a good girl.
The daughter of a one-time senator. How could she end up here of all places?
Easy three-word answer. You're an idiot.
And maybe so was I, a little, for reading this book.
July 1, 2018
I had a hard time understanding what, exactly, was going on through much of this book, but kept slogging along thinking that all would be revealed to me. Well, I got to the end and still didn't understand. But you know what? I don't care.
June 28, 2018
I have seen basically zero hype for The Captives, and I can’t figure out why because it’s a great thriller. It has all the elements I want: an interesting hook, complex characters (each with their own dark side), and that disorienting feeling that comes when you realize you can’t trust any of them to tell the truth. Seriously, how is no one talking about this book?!
Frank is a therapist, relegated to an unglamorous role at a women’s prison after a public fall from grace. When Miranda walks into his office, he recognizes her immediately as his high school crush. She was beautiful, popular, unattainable, and as you might expect, she has no memory of Frank whatsoever. Ethics dictate that Frank should immediately acknowledge their prior connection and reassign Miranda to another therapist, but in the first of a series of questionable decisions, he keeps quiet. Maybe it started as simple curiosity—how could someone like Miranda, who in his eyes led such a charmed life, wind up doing hard time?
The perspective shifts between Frank and Miranda, although Frank’s is the only one in first person. While at first this inconsistency was distracting, by the end of the book I had a pretty good feel for why Immergut made this choice. Miranda is always kept at a distance, effectively obscuring her motivations and keeping several key memories at bay until Immergut is ready to dole those details out. Conversely, Frank’s perspective seems to get narrower and narrower as he grows more obsessed with his client. You can feel his life telescoping down until there’s only room left for him and her—or at least, his idea of her.
I’m not sure why this one is so under-the-radar, but I’m glad it was on my summer reading list!
Frank is a therapist, relegated to an unglamorous role at a women’s prison after a public fall from grace. When Miranda walks into his office, he recognizes her immediately as his high school crush. She was beautiful, popular, unattainable, and as you might expect, she has no memory of Frank whatsoever. Ethics dictate that Frank should immediately acknowledge their prior connection and reassign Miranda to another therapist, but in the first of a series of questionable decisions, he keeps quiet. Maybe it started as simple curiosity—how could someone like Miranda, who in his eyes led such a charmed life, wind up doing hard time?
The perspective shifts between Frank and Miranda, although Frank’s is the only one in first person. While at first this inconsistency was distracting, by the end of the book I had a pretty good feel for why Immergut made this choice. Miranda is always kept at a distance, effectively obscuring her motivations and keeping several key memories at bay until Immergut is ready to dole those details out. Conversely, Frank’s perspective seems to get narrower and narrower as he grows more obsessed with his client. You can feel his life telescoping down until there’s only room left for him and her—or at least, his idea of her.
I’m not sure why this one is so under-the-radar, but I’m glad it was on my summer reading list!
July 11, 2018
I was a bit disappointed with this one to be honest. Part of the story was really good but Frank and his obsession was just annoying. Great narrators helped though.
June 12, 2018
Once again I have been let down by placing my trust in critic reviews. Book Browse shortlisted this novel so I jumped aboard the publicity train and wasted my money. The reader is asked to buy into a plot where a prison psychologist is willing to throw away his life and career in order to be a big daddy to an inmate who was the object of his adolescent sexual infatuation. The sub-plots were equally melodramatic and shallow. This whole novel was suitable for a soap opera or a made for TV movie. If you are looking for a mindless beach read, jump aboard the publishers marketing train.
March 20, 2020
Opinião no blogue: https://marcadordelivros.blogspot.com...
June 3, 2018
Review to follow as part of the blog tour.
February 9, 2020
Este livro foi bastante diferente do que eu estava à espera. A premissa cativou-me por completo, mas de certo que não contava com a história desvendada. Está muito bem escrita, com capítulos alternados entre Miranda e Frank que não nos mostram apenas o presente, mas também pormenores importantes sobre acontecimentos passados. As conexões da história surpreenderam-me e alteraram completamente o rumo de tudo.
Miranda cumpre pena por assassinato em segundo grau e tem ainda pela frente mais 52 anos de prisão. Por isso mesmo, planeia morrer. É precisamente por essa razão que se cruza com Frank, o psicólogo do estabelecimento prisional onde se encontra. Esta relação terapêutica tinha tudo para ser comum, não fosse o facto de terem andado na mesma escola secundária. Com isto, e uma vez que Frank não transfere a paciente para nenhum colega, surge um grande problema de ordem ética e deontológica, sendo este, também, grande parte do foco do livro. O que fazer numa situação como esta? Surgiram imensos dilemas éticos neste livro que retrataram uma outra vertente com a qual não estamos habituados a lidar e que me fizeram pensar imenso.
A relação destas duas personagens pareceu-me um pouco ambígua e à medida que avançava na leitura, tinha sempre a sensação de que as coisas não iam acabar bem entre ambos.
Na minha opinião, as personagens principais foram muito bem construídas e conseguidas. Gostei bastante das descrições do dia a dia de Miranda na prisão, de conhecer as suas amizades, as suas atividades, os seus planos e o seu aborrecimento constante. Revelou ter uma personalidade forte, mas ao mesmo tempo estar muito receosa e insegura relativamente ao futuro. Por outro lado, quanto mais sabia sobre Frank, melhor conseguia entender a sua completa obsessão, a sua persistência e desmoronamento constante. Por vezes, consegui até sentir o constrangimento e tensão desta personagem, tal era o nível de envolvimento que tinha com este livro.
Miranda e Frank precisavam um do outro por diferentes motivos, resta saber o resultado destes interesses.
O final foi inesperado e esperado simultaneamente. Não me refiro a tudo, apenas ao fim propriamente dito, porque houve um aspeto que me pareceu estar sempre determinado a acontecer.
Este thriller psicológico é a prova de que a nossa mente tem um poder inimaginável. Recomendo!
Miranda cumpre pena por assassinato em segundo grau e tem ainda pela frente mais 52 anos de prisão. Por isso mesmo, planeia morrer. É precisamente por essa razão que se cruza com Frank, o psicólogo do estabelecimento prisional onde se encontra. Esta relação terapêutica tinha tudo para ser comum, não fosse o facto de terem andado na mesma escola secundária. Com isto, e uma vez que Frank não transfere a paciente para nenhum colega, surge um grande problema de ordem ética e deontológica, sendo este, também, grande parte do foco do livro. O que fazer numa situação como esta? Surgiram imensos dilemas éticos neste livro que retrataram uma outra vertente com a qual não estamos habituados a lidar e que me fizeram pensar imenso.
A relação destas duas personagens pareceu-me um pouco ambígua e à medida que avançava na leitura, tinha sempre a sensação de que as coisas não iam acabar bem entre ambos.
Na minha opinião, as personagens principais foram muito bem construídas e conseguidas. Gostei bastante das descrições do dia a dia de Miranda na prisão, de conhecer as suas amizades, as suas atividades, os seus planos e o seu aborrecimento constante. Revelou ter uma personalidade forte, mas ao mesmo tempo estar muito receosa e insegura relativamente ao futuro. Por outro lado, quanto mais sabia sobre Frank, melhor conseguia entender a sua completa obsessão, a sua persistência e desmoronamento constante. Por vezes, consegui até sentir o constrangimento e tensão desta personagem, tal era o nível de envolvimento que tinha com este livro.
Miranda e Frank precisavam um do outro por diferentes motivos, resta saber o resultado destes interesses.
O final foi inesperado e esperado simultaneamente. Não me refiro a tudo, apenas ao fim propriamente dito, porque houve um aspeto que me pareceu estar sempre determinado a acontecer.
Este thriller psicológico é a prova de que a nossa mente tem um poder inimaginável. Recomendo!
May 29, 2018
A revealing portrait of a prison psychologist and the decisions made when he finds his high school crush sitting in front of him as a potential client. As Frank reminds us, we must put ourselves in his and Miranda's shoes rather than immediately pronounce judgment. I found myself holding my breath as the plot escalated both in the present and the past. Did not give this book the highest rating for two reasons -- the misleading cover and the sometimes choppy delivery of the back stories.
Thank you to Ecco and Edelweiss for a digital ARC of this book.
Thank you to Ecco and Edelweiss for a digital ARC of this book.
July 10, 2018
DNF at page 182.
September 4, 2018
Un vero thriller psicologico, fortemente incentrato sulla psiche di una paziente e del suo terapista.
La situazione dei protagonisti è molto particolare: si trovano all'interno di una prigione, dove si sa le emozioni sono amplificate. Per di più i due si sono conosciuti molto tempo prima, durante il periodo scolastico.
Legati da un filo sottile, Frank e Miranda ci faranno dubitare spesso della loro sanità mentale. A volte la mente di uno psicologo può essere molto più labile di quella di una paziente in carcere.
Assurdo vero? A me lo è sembrato. Questa storia mi ha fatta molto pensare e mi è piaciuta proprio per questo.
Siamo abituati a dare per scontato tante cose, ma in realtà siamo tutti esseri umani e tutti cediamo ai desideri del nostro corpo e della nostra mente.
Unica pecca di questo libro credo sia la mancanza di elementi che riescono a coinvolgere il lettore emotivamente, non ho sentito nessun feeling con i protagonisti. Questo può essere un elemento che importa o meno, ma io preferisco specificarlo.
Lo stile di scrittura mi è piaciuto, scorre molto e riesce comunque ad essere dettagliato.
Il passato dei protagonisti è ben narrato, come anche il presente al di fuori dei loro incontri.
Alla fine della lettura sono riuscita ad avere un quadro generale ben chiaro e posso dire che questo libro è totalmente approvato dalla sottoscritta!
