#BlogTour ‘The Captive’by Deborah O’Connor

About the book…A brilliant, high concept, intensely gripping thriller perfect for fans of THE SILENT PATIENT, THE CAPTIVE will keep you guessing till the very end . . .‘Ingenious. A smart, pacy and highly entertaining thriller’ T.M. Logan
______________________Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping centre parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items.Then there’s him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out.Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah’s mind:What if he speaks to me?
What if he hurts me?
What if he gets out?

This is one of the books I was most excited about reading in 2021,so I am thrilled to be able to contribute towards the Tracy Fenton organised blog tour for her newest release, ‘The Captive’, out now from Zaffre Books.The story is one of mystery,suspense and the hope of redemption.

In a not too near future, over crowded prisons and a lack of public satisfaction with the course of justice,had led to the forming of a new system.Restorative justice is meted out in the form of a cell, built in the house of those who press charges against those who have committed crimes.

The hope is that by putting the criminal and victim in the same house,the criminal will face the consequences of their actions. In contrast, the victim gets the chance to face the worst moments of their lives over and over.In Hannah’s case, her duty as host to Jem,the person found guilty of killing her husband, will last 20 long years.Her request to have Jem removed and put with alternative Hosts denied, she has to face her husband’s killer as she goes about her daily business.

His cell is built in the basement of her house where her kitchen is. She cannot avoid him,and added to this,her neighbour is furious that this new ‘guest’ has driven the property prices down.But who in this game of cat and mouse, is actually the captive? As th3y begin to establish a new routine for daily cohabitation, Hannah digs deep to find more of her husband’s belongings to keep his memory alive. But with Jem protesting his innocence,and certain inexplicable items coming to light in her searches, Hannah begins to suspect that someone close to her has been hiding the truth.

Who really was responsible for her husband, John’s death?

Was it the last detective case he was working on?

Or something much more sinister?

As the threads of suspicion twine around her, Hannah looks for help in the most unlikely of places…The themes of this conceptual thriller are so interesting-how many of us would press charges against a criminal if it meant coming face to face with them for the length of their sentence?

Outside of Hannah’s case,the wider implications are explored in the cases of those in her neighbourhood who have followed the law to different conclusions. Her helpful associate,Mr Dalgliesh who liases with her as a sort of social worker/prison officer tells her of cases gone wrong as cautionary tales.However, it raises so many questions that cross the lines of justice into gender based violence,culpability and criminal behaviour.

Surely someone who sets out to stalk and harrass a woman would want nothing more than to be ensconced within the confines of her home? Or, even worse,to avoid this fate they might avoid pressing charges to not suffer such a fate leaving a criminal free to strike again.There are so many aspects and angles to this set up that really gets you thinking about the concepts of justice and how well we, as a 21st century, still do not effectively deal with crimes in a way that truly punishes them.

And, in a week where one of outgoing president Trump’s actions was to turn down the death row appeal of the first woman to be executed in decades,the impact and effect of justice is very much in my mind.I don’t think there is a perfect notion of a punishment fitting the crime,however,taking the life of another definitively removes the potential for restorative justice. And in a patriarchal society where more women tend to be the victims of crimes than perpetrators,it seemed to me like another crime was being comitted against Hannah, and other women in the course of meeting the court mandated ‘punishment’ of hosting a criminal.

There is so much to think about when reading this novel but it never gets tied down in intricacies which distract from the essential humanity at its heart. The need for honesty,love and justice for the harm done to Hannah,is the cornerstone of the story. However,Jem’s alternate chapters tell of how he ended up behind bars. The victim of a childhood no one wants to remember, was he a convenient scapegoat for the murder of a cop or did he really do it? And if so why?Another breathless and compulsive thriller which makes you feel like you are in the hands of a master storyteller,who will let you go when she is finished with you,I am a confirmed and committed fan of Deborah O’Connor!

About the author…

Deborah O’Connor is a writer and TV producer. Born and bred in the North-East of England, in 2010 she completed the Faber Academy novel writing course. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Twitter @deboc77 @Tr4cyF3nt0n @ZaffreBooks

Links-http://www.betteroffdeb.com/https://www.compulsivereaders.com/