Tag Archives: Kidnapping

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Kidnapping
  • Stalking

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

A young woman murdered in a run-down Manhattan hotel. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering sun of Saudi Arabia. A man’s eyes stolen from his living body as he leaves a secret Syrian research laboratory. Smouldering human remains on a mountainside in the Hindu Kush.

A plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity. One thread that binds them all. One man to take the journey.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Torture
  • Terrorism

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Beautiful, flaxen-haired Buttercup has fallen for Westley, the farm boy, and when he departs to make his fortune, she vows never to love another. So when she hears that his ship has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts (no survivors) her heart is broken. But her charms draw the attention of the relentless Prince Humperdinck who wants a wife and will go to any lengths to have Buttercup. So starts a fairy tale like no other, of fencing, poison, true love, hate, revenge, giants, bad men, good men, snakes, spiders, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion and miracles, and … a damn fine story.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Forced marriage
  • Physical, verbal & emotional abuse
  • Nightmares
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide (accidental)
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Blood depiction
  • Scars
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • Loss of autonomy
  • Hunting

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

Utterly unique in its astonishing intimacy, as jarringly frightening as when it first appeared, Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me defies our expectation that we would surely know if a monster lived among us, worked alongside of us, appeared as one of us. With a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page, Rule describes her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He would confess to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast, and was eventually executed for three of those cases

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Rape
  • Necrophilia
  • Suicide
  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Graphic murder
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping
  • Home invasion

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While they were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction without ever lifting a finger. Well, that’s not exactly true. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories. Months later, the world is as confused as ever. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online about the world… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Internalised ableism
  • Blood and graphic physical injury depiction including body horror and body dysmorphia due to prosthetics
  • Hospitalisation
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Gun violence
  • Strangulation
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)
  • Terrorist attacks discussed

Namesake by Adrienne Young

Namesake by Adrienne Young

With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and the rest of the crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when Fable becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination, she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception, she learns that the secrets her mother took to her grave are now putting the people Fable cares about in danger. If Fable is going to save them, then she must risk everything—including the boy she loves and the home she has finally found.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth-century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misgendering (accidental)
  • Panic disorder
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Disappearance and implied death of a wife and daughter (theme)
  • Kidnapping 

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship. More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate, Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & confinement

Sparrow by LJ Shen

Sparrow by L.J. Shen

Troy Brennan. Every southie in Boston knows that name. The son of a dead mobster. The heartthrob with steel-blue eyes. “The Fixer” who can make or break you in this city. Oh, and my new husband. Sparrow Raynes. That’s me. No one seemed to remember my name up until he barged into my life. But then he kidnapped me. And killed every chance I had to runaway from the place where we grew up. Put simply, Troy Brennan clipped my wings. I have dreams, big ones, but I doubt he’d ever let me chase them. I have no idea why he’d decided to take me as his wife. But I do know this: pissing off this man will not do me any good. At all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia mentioned
  • Infidelity (on-page)
  • Kidnapping & captivity

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow. Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction including body horror & amputation
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Death of a child
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death & hunting