Review: The Hostage

The Hostage by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

 The pan on the stove caught fire at the precise instant that Tom Silver came into the house. He looked tired, his face and hands chapped by the wind, but he moved swiftly toward the blaze. Deborah was quicker, dumping some of the hot water from the potatoes onto the fire even as Tom shouted, “Don’t do that!” In a split second, she understood why. Some alchemy between water and burning fat made the flames flare even higher, licking black tongues of soot onto the ceiling. Swearing, Tom grabbed the frying pan and rushed outside with it. She heard more cursing, then silence. 

He returned, holding the pan with the charred fish in it. “I take it supper’s ready,” he said. 

Look, I'm a goofball for scenes like this, fish out of water trying because they like the person they're trying to impress/show value to. 

Anyway, I didn't plan on writing a review for this but I play enough bingo games that I can't let the chance to call this one out go by, there are a good amount of little additives that could help someone for a hard to find square. 

The gist is Deborah is a spoiled Gilded Age princess living in Chicago. She grew-up with her clawed his way to the top father, her mother dying when she was young. She's engaged to a low level aristocrat, which is the one thing her father's money can't buy and he's ecstatic that he's going to get into those societal rooms through Deborah's marriage. Except, Deborah's fiancé rapes her (there is a scene at the end where Deborah has a flashback to the moment as she works through her guilt, blame, and understanding that yes it was rape, for content warning), and she goes to her father to tell him that she won't marry him. Unfortunately, for Deborah, she picks the night that Tom comes for revenge. Deborah's father owned a mine that with poor regulation, ended up killing a bunch of people, one who was Tom's adopted son, and he's decided to come kill the dad. Unfortunately for Tom, he picks the night of the Great Chicago Fire. 

The first 25% of this was Deborah and Tom trying to escape the fire and I liked a book that delved a decent amount into the, beginning, of the Chicago Fire. Unfortunately, the first half of this was kind of rough getting started, Deborah the spoiled “princess”, Tom the big meanie, and a smoke smelling doggy. Fortunately, the second half came on better with Deborah's fish out of water learning and trying and Tom's reluctant liking of her gumption and falling for her. The latter ending half where Deborah is working through her pain about the rape also has Tom being supportive in a good hero way, too. But what really made this stand out was the possible different bingo square elements I mentioned. 

The Chicago Fire 

Sault Sainte Marie, and going through the Soo Locks 

Mostly, takes place in the Greak Lakes region on an island 

Tom does kidnap her 

President Grant! 

Pinkerton's detecting around 

Tom runs his own Trading Post 

He also fought for the Union and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor 

But also importantly, While he worked at his bookkeeping, he wore delicate gold wire-rimmed spectacles. He wears glasses to read! 

Deborah learns how to gut a fish 

The Soo Locks and a heroine gutting a fish, not something you read everyday

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