Imagine the year is 2088. Your world and everyone you know and love has been stolen from you in one catastrophic moment.
Such is the case in Jill Williamson’s heart-pounding new novel, Captives (Zondervan). The Replication author delivers an enthralling account of what happens to 17-year-old Mason, his younger brother, Omar, and their older brother, Levi, who live in the humble village of Glenrock.
Just when the family is preparing for Levi’s marriage, and the arranged engagements of Mason and Omar, their lives are rattled with the ambush and virtual decimation of their town by members of the Safe Lands, a walled-in world that may not be as safe as its claim. Only Levi is spared, having been sent on a wild goose chase by Omar prior to the event.
The survivors of the attack, including Mason and Levi’s fiancée, Jemma, are taken and become hostages in this foreign place where technological advances and the search for pleasure have created a culture based on entertainment, fashion and a unique caste system.
As they struggle to adapt to their new surroundings, the reason for their capture emerges: the Safe Lands needs outsiders in order to reproduce, and each female abductee must become a “surrogate” and bear children to keep the curiously barren wasteland populated.
To their dismay, the captives learn it was Omar who “donated” them to the Safe Lands, having thought the new place would better their lives. Plus, in exchange for his “donors,” the Safe Lands enforcers promised him power and wealth, two things he never had in Glenrock.
It is up to Levi to infiltrate the Safe Lands and try to rescue his loved ones.
Meanwhile, Mason befriends a scientist who offers him a job in the lab. Can he use his new position to keep the Glenrock people safe?
Though Omar tries to assimilate into this new culture full of excess and boundless temptation, he soon regrets his betrayal. Will Levi and Mason be able to trust him enough for him to help them all escape before it’s too late?
With the intriguing plot of Captives, Williamson continues to display her ability to take on a multi-layered futuristic narrative filled with suspense, philosophical messages and teenage candor similar to that in the popular Hunger Games trilogy. She deftly pens a tale that will stay with readers long after the last page.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alaska-born Jill Williamson is an award-winning novelist. Her debut novel, By Darkness Hid (Marcher Lord Press), won the 2010 Christy Award and was named one of VOYA’s Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Books of 2009. In 2012, she released the popular futuristic novel, Replication. Williamson also hosts blog tours for other YA authors, and conducts writing workshops at libraries, schools, camps, and churches. She lives in John Jay, Oregon, with her husband and two children.