Above

Above

By Isla Morley

Publication Date March 4 2014

Where does a will to live turn into madness?  When is it excusable to take away another’s right to freedom in order to save their life?

Above is a dramatic look at an “End times” survivalist who is very serious about his beliefs.  The reader can see first hand the effects of his beliefs on others.

How can you live life if you wake up every morning to your worst nightmare?  How do you know who is lying, who has your best interests at heart – who is protecting you and whose ideas of reality are so skewed as to be harmful?  What if someone’s idea of safety is another’s idea of torture? 

Ms. Morley tells a story in first person through the eyes of Blythe who has no reason to doubt those in authority.  As Blythe looks back through her life, she writes of her kidnapping and imprisonment in a Kansas silo.  The reader experiences with Blythe the day-to-day reality of complete isolation.  Ms. Morley is able to capture the mind of the teenage girl and her struggle in a nightmarish situation as the character deals with boredom, hatred, anger and the unending battle to escape.  

Suddenly Blythe has more to fight for than just her own freedom and sanity.  She must fight for her child as well through health along with the growing independence the child demands.  Is the world above them everything they dream of or is it a nightmare all it’s own? 

The narrative style of the author is well suited to show the many sides of this story.

Attention to details such as current events and well-known publications make the reading believable and more frightening. 

Above shakes beliefs of what is evil and what is good.  Perhaps there is a dose of each in every action. Blythe must find her own freedom – freedom from the silo and freedom from her past while attempting to forgive the unforgivable. 

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