Emily And The Ransom

A businessman is kidnapped. The kidnappers leave no trail. Months pass without the police having a lead. Emily, a precocious 16-year old girl who has a volunteer job at the local police station where her father is a detective, gets involved in the investigation. In the cruel atmosphere of a cat-and-mouse game, Emily tries to piece together a picture of the kidnappers and where they might be hiding. Before long, she is deeper involved than she ever thought possible. Emily's Dad teaches her the psychology behind kidnapping and terrorism. During a series of phone conversations with the victim s wife, the kidnapper reveals information that, by Emily s interpretation, enables the police to identify who the kidnapper is. Yet, he remains elusive and everyone s patience is tested to the limit. The story intensifies when Emily has to make a life-or-death gamble during the chilling negotiation about the ransom, and it comes to a climax when she uses herself as bait to nab the kidnapper. Besides the plot itself, the underlying theme is Emily's personal development and growing independence as she faces new challenges.

TORBEN RIISE, a native of Denmark, holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and an MBA in business economy. He has a 20-year long career as a business executive. Besides being a prolific writer, he was a sought after speaker at international conferences, and has appeared in numerous radio and TV programs in his native country.From the mid-70s to the mid-80s, Torben wrote, co-authored and edited half a dozen books and bi-weekly articles for Denmarks largest daily business newspaper and science magazines, all related to scientific and ethical issues. Also in the 80s, Torben co-produced and wrote part of the lyrics for locally produced musicals in Denmark. Since 1995, he has turned to fiction writing. His first two books, Emily and The Arab Letter (teen fiction) and The Eyes of the Sphinx (philosophical fiction) were both published in 2001.The third Emily title, Emily and The Outback Mystery (working title) in a planned series of Emily novels is in progress as is the biotech novel The SNIPS (scheduled for release in fall of 2003).