Stuart James – Stranded

‘Stranded’ by Stuart James is the book everyone needs to read! This month! I have previously read and taken part in The House On Rectory Lane blog tour and that book alone blew me away, so I was hoping against hope that The Stranded could live up to that. Well, let me tell you this is such a dark, intense and really scary story that I almost needed to read it during the day.

Ben, Laura and their daughter Millie are off to Gatwick airport so they can go on their family holiday to Barcelona. They chose not to get there on the motorway and go the scenic route through the countryside. On the way, they are stopped by a man in high vis, who tells them a. alternative route due to a tree blocking the road ahead. They follow his advised route until they come across a bus stopped and blocking the road. They wait for the bus to move and finally, when it doesn’t Ben goes to investigate and wishes he never opened his car door.

What ensues is a nightmare of the highest order from here on in! He finds the coach has people on board but they are all tied up and gagged. As he enters the bus a telephone rings so Ben answers… the caller is very clear – he has a game plan and a total of eight passengers and they are alive but, they may not live for long. Ben has to help him and any change in following the instructions, including trying to raise the alarm, will result in death. As the story unfolds we start to learn more about each of the passengers, including the missing ones, and what exactly they all did to be a part of this twisted plan. To be honest, maybe some should not live anyway, not all are nice people in the first place. We also find out about the kidnapper himself and just what has happened to cause him to even think of this terrible plan, never mind to take it to this point! Ben knows this is ten million miles away from his relaxing holiday and it will be one hell of a long night for all.

This is so cleverly written and it is released at the perfect time of the year, a thriller that almost crosses genre to a horror, yes it is that sick and twisted! The characters are excellent. We have the unlikeable ones who I immediately wanted dead, especially when I read their backstories.

This is no in-between book at all, you are gonna love it or hate it. The nasty characters make the story so much more, do they deserve to die or not? Read and see.

Ben and his family are truly way braver than I ever would be. I would have been turning around as quickly as possible! A spectacular conclusion that I didn’t see coming and the twists and turns are awesome, for sure.

Thanks to Sarah Hardy at Books On The Bright Side and Stuart James for my copy of the book for my review of this terrific book today.