STOLEN BY LUCY CHRISTOPHER

Stolen is Lucy Christopher's first novel. The entire book is a letter from one girl, Gemma, to a man who kidnapped her in Bangkok airport and took her to the centre of Australia, where he tried to force her to love him and understand the outback.

Gemma's captor Ty is far from the typical scary-guy stereotype imposed upon most fictional kidnappers. He is good-looking, young and strong, but obviously very troubled and isolated. He reveals in the book that he has been watching Gemma for much of her life, which is a disturbing revelation though it does make the book slightly more realistic, considering most kidnap victims know their captor.

Gemma herself seems not to appreciate her family before she is 'stolen', but the events in the book lead her to really miss what she had. The book also deals with the idea of Stockholm syndrome, where hostages begin to empathise with their kidnapper.

The book is written entirely in second person, a brave endeavour for Christopher to try, but she pulls it off very well! The book is engrossing (I read it in my breaks at work experience in just a couple of hours altogether) and an interesting look at how kidnapping is often so much more than being 'stolen' - it becomes your life.

However there were some aspects of the book that felt slightly unrealistic, such as Ty being able to get Gemma from Bangkok to the centre of Australia, pretty much under anasthetic, without being questioned at all. Also, Gemma is only with Ty for a short time before she starts to develop what appears to be Stockholm Syndrome. That said, it was still a good read.

Butterflies: 6.5 out of 10
Recommended for: people aged 13 and over who won't be too easily disturbed by the idea of the kidnapping
Warnings: some swearing, some references to sex and nudity, some references to drinking. Ty never rapes Gemma. Ty is a confronting, disturbed character and the plot could be disturbing for easily affected readers.