Precious Amber
by James Fuller
A Review
There is a little story (when isn't there) regarding my obtaining this book. My story today starts with me following James Fuller on Twitter. At the time, I wasn't focused on the fact that he wrote books, but more on the fact that he had a cool Twitter page – side note, I follow people on Twitter based on their tweets and profiles. If I follow someone, it means I think they seem cool.
Anyway, I saw a tweet saying that his book Tealock was on offer, and who am I to pass up a free book? (I have so many books on my eReader that I haven't read, I have an issue – I see a free book, I get it. You understand.) Obviously, this is not a review for Tealock, because it was recommended to read Precious Amber first, as Tealock is a prequel. So I decided to treat myself, and I bought Precious Amber. (I will say, at this point, I had already downloaded Tealock, so getting Precious Amber seemed essential.)
Now, my favourite types of movies are horrors and thrillers. I love the tension, especially when done well. This hasn't quite moved into my reading preferences yet, because my bank account would cry if I start buying too many more books, but you see where I'm going. I set the scene, it was cold, so I curled up with a blanket, a cup of hot tea in my hand, and picked up my eReader.
I didn't move all evening – at least until I had finished it.
Once again, I'm going to introduce the book before I get into my review. Here we go!
I have watched her from afar since the day she was born… I knew from the moment my eyes spied her that she was the one… the one I needed, the one I have searched for so very long. My careful planning and sacrifices would all be worth it when she was finally mine. She will not disappoint me like the others, for she is Precious...
Betrayed, taken, confused and almost utterly alone, six-year-old Amber Rose struggles against her kidnapper. A man she once called a friend is now her deranged keeper. Stripped of anything resembling normal, locked in a room, Amber struggles in a physical and psychological war with her kidnapper, and with herself, as the abuse and manipulation for control begin…
The case of Amber Rose hits too close to home for Police Captain Charles Milton, bringing out an obsessive need to bring Amber home no matter what the cost to himself, or others. But will his determination be enough to find her in time?
Now onto my review!
If the one thing I wanted was to feel tension, I definitely felt it. Amber is just six years old when she is kidnapped, and with multiple points of view, we not only see Amber's perspective, we also see the police officers working tirelessly to find her and, more disturbingly, the perspective of her kidnapper.
I think that Amber's age is what made this book even more intense – she is so young, not old enough to understand what's going on, or why such a thing has happened to her. In simple words, she is brainwashed by her kidnapper, you could even use the word trained. If she listens, she is rewarded, she gets toys, a nice room, food. If she doesn't, she is starved and beaten. Throughout the novel, you can see her internal debate as to whether to listen to her kidnapper or not. She learns quickly that she must listen, do as she is told, and catches herself in moments when she seems to accept what has happened, when she feels joy and then quickly remembers why she shouldn't. But should she? Had she been rescued, like her kidnapper had told her? If he was lying, why hadn't her parents come for her yet? It was chilling to see her slowly adjust to her circumstances, in the way that her kidnapper set up, to teach her the new way of thinking, of acting.
Alongside Amber's perspective, we follow Captain Charles Milton of the Cedar Falls police department. He takes the case incredibly personally, becoming more and more involved as the search continues and no evidence comes to light. There is no trail to follow and Amber's life is at stake – for all anyone knows, she could already be dead. His dedication to the case gets him in trouble, in the police department and with the people around him, especially so with his wife. He's barely at home and amidst the panic that another day, another week, has gone by with no signs pointing to Amber's whereabouts, his marriage is falling apart. He pushes his personal life to the side to focus on finding Amber. Watching the other side of the story, from the perspective of someone trying desperately, grasping at the thinnest straws, to try and track Amber down was a fabulous addition to the story, as it reminds you that this is all happening in the real world, where people fight with their partners, where people betray you and where people go into cafes so regularly that they know what their order is before they even sit down. You can't distance yourself from the fact that this is happening in the world that we live in, because Charles Milton is there to remind you and that fact is terrifying.
I am the type of person who narrows in on grammar mistakes and punctuation errors and I won't say that there were none in this book. There were a couple of instances where I had to do a double take on a word, because it was obviously not the correct one, but one very similar to what was meant. Having said that, however, the story was good enough for me to overlook these, because I couldn't tear myself away from this book and I will likely be reading it again very soon.
I wrote this on the same day as I read the book and, I must say, I am very excited to sit down tomorrow and read Tealock, because it is just sitting in my eReader, begging me to click it and sit down for a couple of hours. Unfortunatly, I don't have time to do so right now, so I'm going to have to wait!
Bye!
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