It was intense, it was a story of two halves. What came after Ty’s release was quite the gripping, twisty, symbolic rollercoaster ride with Gemma at the wheel. Gemma/Kate was lost somewhere in between factual memories and self-imposed fantasy borne out of survival. We felt so conflicted at times, as we sought the truth between the written lines. We encouraged her to find it, examine it, and receive it. She can’t let go of her version of memories and reflections, and it is clear that she is in desperate need of some kind of closure, whatever that may be. Gemma has never moved on from her harrowing experience, Ty very much dominating her every waking moment. Highlighting the mental health issues derived from her traumatic experience ten years prior. We felt as if we were reading a heartfelt letter inviting us to see and feel the very essence of Gemma Toombs, now known as Kate Stone. Release was written in much the same vein as Stolen, with the added aspect of past and present. Here is why I can’t let you go, why we’re here.’ ‘I wait for you to say you remember – every single moment when we walked together in this land when you showed me the beauty in it and the beauty in you, the beauty in me. Did Gem recover psychologically from her ordeal and escape the clutches of her Stockholm Syndrome, if even that is what it was? And whatever happened to Ty after he sacrificed his freedom in order to save his kidnap victim? We always wanted to know what came after. When we found out that Lucy Christopher was publishing Release a companion novel ten years later, we were beyond excited. It was a book that completely broke us emotionally, where we experienced such problematic emotional reactions to the story of Gem and Ty. Incredibly beautifully written and compelling, it tells the story of sixteen years old Gemma Toombs who was kidnapped and held by her stalker, Tyler McFarlane, in a remote desert in Australia.
Stolen by Lucy Christopher is one of our all-time favourite psychological suspense thrillers. But it was always more complicated, wasn’t it?’ ‘To everyone else, we only had one story: you, the evil kidnapper, and me, the helpless victim.
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