Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Captives by Tom Pow

16-year old Martin and his family are enjoying a vacation on a Caribbean island. The foursome joins two other families on what is believed to be an adventurous trek through some of the mountains of the island. However, it goes horribly wrong; they are kidnapped and taken hostage by guerrillas and forced into the heart of the Santa Clara wilderness. They are scared for their lives, and for those of Martin's brother and two other tourists, who supposedly escaped their capture. As they go through their ordeal, they learn a lot about the political backdrop of Santa Clara and why exactly their captors are against those current politics. The two-part book Captives speaks of the politics of terror and the harsh world of Santa Clara that is not seen in its tourism.

To be honest with you, the book just couldn't keep my attention. It's an awesome storyline and plot though, which is why I really wanted to review this book. You don't hear of books too often where vacations are ruined due to the fact that the vacationers were kidnapped and taken hostage by guerrillas. But once I began reading Captives, I found my mind wandering, or when I was paying attention, I realized the author was using a lot of the same adjectives to describe the captors, hostages, and their journey (for instance, the word "jaundiced" appeared at least three times within the book, and I could remember what chapter it last appeared in). The first part of the book was a diary of the father, and the second part was of Martin's account of the kidnapping, but the writing styles of the two were just too similar, so at times, it felt like I was reading the book twice.

Content: I'm a Christian, and I just didn't like the fact that every time Martin and his family were in situations they didn't like, they took the name of God in vain. Also, intimacy is mentioned a well amount in the book, and although the author didn't delve into the subject much, there was an instance where it was mentioned that one of the supporting characters had sex.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 6

Reviewer Age: 15

posted by Flamingnet Book Blog @ 7:59 PM