'The Captive' by Ned Beauman writing as Kit Burgoyne

6 November 2025

Ned Beauman is one of my favourite contemporary authors: I have enjoyed all his novels, with ‘The Teleportation Accident’ (reviewed here in July 2013) and ‘Madness is Better Than Defeat’ (reviewed here in October 2017) my particular favourites. I was intrigued to discover that Ned Beauman’s new novel ‘The Captive’ is written under the pseudonym Kit Burgoyne. Reviews have suggested that this signals a shift of genre into fantasy/horror but I found ‘The Captive’ (which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Sam Stafford) remarkably similar in tone to Beauman’s earlier novels. It was wonderful to rediscover his very careful, precise, and incredibly funny writing. I’m not sure I would describe ‘The Captive’ as horror: though there is some rather graphic satanic violence, the book feels more like a thriller - its kidnap plot gripping from the opening scene. The gradual introduction of supernatural elements to an otherwise accurately described present-day London reminded me of the magical realism of David Mitchell’s brilliant novel 'The Bone Clocks' (reviewed here in October 2014). The plot to expose and topple a mysterious, evil family who seem to control all of Britain’s public services reminded me of ‘What a Carve Up’ by Jonathan Coe. But despite these multiple elements, I think ‘The Captive’ is actually Ned Beauman’s most straightforward novel - a scary pacy thriller with a linear narrative that doesn’t outstay its welcome and comes to a proper conclusion.