Captive by Timothy Allen Smith

Mark O'Connor has just buried his mother. The next night he and his wife Amber have tickets to the theater. Amber doesn't know that Mark intends to confront the father that deserted him and his mother. Lisa Woodward and her boyfriend Walter, also have tickets to the theater that night. Lisa would love for their relationship to culminate in marriage but Walter is not ready to commit. In the lobby Walter and Lisa and Mark and Amber have a confrontation. Before anything can be settled they are all taken captive and put in a basement room with five other people. For Mark and Amber everything is black and white with no wiggle room. Everyone else in the room sees things with shades of gray. This causes some hostility as they each try to deal with what is happening to them and try to survive. This book was a real page turner. Not only do you have the whole hostage story but along with it is a theme of prejudice and hostility by some of the captives. It shows how some people in our society today are rigid and unbending. It also shows that others have a spirit of compassion and acceptance. Though a lot of the focus of the book are on the four people already mentioned there are five others in that room each with a story of their own. Eleodora and her daughter Lena, Eleodora put her daughter before herself and trusted in her faith. Robert who abandoned his wife and son because of his gay lifestyle and who now meets his adult son in Mark. Toshia and her brother Dexter who lost their parents and at 18 Toshia became her brother's guardian. Thought provoking book that makes you wonder how you would react in the same situation. This book is very apropos for this day and time. Mr. Smith tells a masterful story that makes you want more and will have you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next book.