Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Stockholm by Catherine Steadman #shortstory #psychothriller

Published on by dgkaye

My Sunday Book Review is for Catherine Steadman’s, Stockholm. This is a well written short story book about a two-year married couple – Olivia who is no longer a practicing psychiatrist and her thoracic cardio surgeon husband, Sebastian, who holds the power over his wife in this psychological and manipulative tale. This book is also part of a collaborated author series with individual short stories. I have read Steadman’s books before and enjoyed, so I was interested in a short story by her.

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Blurb:

An extravagant anniversary trip turns into a desperate scramble for survival in an unsettling short story about desire, manipulation, and revenge by a New York Times bestselling author.

Psychiatrist Olivia Cole is a shell of herself after only two years with her tyrannical husband, the outwardly perfect Sebastian. On their two-year anniversary, she’s subjected to one power move too many when Sebastian whisks her away on a surprise trip—first to the charming capital of Sweden, then to an unexpected final destination. Miles from home and help, the only way for Olivia to wrest back control of her life is to give Sebastian an even bigger, shocking surprise.

Stockholm by Catherine Steadman is part of Getaway, a collection of six stories about dream escapes that take unimaginable, even sinister, turns. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single sitting.

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My Five Star Review:

This was an interesting short read. I think this story could have definitely been a full novel. The storyline is intriguing and kept me turning the pages, and because it’s a short story there is definitely a lot of meat to the story that brings us to the now that we can’t possibly learn about in a short story. But the author does a fine job with her breadcrumbs of ‘incidents of past’ woven in through the story. We know these two characters are married for two years. They both had/have power jobs. Somehow, despite her attraction to her husband, their relationship turned into more of something like – a captor and his captive. The destination may be Stockholm, Sweden, but the situation is definitely akin to Stockholm Syndrome.

Olivia had previously gone through a miscarriage that sent off a flood of hormones and post- partum depression. While her life became chaotic, her husband took the reins and kept them tightly held. He coddled her then became authoritative of her life. In this story Sebastian is taking his wife to Sweden, but there is a surprise destination. Has Seb planned to take his wife to cold seclusion ??? Olivia has had no power over Seb, but decides she isn’t going to take it anymore. Once in their glass cabin, Olivia decides it’s now or never to make her escape.

A very dark story about possession, manipulation, and domestic abuse. And I loved it.

©DGKaye2023

39 thoughts on “Sunday Book Review – Stockholm by Catherine Steadman #shortstory #psychothriller”

  2. It sounds great, and, as you say, there seems to be enough material for a full novel. I haven’t read this author before, Debby, so I’m going to explore further. Thanks for the recommendation and happy Sunday.

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  6. “Stockholm Syndrome.”… Now that does sound more than a little sinister lol.. lets hope she breaks the cycle of control and abuse.. 🙂
    Sounds an intriguing book read.. Have a relaxing Sunday Debby xx

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  15. When I first saw the title of this post, Debby, I wondered if the story was referring to Stockholm Syndrome. Then you talked about the tie-in! It does sound like a good read. Thanks for telling us about it!

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