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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Stable by Kate Gemma

3.5 stars rounded up
TW: kidnap/abduction, minor incidences of torture

Stable is the story of four childhood best friends who as tweens were kidnapped and held captive for three days before being rescued. But it's also the story of the ties that bind us together and what lengths we'll go to to keep our friends safe.

Both Maura and Charlie were raised by a kindly neighborhood grandma, who eventually takes in each of the children, thus tightening their bonds. At the age of 12 or so the four kids were kidnapped when they ran into an abandoned barn for cover from a storm. There they were kept for three days with minimal water and food and when two of the four tried to escape, at different times, they were tortured. Eventually, they are rescued by the town cop and the property owner is sent to prison for the crimes.

Years later, when the children have grown and gone their separate ways, they are called back to town when one of them dies. Mystery surrounds the death and before long there is a disappearance. Maura, our protagonist, is hell-bent on finding her friend and joins the new sheriff in that task.

I enjoyed the story very much and the characters were well fleshed out. Maura is most memorable because she's written as a tough as nails, not gonna take any shit from anyone kind of gal. She sticks up for her guy friends when the sheriff's son, Boyd, bullies them. I loved that about her then, and I loved that she didn't change as an adult.

I subtracted a star because I had the whodunit figured out very quickly and I wasn't terribly fond of the epilogue. Not every story needs to be tidied up so nicely at the end, in my opinion.

Many thanks to the author and Reedsy/Discovery for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Buy this book here. Read this review on Goodreads.

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