A Recommended Summer Read from
Vanity Fair * New York Post * BBC

The riveting story of a woman convicted of a brutal crime, the prison psychologist who recognizes her as his high-school crush—and the charged reunion that sets off an astonishing chain of events with dangerous consequences for both

As an inmate psychologist at a state prison, Frank Lundquist has had his fair share of surprises. But nothing could possibly prepare him for the day in which his high school object of desire, Miranda Greene, walks into his office for an appointment. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan private practice and landed him in his unglamorous job at Milford Basin Correctional Facility in the first place, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda’s case. But Miranda is just as beguiling as ever, and he’s insatiably curious: how did a beautiful high school sprinter and the promising daughter of a congressman end up incarcerated for a shocking crime? Even more compelling: though Frank remembers every word Miranda ever spoke to him, she gives no indication of having any idea who he is.

Inside the prison walls, Miranda is desperate and despairing, haunted by memories of a childhood tragedy, grappling with a family legacy of dodgy moral and political choices, and still trying to unwind the disastrous love that led to her downfall. And yet she is also grittily determined to retain some control over her fate. Frank quickly becomes a potent hope for her absolution—and maybe even her escape.

Propulsive and psychologically astute, The Captives is an intimate and gripping meditation on freedom and risk, male and female power, and the urges toward both corruption and redemption that dwell in us all.

Miranda Greene may be a broken soul, serving hard time for a brutal crime, but to prison psychologist Frank Lundquist, she is, as ever, his elusive high-school crush. Frank never aspired to be a corrections counselor, but after setbacks in love and work, he has resigned himself to a life of compromises and disappointment. Yet nothing has prepared him for the morning Miranda, his long-ago object of desire—as deeply magnetic as ever—walks into his office at the Milford Basin state prison. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan practice, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda’s case. But he’s insatiably curious: how did the promising daughter of a congressman end up incarcerated for such a shocking offense? Even more compelling: while Frank remembers every word Miranda ever spoke to him, she doesn’t seem to recognize him at all.

Haunted by childhood tragedy and a family legacy of corrupt moral and political choices, still trying to make sense of the disastrous relationship that led to her downfall, Miranda zeroes in on Frank as a potent hope for her absolution—and maybe even her escape. But their charged reunion will set off an astonishing chain of events with dangerous consequences for both.

With breathtaking pace and mesmerizing style, Debra Jo Immergut lures readers into a wildly suspenseful and psychologically astute exploration of male and female power. The Captives is an intimate and riveting meditation on the knife-edge balances between passion and authority, freedom and peril, and the urges toward both corruption and redemption that dwell in us all.

“Not a word is out of place in The Captives. What a rare gift. If you’re a reader looking for a multidimensional thriller with exceptional characterization, watertight prose, and a wealth of uncomfortable, fascinating ideas about family and identity, Debra Jo Immergut has, at long last, written one for you.”