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The Captors
"Kidnappers are frequently complex devious people," the detective had warned her. But that wasn't the half of it. What began as a routine kidnapping would end in much more--sins of unspeakable evil and terrifying violence. Who are these strangely sinister captors and who is their wickedly erotic victim?
What has been happening to this strange young girl, and what has produced this nerve-fraying nightmare of sheer electric terror?
The Captors...
"One of the giants of contemporary psychological horror." - Peter Straub
What has been happening to this strange young girl, and what has produced this nerve-fraying nightmare of sheer electric terror?
The Captors...
"One of the giants of contemporary psychological horror." - Peter Straub
Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
John Farris
85 books164 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
American writer and screenwriter of both adaptations of his own books (e.g. 'The Fury'), of the works of others (such as Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man') and original scripts. In 1973 he wrote and directed the film 'Dear Dead Delilah'. He has had several plays produced off-Broadway, and also paints and writes poetry. At various times he has made his home in New York, Southern California and Puerto Rico; he currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career he also wrote under the name Steve Brackeen.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
American writer and screenwriter of both adaptations of his own books (e.g. 'The Fury'), of the works of others (such as Alfred Bester's 'The Demolished Man') and original scripts. In 1973 he wrote and directed the film 'Dear Dead Delilah'. He has had several plays produced off-Broadway, and also paints and writes poetry. At various times he has made his home in New York, Southern California and Puerto Rico; he currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career he also wrote under the name Steve Brackeen.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 21, 2015
when i first read this book in my early 20s, it was the cover that drew me in and not the name of the author. the cover illustrated just the sort of oh-so-cutting edge scenario that interested me most during that part of my life, and the author was known to me only as a writer of genre horror, and to my snobby postmodern self, genre writers were only to be mocked. how wrong i was! although Captors is far from ground-breaking, it broke the hard crust i had developed in college that had moved me away from the enjoyment of genre fiction. thank you, Captors, for putting me in check. it was a quick spray of Snob-Be-Gone.
it turned out not to be the presumed object of amusement and conversation that i hoped to display ironically on my bookshelf, nor was it to be a frequently re-read bedside stand-by. there are surely no sexy situations to be savored. instead, it is a surprisingly well-written tale of uncomfortable suspense, full of complex and ambiguous characterization, perplexing and upsetting twists and turns, all centering on an at times disturbingly blank victim and her often appalling, often very human captors. it is a thin novel as well, and farris went on to write far more rich and substantial works of horrible wonder. but this book is special to me because of the reminder that genre fiction can be just as artful and just as sophisticated as literary fiction.
it turned out not to be the presumed object of amusement and conversation that i hoped to display ironically on my bookshelf, nor was it to be a frequently re-read bedside stand-by. there are surely no sexy situations to be savored. instead, it is a surprisingly well-written tale of uncomfortable suspense, full of complex and ambiguous characterization, perplexing and upsetting twists and turns, all centering on an at times disturbingly blank victim and her often appalling, often very human captors. it is a thin novel as well, and farris went on to write far more rich and substantial works of horrible wonder. but this book is special to me because of the reminder that genre fiction can be just as artful and just as sophisticated as literary fiction.
September 25, 2022
First published in 1969, The Captors is something like a time warp when events of the day come up, and Farris takes us on a nice ride here albeit on a rather old trope. Our main protagonist, Carol, is obviously going to be kidnapped-- one look at the cover can tell you that. Yet, the title is The Captors, which is apt, for why she was kidnapped, e.g., the motivations of the nappers, is at the heart of the tale.
This is really more of a mystery thriller than a horror novel and Farris does a great job here keeping the reader guessing. The cast of characters are fun-- Carol's parents (mom and step-dad), her grandfather and brother-- but the nappers are the most interesting. Even though Carol is kidnapped almost at the very start, Farris takes us on some flashbacks to her years of college (she just graduated from Berkeley) to flesh her character out. Lots of family drama here as well, as her parents are on the verge of divorce. I will not say more about the plot due to spoilers, but The Captors proceeds with good pacing, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I am not a huge Farris fan, but I liked this. 3 solid stars!
This is really more of a mystery thriller than a horror novel and Farris does a great job here keeping the reader guessing. The cast of characters are fun-- Carol's parents (mom and step-dad), her grandfather and brother-- but the nappers are the most interesting. Even though Carol is kidnapped almost at the very start, Farris takes us on some flashbacks to her years of college (she just graduated from Berkeley) to flesh her character out. Lots of family drama here as well, as her parents are on the verge of divorce. I will not say more about the plot due to spoilers, but The Captors proceeds with good pacing, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I am not a huge Farris fan, but I liked this. 3 solid stars!
August 17, 2016
I've had this one on the shelf for a long time. It's an early novel, from 1969, and is about college students and radicals and the one-percent who feeds off of the world's unrest. Wrap those ingredients up into a kidnapping and you have this novel. It reminded me of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, which didn't occur until several years after this novel was published. It has some plot twists that I will not spoil here. If you've never read any of John Farris's novels I would recommend you do so if you like writers like Dean Koontz, etc. He wrote suspense novels in addition to horror. This one doesn't have a hint of the supernatural at all in it. It's a slow burn for a suspense novel. It takes its time getting going, letting you get to know its characters and their complex relationships with each other. The last fifty pages are appropriately dosed with high melodrama and tension.