La situazione dei protagonisti è molto particolare: si trovano all'interno di una prigione, dove si sa le emozioni sono amplificate. Per di più i due si sono conosciuti molto tempo prima, durante il periodo scolastico.
Legati da un filo sottile, Frank e Miranda ci faranno dubitare spesso della loro sanità mentale. A volte la mente di uno psicologo può essere molto più labile di quella di una paziente in carcere.
Assurdo vero? A me lo è sembrato. Questa storia mi ha fatta molto pensare e mi è piaciuta proprio per questo.
Siamo abituati a dare per scontato tante cose, ma in realtà siamo tutti esseri umani e tutti cediamo ai desideri del nostro corpo e della nostra mente.
Unica pecca di questo libro credo sia la mancanza di elementi che riescono a coinvolgere il lettore emotivamente, non ho sentito nessun feeling con i protagonisti. Questo può essere un elemento che importa o meno, ma io preferisco specificarlo.
Lo stile di scrittura mi è piaciuto, scorre molto e riesce comunque ad essere dettagliato.
Il passato dei protagonisti è ben narrato, come anche il presente al di fuori dei loro incontri.
Alla fine della lettura sono riuscita ad avere un quadro generale ben chiaro e posso dire che questo libro è totalmente approvato dalla sottoscritta!
January 22, 2023
Actual Rating: 3 1/2 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️✨
Rounding up because I am strangely drawn to women behind bars stories! The premise of this book is fantastic and I was so here for it. Loved how the chapters alternated between her and him. I just thought towards the end it became rushed and a bit convoluted.
Rounding up because I am strangely drawn to women behind bars stories! The premise of this book is fantastic and I was so here for it. Loved how the chapters alternated between her and him. I just thought towards the end it became rushed and a bit convoluted.
July 20, 2018
3.5 Review to come!
June 29, 2018
Thank you so much to Ecco Books for providing my free copy of THE CAPTIVES by Debra Jo Immergut - all opinions are my own.
Frank Lundquist is a psychologist at the Milford Basin Correctional Facility. He’s had some professional setbacks that landed him this very undesirable job, but when his new patient Miranda Greene walks through the door, everything changes. He had a big crush on her in high school and she’s still as charming as ever, but she doesn’t seem to remember who he is. Miranda is haunted by her past, losing hope, and full of despair. He is wondering why someone like Miranda Greene, the beautiful daughter of a congressman, is in prison for such a brutal crime. He has an ethical obligation to reassign the case, but what’s the harm if she doesn’t remember him?
I’ve never read a psychological thriller quite like this one. It’s an exquisitely written and intelligent book that I cannot stop thinking about. The chapters alternate between Frank’s perspective in first person and Miranda’s in the third. Both Miranda and Frank are traumatized by their past and it’s interesting to see how their stories play out. I also really enjoyed the back stories and how everything connects together in due time.
The language is vivid, descriptive, and the details are authentic and well researched. I felt the harrowing tension and claustrophobic atmosphere because Immergut writes about prison life so brilliantly. It’s a very intriguing concept that it can be just as dangerous to be “captive” inside your own mind. THE CAPTIVES is a stellar debut! It’s very character-driven, compelling, and has a fantastic ending you won’t see coming! Highly recommended!
Frank Lundquist is a psychologist at the Milford Basin Correctional Facility. He’s had some professional setbacks that landed him this very undesirable job, but when his new patient Miranda Greene walks through the door, everything changes. He had a big crush on her in high school and she’s still as charming as ever, but she doesn’t seem to remember who he is. Miranda is haunted by her past, losing hope, and full of despair. He is wondering why someone like Miranda Greene, the beautiful daughter of a congressman, is in prison for such a brutal crime. He has an ethical obligation to reassign the case, but what’s the harm if she doesn’t remember him?
I’ve never read a psychological thriller quite like this one. It’s an exquisitely written and intelligent book that I cannot stop thinking about. The chapters alternate between Frank’s perspective in first person and Miranda’s in the third. Both Miranda and Frank are traumatized by their past and it’s interesting to see how their stories play out. I also really enjoyed the back stories and how everything connects together in due time.
The language is vivid, descriptive, and the details are authentic and well researched. I felt the harrowing tension and claustrophobic atmosphere because Immergut writes about prison life so brilliantly. It’s a very intriguing concept that it can be just as dangerous to be “captive” inside your own mind. THE CAPTIVES is a stellar debut! It’s very character-driven, compelling, and has a fantastic ending you won’t see coming! Highly recommended!
January 11, 2019
*3.5 Stars
I’m always intrigued by stories that involve seemingly good people who end up making really bad decisions. What compels them to take a particular path? How easy is it for them to push their morality and ethics aside? The Captives piqued my interest very early on. I was drawn into the characters’ lives and wanted to know what made them tick.
