Audiobook Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Synopsis: Gemma, a 16 year old girl traveling with her parents, is kidnapped by a very handsome man  during a layover in the Bangkok airport.  He drugs her, disguises her and puts her on a plane to Australia.  Gemma awakes to find that she is in the middle of the Australian Outback surrounded by nothing but desert.  Ty, her captor, has created a new existence for them.  He treats her kindly and soon reveals that he has taken her because he cares for her and wants her to be his companion.  

The book is written as a letter from Gemma to Ty.  In it she shares her perspectives and feelings of the entire kidnapping.  Readers get a first hand experience of what Gemma's psychologists diagnose as Stockholm Syndrome.  
 
Audiobook:  Audiobook narrator, Emily Gray, has a voice that fits this story well.  Her British accent matches well to what would be perceived as Gemma's.  I did have a slight issue in the beginning believing that Gemma could be 16 because the narrator's voice seemed much older.  As the novel progressed, I came to realize that it fit the story well because Gemma grew up a lot during the time she was captured.  To be able to write the letter that she wrote to Ty, she has to think through many things that normal 16 year olds would not have to deal with.  As this book was written completely from Emma's perspective, Emily Gray did a great job of presenting that perspective in audiobook form. 

What's Next:  Lucy Christopher has a new book, Flyaway, hitting stores in the US this October (2011).  Check out a synopsis of this new book on her site:  http://www.lucychristopher.com/flyaway.  Also, I had the great honor of meeting Christopher at the ALA (American Library Association Conference) in New Orleans in June.  She hinted that she is now working on a new book that will be "darker" and more like Stolen.  

Recommended for Grades 9-12.  
Click here to purchase: Amazon