This dystopian story centers around the severing of a rural territory from the federal government. Set in fictitious places, without a firm timeframe, Brooke and her husband Milo live a primitive life away from town with their young daughters, Holly, 13 and Sal, eight. Half of their cranberry crop went bad and Brooke had to sell two horses for cash. The girls have never seen running water, and they do not attend any kind of school.

Strong, domineering Brooke wears the pants in the family, and her meek husband Milo has learned not to ask any questions. Throughout most of the book, they are on the run, using their considerable skills as backwoods survivalists. Brooke’s family, the Hollands, are notorious. They stood for independence, self-determination, and justice, and did not believe the system would take care of them. Their once-close friends, the Cawley family, became bitter enemies in a battle over the control of lucrative chalk sales, a powerful opiate which has hooked many members of the community.

There is a warrant out for the arrest of the subject of the book, Stephen Cawley, on multiple federal charges, including murder. He is an unhinged menace with an addiction to chalk. The bounty is $500 for information, $5,000 for safe delivery, an enormous reward. When Brooke discovers Stephen hidden on their remote property, violence ensues, and the story takes off. A fast-moving thriller with trigger warnings for several graphic scenes. An ambitious first effort by this author, sure to be appreciated by fans of the genre.

A compelling character whose backstory is built in layers, both past and current lives will raise questions while exposing the main character as a woman who is more than capable of rendering justice when her family is threatened. This is most definitely NOT like any book I've read lately and it's definitely put Fiona King Foster on my "follow" list.

The story is written in a tense, terse manner. There is no wasted communication here. She knows exactly what has to be done and sets out to achieve her goals. You can feel the emotion and the tension as she makes her way around so many obstacles. Choices have consequences and she is facing hers. Love, love, love this book.

This was a fast paced read that kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved how bold and brave Brooke was in the story, very badass. The intriguing plot is what made me pick this one up and I'm gald I did. A great debut and I will be looking out for more from this author.

Brooke and Milo, along with their daughters Holly and Sal, live in a secessionist rural territory, cut off from urban areas and the federal government. While it’s hard work and survival is the name of the game, they are at least free to live a peaceful and loving life with their family. When a hardened criminal named Stephen Cawley comes to the town, Brooke realizes that her violent past and peaceful present must interact with one another. When Brooke decides to walk Cawley to the closet urban center through the mountains, along with her family, she must become the person she thought she had left behind and do whatever it takes to survive. The characters are well constructed and the story alternates between Brooke’s current journey and her upbringing (and what an upbringing it is - no spoilers). She is clever and resilient but doesn’t trust anyone other than herself which leads to a few problems along the way. There were twists, some quite surprising. It seemed like the twists were easy to see and nothing was a shock. I did like the writing, but the story did not make me interested. Brooke Holland has been running from her past for a long time. She thought she was away from that with her husband and her kids. Until someone shows up at her home from her past! This book took place in the middle of nowhere Canada. It was wild to me because they didn't have internet, or television or a phone, or cars or anything. They traveled via horse! It was a pretty good book though. Nothing crazy but a decent read for sure. I mean for a thriller, there was nothing really exciting but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher.

This one is hard for me to review. I liked it but didn’t love it. It’s a good winter read. I think people will enjoy the story.

A story of survival told in dual time lines. A family is struggling to survive and a blizzard is coming in. When the mom finds out there is a bounty for someone she used to know she is determined to go after him and bring him in at all costs. She drags her family and the fugitive along in the blizzard to a different town to collect the reward money. Along the way things start to go wrong and her past with his starts coming out. A story of courage, survival and strong women. The reader can feel the cold coming from the blizzard and the fear throughout the story. Very well written.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This was a different, but intriguing book. This one had me on the edge of the couch with anxious anticipation of what would happen next. I especially loved how descriptive Foster's writing was. I felt like I was there on the journey with Brooke and I needed to know what life she had come from... and why. I will certainly look for other books by Foster!

I tried to read this book and it is just not a genre that I am interested in. I found it to be quite boring.

Brooke and are raising their kids in a fringe successionist town when Crawley appears. HE is a fugitive on the run and Brooke captures him. From there, we learn how their lives are interconnected as she takes him in to the sheriff. A thrilling and exciting movel to read with an inventive plot.

A thrilling story of a fugitive on the run, coming together with a woman reluctant to face her past. This was a good book, with fluid writing and a solid plot Does it stand out as fantastic or one that I couldn't stop thinking about? No, but that doesn't mean it won't to some. I could fully relate, so I think that's why I went in and out of wanting to read this one.

The Captive takes us to an unnamed secessionist rural state, in a near-future time, when people are left on their own to survive—or not.

This one took me a few chapters to get into. We’re dropped straight into a chaotic situation, with little to no setup to acclimate us in the story. I admit to being a little frustrated, but I was intrigued enough to keep going.

I’m glad I stuck with it, because once things started connecting and I understood what was going on, this story grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go. The pace is quick and the tension high.

