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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (m) Magson, A. 2016 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Hello, Nancy.
You're at your usual locker at Fitness Plus. The time is 09:15.
Your cell phone is dead, your home phone won't answer and your daughter, Beth, is home with the nanny.
It will take you 18 minutes to get home. If you drive fast.
Shame. You're already 18 minutes late...
The kidnappers' only stipulation is that Nancy musttell her husband, Michael.
Her only problem is, she doesn't know where he is. But she recalls him mentioning a number she should call if anything unusual happens. This triggers a Code Red at specialist security company Cruxys Solutions, who send investigators Ruth Gonzales and Andy Vaslik to track him down.
But they can't find a single trace of him.
What do you do when a child's life depends on finding a man who doesn't seem to exist?
Praise:
"Readers who enjoy Harlan Coben and Joseph Finder will happily get lost in the nightmare presented here."--Booklist
"[An] intriguing and inventive plot."--Mystery Scene
"Magson is arguably one of the most entertaining writers of British spy fiction currently operating. His novels are sharp and exciting, with intelligent plots and interesting characters."--Deadly Pleasures
"Gonzalez and Vaslik make an appealingly mismatched investigative unit."--Kirkus Reviews
Author Notes
Adrian Magson(UK) is the author of the Harry Tate novels, the Lucas Rocco novels, and the Marc Portman novels. He is a member of the International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, and has been short-listed for the CWA Debut Dagger and the East Midlands Book Awards. Adrian writes two regular columns for Writing Magazine. Visit him online at www.adrianmagson.com.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
The safe return of a kidnapped child hinges on her aid-worker father, whose international ties might not be as altruistic as they first appear. When a note appears in Nancy Hardman's suburban London gym locker warning her that her 4-year-old, Beth, has been kidnapped, she thinks it's a sick joke. But when she goes home and finds Beth and the Polish nanny, Tiggi, gone, Nancy knows it's for real. Instructed not to call the police but to alert her husband, Michael, a charity worker in Africa, she calls Cruxys Solutions, the number Michael left for her in case of emergencies. The shadowy firmthey're like an insurance agency "only we sort out situations, we don't pay out claims"sends Ruth Gonzalez, an ex-copper, and Andy Vaslik, an American kidnapping specialist with former ties to the Department of Homeland Security, to investigate. From the start, the pair senses something isn't right: Nancy is too calm, and her claim that Michael is in an unknown corner of Africa working for an unknown charity organization doesn't track. Magson (Close Quarters, 2015, etc.) does an able job setting up the interlocking world of international espionage and the global war on terroreveryone from Mossad to al-Qaida might be involved!but Nancy is at best a caricature of a frantic mother who refuses to believe her husband is anything other than a saint, and Beth might as well be a doll for all the empathy she generates on the page. What's most compelling here is not what's lost but who's been sent in to find it: Gonzalez and Vaslik make an appealingly mismatched investigative unit. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Nancy finds a note in her locker at the gym telling her that her daughter's been taken; to notify her husband, Michael; and not call the police. She has no idea where her husband is, but she remembers him telling her in case of an emergency to call a certain number and tell them Code Red. The number leads to Cruxys Solutions, a private security firm specializing in kidnappings in drug-war-torn countries and other security issues. Michael works for various charities in many of these countries as well as in the Middle East. Nancy texts her husband, as instructed, then calls Cruxys. The action speeds up as the security officers find several irregularities in Nancy's story and dig deeper. Magson takes the suburban thriller overseas and gives it a good twist. Readers who enjoy Harlan Coben and Joseph Finder will happily get lost in the nightmare presented here.--Alesi, Stacy Copyright 2015 Booklist