Whenever I’m reading, I like to put myself in the characters’ shoes. As a prison psychologist, what would I do if my high school crush walked into my office as an inmate who was sentenced for murder? After picking my jaw up off of the desk, I would like to think that I would recuse myself from being his therapist, but wouldn’t we all like to assume that we would make the best decision. After all those years, Frank still found himself captivated by Miranda. He was fully aware that he shouldn’t be treating Miranda, but since she didn’t seem to have any memory of Frank, he was too caught up in his own feelings to make the ethical decision. Oh, Frank!
I enjoyed the pace of the story and how it went back and forth between the two characters. I wanted to discover all of the details from their pasts and find out what put them in their current situations. It was almost like watching a train wreck, I already knew that nothing good was going to come of it, and yet I couldn’t really tear myself away. Frank and Miranda were both plagued by devastating events from their pasts. Both of them were trying to recover, move forward, and make something positive from their experiences, however, their road to redemption was never going to be paved smoothly.
The Captives was well written and intriguing. I found myself on pins and needles, waiting for everything to come to the pivotal, climactic peak. When it did, I was left feeling a little disappointed. Having enjoyed my time reading the book, the ending felt over the top and completely unbelievable to me. I know it’s fiction, and I do go with the flow with the books that I read, but it just went a bit out of my scope of possibility. But with that being said, I would read another book by this author.
I’m always intrigued by stories that involve seemingly good people who end up making really bad decisions. What compels them to take a particular path? How easy is it for them to push their morality and ethics aside? The Captives piqued my interest very early on. I was drawn into the characters’ lives and wanted to know what made them tick.
Whenever I’m reading, I like to put myself in the characters’ shoes. As a prison psychologist, what would I do if my high school crush walked into my office as an inmate who was sentenced for murder? After picking my jaw up off of the desk, I would like to think that I would recuse myself from being his therapist, but wouldn’t we all like to assume that we would make the best decision. After all those years, Frank still found himself captivated by Miranda. He was fully aware that he shouldn’t be treating Miranda, but since she didn’t seem to have any memory of Frank, he was too caught up in his own feelings to make the ethical decision. Oh, Frank!
I enjoyed the pace of the story and how it went back and forth between the two characters. I wanted to discover all of the details from their pasts and find out what put them in their current situations. It was almost like watching a train wreck, I already knew that nothing good was going to come of it, and yet I couldn’t really tear myself away. Frank and Miranda were both plagued by devastating events from their pasts. Both of them were trying to recover, move forward, and make something positive from their experiences, however, their road to redemption was never going to be paved smoothly.
The Captives was well written and intriguing. I found myself on pins and needles, waiting for everything to come to the pivotal, climactic peak. When it did, I was left feeling a little disappointed. Having enjoyed my time reading the book, the ending felt over the top and completely unbelievable to me. I know it’s fiction, and I do go with the flow with the books that I read, but it just went a bit out of my scope of possibility. But with that being said, I would read another book by this author.
March 29, 2019
Ugh. This was supposed to be a suspense novel but it was just kind of meh. Miranda was the mysterious criminal but Frank was really the creepy one. He was kind of like Joe in You by Caroline Kepnes only in a more controlled situation. He was totally obsessed and irrational. Granted less threatening for the most part than a Joe like obsessor and much less interesting but still and awkward weirdo. This guy had no game. Also, I was really bored for most of the book. There was no build up and why would there be. Nothing really climactic happened until the very end. Up until that point it was a slow drawn out process and the whole time we were told each thing that would happen next so we knew escape was imminent. Dull. All I cared about was the prison block social dynamics and there was very little of that. I had no real connections with Frank or Miranda. Blah. 2 stars. I guess this is what a reading slump feels like. Two 2 star books in a row.
August 13, 2018
AUDIO ONLY.
SORRY GUYS. I can't do it. This book does not work on audio. The female narrator is way too chirpy and unbelievable, describing her time in prison as an inmate. UGH. I really can't stand the inauthentic-ness....
The story looks interesting, but I'm not buying it.
SORRY GUYS. I can't do it. This book does not work on audio. The female narrator is way too chirpy and unbelievable, describing her time in prison as an inmate. UGH. I really can't stand the inauthentic-ness....
The story looks interesting, but I'm not buying it.
June 5, 2018
Fantastic, compelling, funny and dark. This is a terrific new novel with a fresh voice and penetrating prose.
Into the office of a prison psychologist with a checkered past waltzes the girl he had an unrequited crush on in high school. Professional ethics say he should immediately hand her to another practitioner, but instead he takes her on as a client, and increasingly as an obsession. But she's no ordinary girl. She's a convicted killer.
Minimal violence but plenty of tension, vivid scenes, ripping narrative -- it's all here. There are times you think you are ahead of the characters, in terms of figuring out what is going on, but there are enough surprises to change your mind.
A wonderfully ambiguous ending. Highly recommend.
Into the office of a prison psychologist with a checkered past waltzes the girl he had an unrequited crush on in high school. Professional ethics say he should immediately hand her to another practitioner, but instead he takes her on as a client, and increasingly as an obsession. But she's no ordinary girl. She's a convicted killer.