The characters are well developed and complex. Even when I didn’t agree with their choices, I understood the drive behind their behavior so that what they did made sense.

If you’re looking for a wild ride into a Wild West sort of situation, this is the book for you.

This is one of those captivating, compulsive, heart throbbing in your ears thrillers you find yourself holding your breath for at times while reading!! Brooke is a great well-developed character that just oozes a harrowing heroine and how she goes between past and present until they both collide into one really fit the feel of the story! Along the way the time of the book had me puzzled since there were old western feel aspects but then modern age details, but all in all it was like a twisted mix of delight and all while being wrapped into some thrills!! All in all, I liked this book, some parts were a little offset for me, but I think Brooke was a well-developed character and seeing her step back into a past she tried to run away from and make it out surviving made it, so I stayed invested! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this title and experience a new author!

The writing was good but I just didn’t care for the characters. I found the book tedious. I found it to be a boring futuristic dystopian novel. I wouldn’t recommend.

The Captive was without a doubt one of the most chilling reads I’ve ever read! There was so much horror to this novel and not all of it was monsters!

It was a heart-racing read on many levels that it has a greater magnitude of “page-turner.” Still, you can’t help but turn the pages as fast as you can to see what the outcome will be. You hope for many things, but only a few will come true. That doesn’t make this a disappointing read in the least, it makes it one emotional gut punch to the feelings though.

Ultimately, it was undoubtedly the smaller, subtler moments of horror in this book that were more effective, and which resonated more powerfully with me. For this reason, I was also not as bothered by the vagueness of the ending, since I felt it was appropriate that some of the mystery be preserved, but I can also understand why some might be frustrated by the lack of answers.. Overall, The Captive can be rightly called a popcorn or “light” read since it contains an fast moving pace and truly a thriller plot and there’s certainly enough to give one a quick shot of fright if a no-frills, fast-paced horror is what you’re in the mood for.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Captive by Fiona King Foster.

Brooke and Milo are raising their two children on the fringes of society, living a simple horse drawn life in a modern world. But life for Brooke is shattered when it's announced at a town auction that there is a wanted man loose in the area. Brooke knows exactly who it is and what he wants, and quickly rushes home before anything can happen...

This is a story of a tightly woven, small community that has been steeped in violence and betrayal. It fluctuates from current day to past events to explain just how connected the characters are.

I'm going to admit, while there were a lot of solid moments in the book that had me interested, overall I just couldn't sink into this story. I struggled to know exactly when we were, and how the story relates to what was happening. It had a strong setting and potential, but this was not my favorite adventure novel.

t was ok, kind of disappointed in where the story went and how it ended. Brooke is living off the grid with her husband and two girls when word of a bounty for a fugitive, Stephen Cawley is on the run. Brooke left her family behind to escape the life she led there with her parents and siblings as sovereign citizens and eventually dealing drugs fighting rival family, the Cawleys. This reminded me of the Hatfields and McCoys. A lot transpires and is not explained and once revealed is sort of leaves you saying, "ok". How it ended left still more unanswered questions.

An enjoyable, well-paced rural noir thriller that I liked, though not as much as I'd hoped.

I was initially attracted to this book due to its being set in a kind of near-future dystopian "what-if" environment -- the characters live in a [red] part of North America that has seceded and been left to its own devices -- so I was expecting the world-building to be a little more detailed. Instead, this book read more or less like an atmospheric Western, with horses and farms and sheriffs, but only forests and no open desert vistas, and a few bits involving modern technology and drugs.

The POV character Brooke Holland is a sympathetic heroine, though the whole book suffers from her extreme Failure To Communicate. Brooke is emotionally damaged and paranoid because of her past -- kept secret from her very-zen partner Milo and their two daughters-- and when part of that past comes back to haunt her, she reacts by doubling down on secrecy. It makes you want to reach into the book and shake her. Especially because her underlying understanding of the situation she's in may not even be accurate. If only Brooke were up-front with Milo, chunks of the plot (apart from the flashbacks to Brooke's childhood, depicting her own parents' choices during and after secession, which for me were the best parts of the book) would not happen at all. That just ends up being a frustrating rather than good narrative choice.

This was slow to start and I wasn’t crazy about it at the beginning, but it really did pick up. Imagery was good, but I don’t think I am the biggest fan of the writing style or the rural setting and what comes with it. Overall, it was entertaining and I enjoyed it once it picked up.

This book is well written but I do not usually read this genre. With this said, it was a nice introduction into this space. I would be interested in reading more like this and from this author

THE CAPTIVE will keep you on your seat. Once you get to the meat and potatoes of the story, you won’t be able to put it down. Foster creates a really interesting narrative with the secession story and how that effects Brooke and everyone around her. The story goes back and forth between her life with her family and her present life trying to keep her family safe. Brooke herself, I found, was a really frustrating character because she’s so smart but at times she did dumb things but I think Foster wrote her that way on purpose. Good book if you really like thrillers!