Kim V. reviewed on + 54 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Winning the mega-million jackpot lottery is for most people a far fetched dream. It is fun, however, to daydream about how one would spend the money. Winning the jackpot can also be a winners' worst nightmare. Still I can't recall a family that was subjected to a more terrorizing experience than the Boatwrights in George Dawes Green's Ravens.
If you don't accept the existence of the Stockholm Syndrome then you will probably be incredulous of the behavior of the Boatwright family in Ravens. Objectively, there are several windows of opportunity in the novel where the Boatwrights, the family held captive by Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko, could have fled their captors or exposed them. To understand why they didn't one must, in part, accept that the Stockholm Syndrome exists.
The recent liberation of Jaycee Duggard, who was held captive for 18 years and apparently bore children fathered by the male alleged captor, appears to be yet the latest victim of the Stockholm Syndrome. Patty Hearst is another famous example of a victim who bonded with her captors. While we all like to think that we would have done better and why didn't these victims just flee when they had a few minutes alone, the Stockholm Syndrome is a real psychological malady.
Another factor why the Boatwright family remained under the thumbs of their captors is the character Shaw McBride. He is portrayed as a messianic figure along the lines of Jim Jones. With pledges to give away his millions and words of love, McBride garners a flock of apostles including to varying degrees the Boatwrights.
Ravens is an edge of the seat thriller that won't disappoint (so long as you accept certain premises).
If you don't accept the existence of the Stockholm Syndrome then you will probably be incredulous of the behavior of the Boatwright family in Ravens. Objectively, there are several windows of opportunity in the novel where the Boatwrights, the family held captive by Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko, could have fled their captors or exposed them. To understand why they didn't one must, in part, accept that the Stockholm Syndrome exists.
The recent liberation of Jaycee Duggard, who was held captive for 18 years and apparently bore children fathered by the male alleged captor, appears to be yet the latest victim of the Stockholm Syndrome. Patty Hearst is another famous example of a victim who bonded with her captors. While we all like to think that we would have done better and why didn't these victims just flee when they had a few minutes alone, the Stockholm Syndrome is a real psychological malady.
Another factor why the Boatwright family remained under the thumbs of their captors is the character Shaw McBride. He is portrayed as a messianic figure along the lines of Jim Jones. With pledges to give away his millions and words of love, McBride garners a flock of apostles including to varying degrees the Boatwrights.
Ravens is an edge of the seat thriller that won't disappoint (so long as you accept certain premises).
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