Minimal violence but plenty of tension, vivid scenes, ripping narrative -- it's all here. There are times you think you are ahead of the characters, in terms of figuring out what is going on, but there are enough surprises to change your mind.
A wonderfully ambiguous ending. Highly recommend.
September 24, 2018
3.5 STARS
“She looked away from that mocking face. She glimpsed, way in the distance, far across the fields, a ruffle of blue mountains. At the sight of them, a notion arrived. I’m free. I’m out. I’m gone. I’m the new driver.”
For me The Captives is the literary equivalent of a fine dining experience ... exquisite plating, only the very finest ingredients, impeccable atmosphere, serving sizes accentuating quality over quantity ... that leaves me hungry after the experience is over. Brilliant prose. Mind arresting insights. Circuitously torturous twists and turns necessary to endure in order to connect the dots. Less than 275 pages … I am unsatiated. I am hungry for more. I am starving!
Miranda Greene is known to him as 0068-N-97, the 68th prisoner admitted to the Milford Basin Correctional Facility in 1997. She lives in C Unit 109, cell number 34. In May 1999, thirty two years old and twenty two months into her fifty-two year sentence, she sees no reason to hang on, no chance of parole; she plans to kill herself.
Frank Lundquist, thirty two years old and six months on the job as a psychologist in the counseling center at the women’s Milford Basin Correctional Facility, is a captive in a prison of his own making. Mistakes were made at the Manhattan practice. Winnie has left him, Clyde struggles with the demons of addiction; the Fehler litigation has dispatched him to the basement office in this New York State correctional institution. In May 1999, Miranda Greene is the first inmate of the day.
Instant recognition albeit a thin thread of recognition so distant, as vague as an early morning pasture fog yet as strong as the tenacity of a spider’s sticky web, as electric as a third rail in a subway tunnel, plunges Miranda and Frank into the uncharted waters of unethical, even illegal, actions and impulses.
Both fight against the captivities of their past, present and future. Both seek redemption. Both seek a greater purpose in life.
The story line is brilliant. The insights are powerfully evocative. The relationships are fraught with tragic personal losses and heart breaking pain. The memories are traumatic and bitter. But none of it was fully developed and intimately explored! I am left longing to know so much more!
I want to know so much more about Duncan and Miranda and that tragic night in Candora. I need to know so much more about the relationship between Edward and Barbara Greene during the congressional campaigns, Miranda’s trial and the night Amy took to flight. The complexity of Franklin H H. Lundquist, Ph.D is so superficially surfaced I was never able to crawl inside his head and fully experience his obsessions and despondency over the collapse of his career, marriage and family.
I NEED MORE!
This fascinating and powerful story line falls far short on character development and emotional engagement. A frustrating read but a decent read nonetheless.
Three Stars!
“She looked away from that mocking face. She glimpsed, way in the distance, far across the fields, a ruffle of blue mountains. At the sight of them, a notion arrived. I’m free. I’m out. I’m gone. I’m the new driver.”
For me The Captives is the literary equivalent of a fine dining experience ... exquisite plating, only the very finest ingredients, impeccable atmosphere, serving sizes accentuating quality over quantity ... that leaves me hungry after the experience is over. Brilliant prose. Mind arresting insights. Circuitously torturous twists and turns necessary to endure in order to connect the dots. Less than 275 pages … I am unsatiated. I am hungry for more. I am starving!
Miranda Greene is known to him as 0068-N-97, the 68th prisoner admitted to the Milford Basin Correctional Facility in 1997. She lives in C Unit 109, cell number 34. In May 1999, thirty two years old and twenty two months into her fifty-two year sentence, she sees no reason to hang on, no chance of parole; she plans to kill herself.
Frank Lundquist, thirty two years old and six months on the job as a psychologist in the counseling center at the women’s Milford Basin Correctional Facility, is a captive in a prison of his own making. Mistakes were made at the Manhattan practice. Winnie has left him, Clyde struggles with the demons of addiction; the Fehler litigation has dispatched him to the basement office in this New York State correctional institution. In May 1999, Miranda Greene is the first inmate of the day.
Instant recognition albeit a thin thread of recognition so distant, as vague as an early morning pasture fog yet as strong as the tenacity of a spider’s sticky web, as electric as a third rail in a subway tunnel, plunges Miranda and Frank into the uncharted waters of unethical, even illegal, actions and impulses.
Both fight against the captivities of their past, present and future. Both seek redemption. Both seek a greater purpose in life.
The story line is brilliant. The insights are powerfully evocative. The relationships are fraught with tragic personal losses and heart breaking pain. The memories are traumatic and bitter. But none of it was fully developed and intimately explored! I am left longing to know so much more!
I want to know so much more about Duncan and Miranda and that tragic night in Candora. I need to know so much more about the relationship between Edward and Barbara Greene during the congressional campaigns, Miranda’s trial and the night Amy took to flight. The complexity of Franklin H H. Lundquist, Ph.D is so superficially surfaced I was never able to crawl inside his head and fully experience his obsessions and despondency over the collapse of his career, marriage and family.
