Captured

Portrait painter Kenny Drummond learns that he will die of a brain tumor in a few weeks. He has relatives and friends to reach out to, and he does, but his focus is on the people he believes that he owes. He makes a list. The last name on that list is the little girl who was his only friend in the English version of upper elementary school. He learns that she married, was abused by her husband, and then disappeared, with the husband the only suspect. Drummond is neither a detective, a kidnapper, or a torturer, but he does what he must, in the true British manner. This was not a sweet, charming story, but a plausible psychological thriller with convincing twists and characters that you understood, even the bad ones.

CAPTURED begins with an arresting hook:

Kenny wrote the list because he was dying.
Earlier that morning, an MRI scan had revealed a malignant brain cancer had germinated in the moist secrecy of his skull like a mushroom in compost.
He had six weeks, maybe less.

Kenny has just 4 people on his list. One is his ex-wife and one is the girl he sat next to at the end of primary school.

The other two are easy to deal with. One is dead and so there is nothing he can do there. He locates the other and finds that he has grown up to have a fulfilling life. He remembers Kenny and thanks him for actions he took over twenty years before.

But the third, apart from his wife, Callie has disappeared, missing for ten years, and Kenny finds it easy to suspect show more her husband of murder.

A book I reviewed recently THE LAST POLICEMAN by Ben H. Winters uses a different scenario to pose the question of what you, dear reader, would do if you knew your remaining time on earth was very limited.

For many people settling old scores would be high on the list, but I was surprised at the level of violence it unleashed in Kenny.

Neil Cross is a skilled story teller and knows how to follow ideas through to their most logical conclusion, at the same time as ratcheting the tension ever upwards. show less

One of the things that I've really come to expect from author Neil Cross is not quite knowing what to expect when you pick up one of this books. CAPTURED is the latest in a set of standalone novels that have just all been fantastic, and I'm happy to report that CAPTURED keeps up the standard.

When Kenny finds out he has a matter of weeks to live he draws up the sort of list that I guess many of us might draw up. People that he wants to clear the air with. He starts out tracking down the man who, as a little boy had been nearly abducted. Kenny had seen the suspect trailing the boy, and yet, when the police questioned him, he wasn't able to provide much detail. Kenny wants to apologise. He wants to make things right with his ex-wife, and show more still closest friend, but somehow he can't quite get to her name just yet. So he tries to track down his old school-yard friend. Callie had been kind to Kenny when he was a loner, awkward, a kid that didn't quite fit in. Callie, unfortunately, isn't easy to find, in fact she has disappeared in unexpected circumstances. Kenny wants to to make things right, and yet, despite his best intentions it ends up not right. About as far from right as you can possibly get.

CAPTURED is just one of the most fascinating novels I've read in a long time. Kenny is a character that will endear you to him, freak you out completely, but in the end, you just can't help but feel so desperately for a man for whom the best of intentions somehow manage to go so incredibly wrong. His complete inability to pull back from the abyss is intriguing. Is it human nature or is it something to do with the ticking time bomb in his brain? Tightly told, quick moving and tense, at no stage does CAPTURED read like a script despite Cross having credentials as a screenwriter. It's also not just a story about Kenny. There are other characters in this book who stand out from the page - the people who help Kenny and support him, and those who come up against him.

If there is anything at all that links Cross's recent books (NATURAL HISTORY / BURIAL and now CAPTURED) it is possibly the theme of the ordinary, flawed human being, pushed way outside their comfort zone. Add to that a talent for creating bleak and vaguely threatening settings; crisp, spare yet beautifully flowing prose and characterisations that tear at the heartstrings even when they are doing the unforgivable and it just has to be said. Do yourselves a favour. CAPTURED is a one sitting, absolutely tremendous, extremely disturbing book that you'll not forget in a hurry. show less

Six weeks. That’s the sum total of life remaining for Kenny Drummond who has inoperable brain cancer. He is a portrait artist. Mary is his ex-wife. He gives her the portraits he’d created of her. She knows something is wrong, but Kenny decides to keep it to himself – at least for now. As he thinks back on his life, he makes a list of people he feels he’s let down. They are: Mary; Mr. Jeganathon; Thomas Kintry; and Callie Barton. He only has six weeks to make it right.

He manages to resolve most matters to his satisfaction, but then there’s Callie. She had been his best friend when they were in junior school together. Then one day she just disappeared from class. He was told she moved. Now in present day, he wants to find her so show more he hires Pat Maxwell, a local and the closest thing they have to a PI. She finds good news and bad news for Kenny. She confirmed Callie’s parents had moved to London. However, in 2004, she’d been hospitalized with a broken wrist and cracked ribs. This info was in the police file. Callie didn’t press charges. Her husband was suspect. Kenny goes to seek justice for Callie. He tracks down her husband, Jonathan Reese.

This story took place near Bristol in South West England. As a psychological thriller, it certainly held my interest. Kenny and Mary had divorced. She remarried Stever five years before and they had two children. They are all close friends. Kenny and Mary even still say “I love you” to each other. I know that brain tumors can change one’s personality, but I found some of the changes to be somewhat unlikely. Additionally, in one scene, Kenny managed to ‘vault’ over furniture. If he was becoming weak as it was portrayed, he would not be able to ‘vault’ over anything. My rating for Captured is 3.5 out of 5. show less

A quick and easy murder mystery. The basic plot is interesting and there are a couple of surprises, but the ending and the characters leave the reader feeling empty. Although that may be the point. I kept picturing Javier Bardem as one of the characters. The author nails the suspenseful scenes. For readers of dark murder mysteries.

Net Galley Feedback

This is the first book I have read by Neil Cross, and I was looking forward to it as I have enjoyed both Spooks and Luther, TV programmes he has either written, or had a hand in writing.

I wasn't disappointed with this book. It's the story of Kenny Drummond, a young man who has discovered he has only weeks to live and decides to make it up to four people to whom he feels he owes something. This is a good premise for a story, but I couldn't really see how it would end up being a thriller. I won't give the story away, but it's certainly not a run of the mill type thriller.

It's a short book, and an easy read, with nice bite-size chapters, and it kept me interested enough all the way through to want to find out what happened at the end. show more Kenny isn't the more likeable character in the world, but I still felt enough about him to engage with his feelings and understand why he does some, if not all, of the actions he does in the story.

It's quite an odd sort of story, but I'd definitely read more of Neil Cross's books in the future. show less

A man is diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that gives him few weeks of life, and then, as many would do in the same situation, he decided to put in place some slopes of the past. This is the foundation from which this interesting and quite intricate thriller starts, which sees the protagonist to pass several times from victim to perpetrator while desperately trying to clarify the fate of a school girl friend, the only one who showed him mercy when he was the victim of bullying, before the disease kills him.
Pleasant book, well written, and full of surprises, just a few unrealistic scenes prevents in turning up the score.
Thank Open Road Integrated Media and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest show more review.

A un uomo viene dignosticato un aggressivo tumore al cervello che gli dà poche settimane di vita, e quindi, come molti farebbero nella sua stessa situazione, decide di mettere a posto alcune pendenze del passato. Queste sono le basi da cui parte questo thriller interessante e abbastanza intricato, che vede il protagonista passare più volte da vittima a carnefice mentre cerca disperatamente di chiarire il destino di una compagna di scuola, l'unica che gli abbia mostrato pietà quando era vittima di bullismo, prima che la malattia lo uccida.
Libro piacevole, ben scritto, e pieno di colpi di scena, solo qualche scena poco realistica impedisce di alzare il punteggio.
Ringrazio Open Road Integrated Media e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta. show less