DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE by Robin Roe

 

Sayers Wayte is surrounded by riches. He drives a cool car, lives in a mansion, and has money to spend on anything he desires. He loves to party and invite anyone and everyone who is popular. He dates pretty girls. Currently, it is Bria who will be his homecoming dance date. He and his friends get a kick out of bullying the weak kids. A personal favorite is a kid named Evan.

When Sayers decides to skip classes and join a group headed on a field trip, he doesn't know everything about his life will soon change. Opting out of riding the bus, Sayers drives his awesome car instead. On the way home after the field trip his GPS cuts out leaving him stranded on a country road. A stranger offers him a ride, but Sayers doesn't end up at home.

Sayers is kidnapped and taken to a house where he is held captive. No ransom is demanded, instead Sayers is held by a man who claims to be his father. Fear convinces Sayers to buy into this new reality. Chained to the bed in his room, he listens to this man named Caleb tell him that he was really kidnapped years ago and subjected to experiments that have scrambled his mind. Time passes as Sayers begins to forget what his real life was like. At one point the man even brings home a girl named Penny, who despite her own fear, provides comfort and hope that Sayers might eventually escape.

Based on research about traumatized youth, author Robin Roe has created a psychological thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy readers despite the book's 500 page length. This is a great one for reading on a cold winter afternoon.