I NEED MORE!
This fascinating and powerful story line falls far short on character development and emotional engagement. A frustrating read but a decent read nonetheless.
Three Stars!
June 4, 2018
This is the first book by Debra Jo Immergut that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing but judging by how much I enjoyed this book, it certainly won’t be the last book by her that I read. I really did enjoy it but more about that in a bit.
Miranda and Frank are two people, who knew each other back when they were in the same year at school. Frank had a crush on Miranda but she knows nothing about it. They reunite in the most desperate of circumstances. Miranda is currently incarcerated in a women’s prison and is in there because she has been found guilty of murder. Frank is the prison psychologist, who is available to see the women, who are in need of counselling or psychological therapy. Frank can’t believe it when Miranda enters the room and sits in front of him. Miranda doesn’t recognise him at first but she has a feeling that his face seems familiar. I started off feeling sorry for Miranda and at times I wanted to just give her a huge hug. We don’t find out what exactly happened when Miranda murdered someone all in one go. Instead the author drops little clues and hints throughout the book that gradually come together like all the pieces of a jigsaw. Frank is similar to Miranda in the sense that both have been through their own psychological trauma and are trying to make sense of what happened. Frank is passionate about his work, which I completely understand and got because I would love to have Frank’s job as I find psychology fascinating.
If there’s one thing I like, it’s discovering new authors and reading a good psychological thriller. Well ‘The Captives’ certainly ticked both of those boxes. I was hooked on this book from the moment I picked this book up. The synopsis certainly intrigued me and I was interested to see how the story would develop. I became addicted to reading this book and I regularly had to have my next fix of ‘The Captives’. I initially picked up this book only intending to read a chapter but 5 chapters later and I was still reading. The author’s writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn into the story. The author uses such powerful descriptions that I could fully appreciate the claustrophobic nature of a prison. At times I really did feel as though I was in prison and living in fearful anticipation of what might happen next in the powder keg of a prison.
The story is told in alternating chapters from the points of view of Frank and Miranda. Frank’s chapter is voiced in the first person and Miranda’s chapters are in the third person. This way of telling the story works really well and the story flows seamlessly. It was sometimes harrowing to read about what led to the circumstances of Miranda’s jail sentence. In a way both Miranda and Frank have been traumatised by circumstances of their past and because I am a nosy parker, it was fascinating to read about what happened to them to make them react as they did and how they turned into the people that we find in this book.
In conclusion, I really did enjoy ‘The Captives’ and I will most certainly look out for other books by this author. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.
Miranda and Frank are two people, who knew each other back when they were in the same year at school. Frank had a crush on Miranda but she knows nothing about it. They reunite in the most desperate of circumstances. Miranda is currently incarcerated in a women’s prison and is in there because she has been found guilty of murder. Frank is the prison psychologist, who is available to see the women, who are in need of counselling or psychological therapy. Frank can’t believe it when Miranda enters the room and sits in front of him. Miranda doesn’t recognise him at first but she has a feeling that his face seems familiar. I started off feeling sorry for Miranda and at times I wanted to just give her a huge hug. We don’t find out what exactly happened when Miranda murdered someone all in one go. Instead the author drops little clues and hints throughout the book that gradually come together like all the pieces of a jigsaw. Frank is similar to Miranda in the sense that both have been through their own psychological trauma and are trying to make sense of what happened. Frank is passionate about his work, which I completely understand and got because I would love to have Frank’s job as I find psychology fascinating.
If there’s one thing I like, it’s discovering new authors and reading a good psychological thriller. Well ‘The Captives’ certainly ticked both of those boxes. I was hooked on this book from the moment I picked this book up. The synopsis certainly intrigued me and I was interested to see how the story would develop. I became addicted to reading this book and I regularly had to have my next fix of ‘The Captives’. I initially picked up this book only intending to read a chapter but 5 chapters later and I was still reading. The author’s writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn into the story. The author uses such powerful descriptions that I could fully appreciate the claustrophobic nature of a prison. At times I really did feel as though I was in prison and living in fearful anticipation of what might happen next in the powder keg of a prison.
The story is told in alternating chapters from the points of view of Frank and Miranda. Frank’s chapter is voiced in the first person and Miranda’s chapters are in the third person. This way of telling the story works really well and the story flows seamlessly. It was sometimes harrowing to read about what led to the circumstances of Miranda’s jail sentence. In a way both Miranda and Frank have been traumatised by circumstances of their past and because I am a nosy parker, it was fascinating to read about what happened to them to make them react as they did and how they turned into the people that we find in this book.
In conclusion, I really did enjoy ‘The Captives’ and I will most certainly look out for other books by this author. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.
April 28, 2019
Some Surprising Twists
Review of the Ecco hardcover (2018) edition.
