WITHOUT YOU
Saskia Sarginson
Platypus

In my book, kidnapping and imprisoning a young female is more a subject for an R18 programme on a TV channel. But then I'm not in the business of writing and selling books.

Narrated by the victim, her younger sister, and a third person, the action takes place in 1984 on the Suffolk coast in England.

Eva is presumed drowned after her father's boat capsized. But there's no body, a sure signal for the coastline to be searched, including the environs of a nearby island crowded with World War 2 defensive fortifications. But no, the storyline presumes everyone is too stupid to look under their noses. Only younger sister Faith believes Eva is alive.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Mum descends into zombie-like despair, Dad has eyes for the nasty au pair, while Faith proves her nobility by befriending a black boy who lives at the local motor camp.

Will Eva, chained up by Billy in a deep underground hole, half-naked and lousy, fed on shellfish and whatever her kidnapper can smuggle ''home'' from the on-shore shops, survive?

Uneven and, at times, unbelievable plotting, mostly unsympathetic characters, occasional mistakes in continuity, but without doubt, sure to be a big seller.

- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.