PRAISE FOR THE CAPTIVE
“With this part–feminist Western, part–dystopian odyssey, part just plain-old nerve-jangling thriller, Foster does a terrific job of maintaining the page-turning pace of her narrative…. Packed with heart-stopping misadventures, this novel makes outdoor challenge–style outings look like a walk in the park.
— KIRKUS (STARRED REVIEW)
“[A] suspenseful, tightly written country noir…. Foster reinvigorates the familiar perilous journey trope as she portrays Brooke’s steely determination to save her loved ones. Exuding that irresistible blend of courage and vulnerability that defined Daniel Woodrell's Ree Dolly in Winter's Bone (2006), Brooke drives this propulsive wilderness adventure, made all the more chilling by its shockingly realistic vision of a country ravaged by culture wars.”
— BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW)
“A fugitive story layered in frigid atmosphere, Foster's modern-day-set corker carries an Old Western appeal as it follows Brooke, a farmer who lives in an isolated rural state with her husband and two daughters. She entangles them on a tense journey after she's attacked by a local drugrunner — and hides from them the real reason why.”
— DAVID CANFIELD, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Dark as an ice cold winter's night, Fiona King Foster's debut novel is a pitch-perfect noir thriller, set in a rural tundra in a world populated by loners, homesteaders, and the kind of people who most typically lurk in the shadows. […] Foster keeps the tension high, running at a constant throbbing pulse, and showing all the things we'll do to protect our family and our future.”
— KRISTEN IVERSEN, REFINERY29
“For years, every scary book with a female protagonist has been sold as ‘the next Gone Girl,’ but none have ever lived up to the hype. Now […] the wait might finally be over.”
— COURTNEY SHEA, CHATELAINE
“The Captive, the enthralling debut novel from Toronto writer Fiona King Foster, begins with a dystopian premise but gradually shifts in both genre and approach; the result is a book which is strangely comfortable but frequently surprising. […] While the novel is beautifully written and richly characterized, what makes it such a delightful read is Foster’s skill in upending readerly expectations. […] With echoes of Elmore Leonard, Charles Portis and Donna Tartt, The Captive is a powerful debut with a hint of timelessness.”
— ROBERT J. WIERSEMA, TORONTO STAR
“The near future looks plausibly bleak in this knockout debut novel. […] Aptly described as ‘rural noir’ […] it’s all thriller, no filler.”
— POSTMEDIA
“Beguiling…. Part adventure novel and part crime novel…. Foster keeps the tension high…. [Foster] effectively keeps readers in suspense all the way through.”
— G. ROBERT FRAZIER, BOOKPAGE
"The Captive is a wonder, a wild horse in the sure and steady hands of the brilliant Fiona King Foster. Electrifying and otherworldly, The Captive gives us a new feminist heroine, an Offred traversing Cormac McCarthy’s hazardous dreamscapes. Through the ingenious and fierce-hearted Brooke Holland, Foster takes us to the very sheer edge of survival, love and loyalty. This debut novel reads like a lightning storm, and then it stays with you, leaving a profound impression––ghostly, gorgeous and moving."
— CLAUDIA DEY, AUTHOR OF HEARTBREAKER AND STUNT
“Fiona King Foster has written a tension-wire novel, suspenseful from the first line to the last. A story about a fractured country quickly transforms into a study of the ways in which the darkest parts of our history follow us around like shadows.”
— OMAR EL AKKAD, AUTHOR OF AMERICAN WAR
“Enthralling, unflinching, and beautifully written, The Captive is a resoundingly good first novel, and Fiona King Foster is a writer to watch.”
— JAMES A. MCLAUGHLIN, AUTHOR OF BEARSKIN
"Rarely does a first novel feel so fully, expertly realized as Fiona King Foster's The Captive. There's everything here you'd want from a book: compelling characters, suspenseful storytelling, crystalline language, and a portrait of a near-future that, though troubled, pulses with a human heartbeat of love, and honour, and hope." - Pasha Malla, author of Kill the Mall and Fugue States
— PASHA MALLA, AUTHOR OF KILL THE MALL AND FUGUE STATES
“In this riveting debut, Foster vividly brings to life a gritty, hardscrabble and all too plausible near-future and a resolute heroine who defends those she loves throughout a harrowing ordeal. The Captive is a propulsive, word-perfect thriller about the ghosts that haunt us and the strengths that lie within.”