March 25, 2018
The name John Farris probably doesn't ring a bell with many readers, even fans of horror and suspense fiction, but when I was growing up, his paperback originals delivered the goods in terms of action mixed with a liberal quotient of (for the era) risque sex and kink. Now, although the original versions of his books are mostly long out of print and collectors' items, a number of these works are available digitally and will hopefully draw a new audience to this still active writer's writing. The Captors is one of his books that I dimly remember reading around the time it was published in 1969, but, although it has its moments, it hasn't aged well and those interested in Farris' work will find better examples elsewhere.
The Captors is set against the background of the Vietnam War and student counterculture protests. Carol Watterson, a college student from a well-to-do family is kidnapped by what may be a group of student radicals wanting a substantial ransom from her wealthy ultra-right-wing grandfather. Before her family can raise the ransom, however, Carol is able to escape, but, since her captors kept her drugged, she is unable to remember much of her ordeal. The captors aren't through with her yet, though, and Carol struggles to remember enough to allow the FBI to close in on the captors before they come back a second time.
Like many paperback originals of that era, The Captors is a fairly short book, and Farris keeps the action moving at a relentless pace. That allows him to gloss over some of the myriad plot weaknesses in much the same way as a magician is able to fool an audience by simply not giving them enough time to concentrate on what they are seeing. Here, Farris pulls off several wild plot twists, including three or four right after another towards the end of the book and hopes to keep readers from questioning them too closely. It doesn’t always work and sometimes results in a bit of a confusing book. He also relies a bit too much on coincidence, including a typically inept bunch of FBI investigators who somehow happen to always be absent at key moments in the book.
The second half of The Captors, from the time Carol returns on, is, for the most part, fast paced and excited, culminating in a big set piece showdown involving the kidnappers pitted against some of Carol’s family members. But the first part wobbles considerably, with some lengthy flashbacks to Carol’s time at college, where she met some of the people who will figure into the story later. And, whenever the book starts getting political, its age begins to show considerably. In addition, the sexual content of the book, which was somewhat daring for the time, seems old hat now, the literary equivalent of a PG-13 rating.
Despite its flaws, The Captors is worth reading for those who enjoy this type of thriller, and it improves as it goes along, despite some massive credibility issues. Its age shows in a number of scenes, and the characters aren’t all that memorable, but it provides some solid action, especially in the extended grand finale. The Captors isn’t exactly captivating writing, but it’s a decent read on a slow evening or a couple of lunch hours.
The Captors is set against the background of the Vietnam War and student counterculture protests. Carol Watterson, a college student from a well-to-do family is kidnapped by what may be a group of student radicals wanting a substantial ransom from her wealthy ultra-right-wing grandfather. Before her family can raise the ransom, however, Carol is able to escape, but, since her captors kept her drugged, she is unable to remember much of her ordeal. The captors aren't through with her yet, though, and Carol struggles to remember enough to allow the FBI to close in on the captors before they come back a second time.
Like many paperback originals of that era, The Captors is a fairly short book, and Farris keeps the action moving at a relentless pace. That allows him to gloss over some of the myriad plot weaknesses in much the same way as a magician is able to fool an audience by simply not giving them enough time to concentrate on what they are seeing. Here, Farris pulls off several wild plot twists, including three or four right after another towards the end of the book and hopes to keep readers from questioning them too closely. It doesn’t always work and sometimes results in a bit of a confusing book. He also relies a bit too much on coincidence, including a typically inept bunch of FBI investigators who somehow happen to always be absent at key moments in the book.
The second half of The Captors, from the time Carol returns on, is, for the most part, fast paced and excited, culminating in a big set piece showdown involving the kidnappers pitted against some of Carol’s family members. But the first part wobbles considerably, with some lengthy flashbacks to Carol’s time at college, where she met some of the people who will figure into the story later. And, whenever the book starts getting political, its age begins to show considerably. In addition, the sexual content of the book, which was somewhat daring for the time, seems old hat now, the literary equivalent of a PG-13 rating.
Despite its flaws, The Captors is worth reading for those who enjoy this type of thriller, and it improves as it goes along, despite some massive credibility issues. Its age shows in a number of scenes, and the characters aren’t all that memorable, but it provides some solid action, especially in the extended grand finale. The Captors isn’t exactly captivating writing, but it’s a decent read on a slow evening or a couple of lunch hours.
July 26, 2020
The cover promises a great, salacious read but doesn't quite deliver. Still a fun book with a weird twist that isn't very plausible. I'll read more by Farris.
Read
August 21, 2021quite tricky and twisty. i do wonder what happened to Kevin?
May 1, 2017
The was a real page-turner, even during the ending, which I found a bit disappointing, since John Farris seemed to be more interested in making some unnecessary twists instead of writing truly satisfying conclusions to the characters' arcs in it. There were a few times I thought the characters' actions didn't really make sense, such as the scene before the climax, .
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews