'Survivor' by J.F. Gonzalez

[lenny nero]

From the book description:

It is supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway. Lisa is looking forward to spending time alone with her husband—and telling him that they are going to have a baby. Instead, it becomes a nightmare when her husband is arrested and Lisa is kidnapped. But the kidnappers aren’t asking for ransom. They want Lisa herself. They’re going to make her a star—in a snuff film.

What they have in mind for Lisa is unspeakable. They plan to torture and murder her as graphically and brutally as possible, and to capture it all on film. If they have their way, Lisa’s death will be truly horrifying…but even more horrifying is what Lisa will do to survive.…

This may be the most disturbing piece of fiction that I've ever read. I thought that I was pretty jaded, having read Ketchum's The Girl Next Door and Lee and Steffen's Portrait of the Psychopath as a Young Woman, but I was wrong. This one disturbed me more than those. I might dismiss this as exploitative if it hadn't been written so well and addressed so much and so well the why's of the darkest human nature.

The author said this on another message board:

As far as underlying messages or intent, well, the intent was to hold up a mirror to the reader. Many readers report being bothered by this book. It's supposed to bother you. By making you feel empathy toward Lisa, the main character, so much to the effect that when she makes the choices she makes, most readers are bothered by it because they feel if they were in a similar position they might react the same way and are ashamed because of it. I wanted to pose the question, how far would you go to save the life of a loved one? More important, would you be able to live with yourself knowing the choice you made?

This was originally published as a small press trade but now Leisure has put it out in mass market paperback. I would recommend to fans of Ketchum and Lee. You've been warned.