The Hostage

2.5 stars

The pan on the stove caught fire at the precise instant that Tom Silver came into the house. He looked tired, his face and hands chapped by the wind, but he moved swiftly toward the blaze. Deborah was quicker, dumping some of the hot water from the potatoes onto the fire even as Tom shouted, “Don’t do that!” In a split second, she understood why. Some alchemy between water and burning fat made the flames flare even higher, licking black tongues of soot onto the ceiling. Swearing, Tom grabbed the frying pan and rushed outside with it. She heard more cursing, then silence.
He returned, holding the pan with the charred fish in it. “I take it supper’s ready,” he said.

Look, I'm a goofball for scenes like this, fish out show more of water trying because they like the person they're trying to impress/show value to.

Anyway, I didn't plan on writing a review for this but I play enough bingo games that I can't let the chance to call this one out go by, there are a good amount of little additives that could help someone for a hard to find square.

The gist is Deborah is a spoiled Gilded Age princess living in Chicago. She grew-up with her clawed his way to the top father, her mother dying when she was young. She's engaged to a low level aristocrat, which is the one thing her father's money can't buy and he's ecstatic that he's going to get into those societal rooms through Deborah's marriage.
Except, Deborah's fiancé rapes her (there is a scene at the end where Deborah has a flashback to the moment as she works through her guilt, blame, and understanding that yes it was rape, for content warning), and she goes to her father to tell him that she won't marry him. Unfortunately, for Deborah, she picks the night that Tom comes for revenge.
Deborah's father owned a mine that with poor regulation, ended up killing a bunch of people, one who was Tom's adopted son, and he's decided to come kill the dad.
Unfortunately for Tom, he picks the night of the Great Chicago Fire.

The first 25% of this was Deborah and Tom trying to escape the fire and I liked a book that delved a decent amount into the, beginning, of the Chicago Fire. Unfortunately, the first half of this was kind of rough getting started, Deborah the spoiled “princess”, Tom the big meanie, and a smoke smelling doggy. Fortunately, the second half came on better with Deborah's fish out of water learning and trying and Tom's reluctant liking of her gumption and falling for her. The latter ending half where Deborah is working through her pain about the rape also has Tom being supportive in a good hero way, too. But what really made this stand out was the possible different bingo square elements I mentioned.
The Chicago Fire
Sault Sainte Marie, and going through the Soo Locks
Mostly, takes place in the Greak Lakes region on an island
Tom does kidnap her
President Grant!
Pinkerton's detecting around
Tom runs his own Trading Post
He also fought for the Union and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor
But also importantly, While he worked at his bookkeeping, he wore delicate gold wire-rimmed spectacles. He wears glasses to read!
Deborah learns how to gut a fish

The Soo Locks and a heroine gutting a fish, not something you read everyday show less

The best parts were the descriptions of Isle Royale itself, which is why I rated this book generously (three stars as opposed to two.) The ending was very abrupt and the tacked-on epilogue didn't help much. Pacing was definitely an issue with this book. For all that I was able to envision Isle Royale as if I were standing on its shores, the rest of the book didn't captivate me in the same manner... Since the following 2 books appear to take place in Chicago only, I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.

I accidentally read this when I meant to read something else, and by the time I finished the first chapter, I was intrigued. Unrealistic portrayal of a rape survivor overcoming her anxiety about sex, so I'll take a star off for that. Otherwise, great character choices.

Action. Adventure. Suspense. Murder. Mayhem. Kidnapping. Isolation. Desolation. Near Death. Introspection. Rape. Romance. Compassion. Empathy. Self-Reinvention. All of this and more set against the backdrop of The Great Chicago Fire.

When Deborah Sinclair experiences one life-changing event, she is unprepared for a chain-of-events that is set in motion on the night of the Chicago Fire. Returning to her father's mansion to confront him with a decision she has made about her engagement, she thwarts a would-be killer who then takes her hostage to the north woods of Isle Royale. While being held captive for ransom, Deborah is forced to shed her society girl image and confront the way 'real' people live. Forced by winter blizzards and an show more icing of the lake that surrounds Isle Royale, she becomes aware of the atrocities that her father's businesses have committed all in the quest of climbing society's golden ladder.

This story, the first in Susan Wiggs' Chicago Fire trilogy is captivating. I was caught from page one and enthralled until the final page. The characters are multi-dimensional and real. The setting is fabulous - I could almost feel the cold of the blizzard's snows and the bleakness of a deserted winter settlement. THE HOSTAGE is not to be missed. Thankfully I still have book three - THE FIREBRAND to read. show less

Deborah is taken hostage by a man bent on revenge against her father, during the night of the great Chicago fire. Fleeing the city, with her father going one way, and she and her abductor going another, she's taken to the island that's the site of her father's carelessness with building an empire at all costs. When her father refuses to ransom her, she decides to roll up her sleeves and find out how the other half lives, and falls in love with her captor.

The plot was a little too "quiet" for me- but then this is commonly a problem I have with Susan Wiggs. Her characters and their interactions are fabulous, but the stakes often don't seem high enough (to me). Still, I enjoyed it.

Almost more of an adventure story, only bit of sex near the end.