I picked up The Captives based on its nomination for the 2019 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was not disappointed. This has a setup which in less imaginative hands might have ended up as a conventional redemption story i.e. both protagonists have issues, each of them solves that of the other, the psychologist's career is redeemed, the prisoner is proven innocent and is freed: BUT THIS IS NOT THAT NOVEL There are some fairly harsh reviews of this book and I suspect those might partially be because of people's conventional expectations not being met.
Instead, the plot takes a dramatically different turn and that is not the end of the twists that are to come. No spoilers here. It will be interesting to read what writer Immergut comes up with for a sophomore effort.
Trivia Note
The cover image, although quite a striking attention grabber, does not really have anything to do with the plot (i.e. this is not a thriller with any blindfolds), unless you want to interpret it in a purely symbolic fashion i.e. people held captive to their innermost desires and/or demons.
Review of the Ecco hardcover (2018) edition.
I picked up The Captives based on its nomination for the 2019 Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was not disappointed. This has a setup which in less imaginative hands might have ended up as a conventional redemption story i.e. both protagonists have issues, each of them solves that of the other, the psychologist's career is redeemed, the prisoner is proven innocent and is freed: BUT THIS IS NOT THAT NOVEL There are some fairly harsh reviews of this book and I suspect those might partially be because of people's conventional expectations not being met.
Instead, the plot takes a dramatically different turn and that is not the end of the twists that are to come. No spoilers here. It will be interesting to read what writer Immergut comes up with for a sophomore effort.
Trivia Note
The cover image, although quite a striking attention grabber, does not really have anything to do with the plot (i.e. this is not a thriller with any blindfolds), unless you want to interpret it in a purely symbolic fashion i.e. people held captive to their innermost desires and/or demons.
May 21, 2018
I've fallen behind. In everything. And although I have finished reading nine books since my last Reading post on April 23 (and tossed aside three more after having reached between page 50 and 100), I'm choosing to focus on only one because I want to use what little influence I have to encourage its wider readership and I worry it will be lost in the glut of novels promoted as summer/beach reads, misrepresented by comparisons with all those novels with Girl or Train or Window in their titles, which would be both reductive and mistaken, but all too often it is the easy-out sort of comparison that gets published and called a review.
I don't review. I appreciate. (Which is another reason I'm not writing about a lot of the eight other books I read since my April 23rd post.) So, I give you:
The Captives, Debra Jo Immergut, Hardcover, 288pp, June 2018, Ecco
Frank Lundquist is a psychologist whose loss of emotional control with a young patient cost him his private practice, reducing him to a basement-office position as inmate psychologist in a New York State women's prison.
Into his office walks the girl-of-his-high school-dreams, Miranda Green, whose lack of emotional judgment cost her the freedom and privileged life into which she'd been born, reducing her to the state-issued yellow uniform and inmate number she wears.
In chapters with alternating points of view --- Frank's narrative in first-person, Miranda's in close-third --- the compelling trajectory of their re-union and re-acquaintance is teased, piecemeal, interwoven with a tessellation of details from their histories --- together and separately --- creating a psychological thriller in which each detail matters, the pieces adding up to a carefully wrought, unexpected whole.
Both Frank and Miranda are in the grip of obsessions, in thrall to their pasts, most especially regrets about who they might have been and wishes about opportunities missed, and the yearning to, somehow, undo what was done --- or, to do now what was not done then. Debra Jo Immergut masterfully observes the ways in which people operate from different levels and layers of identity in pursuit of their life-goals, in pursuit of love, in pursuit of escape, in pursuit of revision --- the grown up version of the child's game-losing plea, "Pretend that didn't happen!" This is an exploration of the lengths to which one will go when the other players in that life as playground-scenario taunt with, "No takebacks!"
And make no mistake, while this is a fast-moving, stay-up-all-night read about crime, punishment, escape, and Mr. Ripley-esque otherness, those are maguffins --- fascinating and captivating maguffins, but, maguffins nevertheless, tools with which Debra Jo Immergut explores the nature of human behavior, the journey to and from self, and the shapes desire takes, and the limits and lines people cross when desperate to extricate themselves from their past, their present, the reality they've made. This is about what someone will do when faced with the dichotomy of "pretend that didn't happen" versus "no takebacks!"
Along the way there is wonderful, well-shaped prose, including my very favorite line, one I wish I'd written: "The last thing she wanted to do was kill herself only to wake up alive." That's a great line and it works on all sorts of levels in this narrative.
Both Frank and Miranda have nearly dead past selves; Frank's with an ex-wife and a once promising career, Miranda with a dangerous ex-lover and a father who was once a successful politician but has become an operator in the shadows of not quite legal lobbying, and a sister who died in a car sort-of accident, and ... well, I don't want to give away too many pieces of the story, the fabric of which you will enjoy discovering as you read.
