Above by Isla Morley

review by Maryom

 On the day of her Kansas town's annual picnic and carnival, sixteen year old schoolgirl Blythe is abducted. Tricked by someone she knows and trusts into believing her brother has had an accident, she finds herself driven to a disused missile silo - and imprisoned there. At first stunned into disbelief by what has happened, she expects to be found and rescued after at most a few days, but as time drags on she begins to feel she could be there for life. Her captor, school librarian and survivalist Dobbs Hordin, believes he's saved her - rescued her from terrible events which are going to wipe out civilisation. He's got to be delusional though, hasn't he?

 This is a book that I'd heard a lot about through various bloggers on social media, so although the Mole has already reviewed it back in May I thought I'd treat the paperback publication as an excuse to read it myself.
Knowing about it turned out to be a bit of a disadvantage, so I'm hoping not to give away more here. I'd heard in quite some detail about the plot twist in the middle so knew what to expect and how things were more or less going to end. This meant that I raced through the beginning which, in retrospect, I think was the better half of the book. Blythe's plight, initial shock, followed by anger then acceptance coupled with Dobbs' creepy attempts to win her over, are all brilliantly portrayed. Their relationship see-saws with the power first being on one side, then briefly the other, rocking back and forth between Dobbs and Blythe. At times I thought that Blythe, worn down by years of incarceration, missed out on opportunities to manipulate Dobbs, but on the other hand she'd had no other human contact for so long and no chance to mature beyond her age when abducted.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Two Roads
Genre - Adult fiction

The Mole's Picks of the Year - 2014

My picks are split 2 ways, adult/YA, and children's/teens because I tend to be the one of us reading the younger readers books - out of choice. I haven't included picture books because - like a coward - it's so hard to choose.

So here I go with my choices for the older reader...
Firstly I am a fan of short story anthologies, where the anthology leads you from story to story on some form of journey and my number 1 select this year has to be Unthology 5. These anthologies are some of the best I have found, where the stories balance each other and reward you with an experience. Don't jump about the book, but read them as they come and enjoy every one.

Another very good collection was Stay Up With Me although this collection was all from the same author. Highly enjoyable and impossible to pick a favourite.




That Glimpse of Truth
was a very different collection,one that seemed more to chart the history of the short story. Starting with the story of Jonah  - and it's not really about a whale - moving through to modern stories. This is more a collection to keep on a shelf and cherry pick from as your mood suits - but still a book well worth having there.

Stepping away from short stories my next choice is a combined choice as I find it hard to select one over the other. Leigh Russell is the author of two detective series - Geraldine Steel and Ian Perterson. The DI Peterson series is a spin-off from Geraldine Steel and this year we have seen one book from each launched with more to come from both. Race to Death
 is the second DI Peterson and 

Fatal Act by Leigh Russell
 is the latest Geraldine Steel.

Brick Mother was a book that gave a very different experience and is hard to give a genre to - but the frustrations of management, the need to make a difference and the stresses of life are very well portrayed in this story.

A Bright Moon for Fools  is a story of a man who is out, unknowingly,to ruin his own life as he blunders,lies and cons his way from relationship realising, only too late,what he has done.

Above is a story in two halves of abduction  and dystopia. I preferred the first half but there was much to reflect on throughout the story. 

Shop Front was a story that took me by surprise. The story of a student taking a summer job while trying to get to university and the crowd he falls in with - and the surprises (or not) that he finds within that crowd.

Ghostwritten  is another story of self discovery and facing up to the past. It's done very well and we also learn of the hardships and deprivations suffered by interned citizens on Java during the second world war. An enlightening, if disturbing read.

But that's enough of the really serious stuff... let's lighten the mood with
Takedown Twenty I have to admit to loving the humour that the author can embed into her stories and make thrillers into a true comedic romp. The best way to end my adult selection.

My children's book selection is somewhat shorter and hopefully a little lighter although Seventeen Coffins is hardly a light read. Another time-slip story from this author bringing to life yet more of Scotland's chequered history.
 

The Reluctant Vampire is a very light read and as funny today as the day it was penned. Is a vampire who doesn't like blood "normal"?

The legend of Frog  is a story that will amuse children but keep them reading. I did have one small reservation about this book though - although it is still well worthy of inclusion.



 The Dark Inside A story of great sadness and loss - trust and friendship of the highest order and perhaps reconciliation?


But in thinking about loyalty and friendship, let's repeat those ideals - but with a generous amount of humour in Charlie Merrick's Misfits in Fouls, Friends & Football

Above by Isla Morley

Review by The Mole

Blythe, a sixteen-year-old Kansas schoolgirl is abducted and kept in an abandoned silo by a survivalist, who is convinced that the world is about to end.
Struggling to survive, crushed by loneliness and the terrifying madness of her captor, Blythe resists the temptation to give up. Nothing, however, prepares her for the burden of having to raise a child in confinement.
Just when Blythe starts to believe that she may be confined to the silo for life, their lives are ambushed by one event that is at once promising and devastating…

The rest is obvious isn't it? No, it's anything but!!

You know when you get a Christmas present that is a funny shape and it doesn't rattle and you cannot for the life of you figure out what  you are going to find? And when you do get into the parcel and find out what it is you are absolutely delighted? But not quite as delighted as you'd expected to be? Well that's how I found this book. I expected a crime thriller come horror story. Well it was... and it wasn't. It was a book of two halves - literally and when you switch to the second half it's almost an entirely different genre but each genre becomes more conventional. But both halves are done extremely well and are, for the main part, completely riveting.

I found parts quite tense and had to put the book down for a break from it - although returning at the first opportunity. There are little bits that had me thinking "As if..." particularly as I had this down as an adult novel but I stress they were few and far between. The science? I really don't know because the author has cleverly just glossed over it with a casual flick of the hand when she needed to and the plot construct means the science can almost be ignored.

Stockholm Syndrome... I suspect that this has been strategically ignored too but this must also be forgiven.

The story did end at the ideal point (or is it the start?) and could so easily lead to a sequel but please - no. I have written my version in my head and I don't want it spoiling.

I did enjoy this immensely but I really must sometime read the book I thought it was going to be. As for a genre... No, it might give something away.

Publisher - Two Roads
Genre - Adult fiction

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