Captive

Themes of humanity and love are not explored so much as dissected in this amoral fable, Dumont’s confident debut novel. Emma, a depressed and isolated young woman, is well into her nightly routine of tequila, TV, and spiritual torpor when what at first seems to be a nightmare of intruders and a futile struggle ends with her waking up in a locked concrete chamber. Although she is drugged nightly, she soon realizes that she has become the subject of experiments by her unseen captors. A second prisoner later appears in her room. Julian is very different from Emma, and they can’t agree on how to cope with being “lab rats.” As each ordeal proves more inhumane than the last, they are drawn together against their common enemy. Moving between sensory overload and deprivation, Dumont maintains suspense throughout. Though the text does not revel in horror, this is not a novel for the weak-stomached. The simplicity of Dumont’s phrasing, reflective of Emma’s outlook, works well for a book of this length and style, A few particulars are underdeveloped—the backstories of the main characters, the final twist—but the world within their prison is stark and tense and makes for a satisfying page-turner. (May)