Suffice to say that when Frank and Miranda meet, later in life, both in failure mode, Frank instantly recognizes his high school dream girl, while Miranda seems not to know who Frank is, rather, she merely sees him as a means to an end, a stranger, until she realizes who he is --- or, did she actually know all the time? It's all part of the mystery: What is discovered and known when? By whom? Who uses whom? Who crosses more lines and is the most double-crossing and back-pedaling? And when and how are the truths and untruths recognized, who on the canvas of characters --- the other inmates who Miranda befriends or makes enemies of, Frank's renowned psychiatrist father, and his drug addicted brother and his dealer --- are complicit in what unfolds?
Frank asks at the beginning of the narrative who knows what they would do in circumstances such as he finds himself in, a question that also applies to Miranda, and it is that question which drives the novel. These two main characters begin the story with each of them trying to let go of the dead-self they once were, but in the course of their journey, each wonders if the other might not be able to revive that lost part of them. Is it possible to erase the past in the present? Or, are we forever trapped in who we are, who we've been, and the choices we've made?
This is a tale about the different ways in which a person can be held captive outside of prison bars, caged by circumstance and emotions, history and desire. Debra Jo Immergut does the question justice and It keeps the reader guessing and riveted in this kickass debut novel.
I don't review. I appreciate. (Which is another reason I'm not writing about a lot of the eight other books I read since my April 23rd post.) So, I give you:
The Captives, Debra Jo Immergut, Hardcover, 288pp, June 2018, Ecco
Frank Lundquist is a psychologist whose loss of emotional control with a young patient cost him his private practice, reducing him to a basement-office position as inmate psychologist in a New York State women's prison.
Into his office walks the girl-of-his-high school-dreams, Miranda Green, whose lack of emotional judgment cost her the freedom and privileged life into which she'd been born, reducing her to the state-issued yellow uniform and inmate number she wears.
In chapters with alternating points of view --- Frank's narrative in first-person, Miranda's in close-third --- the compelling trajectory of their re-union and re-acquaintance is teased, piecemeal, interwoven with a tessellation of details from their histories --- together and separately --- creating a psychological thriller in which each detail matters, the pieces adding up to a carefully wrought, unexpected whole.
Both Frank and Miranda are in the grip of obsessions, in thrall to their pasts, most especially regrets about who they might have been and wishes about opportunities missed, and the yearning to, somehow, undo what was done --- or, to do now what was not done then. Debra Jo Immergut masterfully observes the ways in which people operate from different levels and layers of identity in pursuit of their life-goals, in pursuit of love, in pursuit of escape, in pursuit of revision --- the grown up version of the child's game-losing plea, "Pretend that didn't happen!" This is an exploration of the lengths to which one will go when the other players in that life as playground-scenario taunt with, "No takebacks!"
And make no mistake, while this is a fast-moving, stay-up-all-night read about crime, punishment, escape, and Mr. Ripley-esque otherness, those are maguffins --- fascinating and captivating maguffins, but, maguffins nevertheless, tools with which Debra Jo Immergut explores the nature of human behavior, the journey to and from self, and the shapes desire takes, and the limits and lines people cross when desperate to extricate themselves from their past, their present, the reality they've made. This is about what someone will do when faced with the dichotomy of "pretend that didn't happen" versus "no takebacks!"
Along the way there is wonderful, well-shaped prose, including my very favorite line, one I wish I'd written: "The last thing she wanted to do was kill herself only to wake up alive." That's a great line and it works on all sorts of levels in this narrative.
Both Frank and Miranda have nearly dead past selves; Frank's with an ex-wife and a once promising career, Miranda with a dangerous ex-lover and a father who was once a successful politician but has become an operator in the shadows of not quite legal lobbying, and a sister who died in a car sort-of accident, and ... well, I don't want to give away too many pieces of the story, the fabric of which you will enjoy discovering as you read.
Suffice to say that when Frank and Miranda meet, later in life, both in failure mode, Frank instantly recognizes his high school dream girl, while Miranda seems not to know who Frank is, rather, she merely sees him as a means to an end, a stranger, until she realizes who he is --- or, did she actually know all the time? It's all part of the mystery: What is discovered and known when? By whom? Who uses whom? Who crosses more lines and is the most double-crossing and back-pedaling? And when and how are the truths and untruths recognized, who on the canvas of characters --- the other inmates who Miranda befriends or makes enemies of, Frank's renowned psychiatrist father, and his drug addicted brother and his dealer --- are complicit in what unfolds?
Frank asks at the beginning of the narrative who knows what they would do in circumstances such as he finds himself in, a question that also applies to Miranda, and it is that question which drives the novel. These two main characters begin the story with each of them trying to let go of the dead-self they once were, but in the course of their journey, each wonders if the other might not be able to revive that lost part of them. Is it possible to erase the past in the present? Or, are we forever trapped in who we are, who we've been, and the choices we've made?
This is a tale about the different ways in which a person can be held captive outside of prison bars, caged by circumstance and emotions, history and desire. Debra Jo Immergut does the question justice and It keeps the reader guessing and riveted in this kickass debut novel.
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