DEAD EASY

When Jean Stockton, a South Florida housewife, is abducted by psychopath Donald Stanley and Stanley's prostitute girlfriend, Robert Stockton calls in the FBI. National ad/promo.

YA-- Donald Stanley, always considered a loser, is determined to become a winner-- but the trouble is he plans to excel at the game of ransom and hostage-taking. His victim is 36-year-old Jean Stockton, mother of 3 teenagers and wife of a successful businessman. Abruptly, their world changes as their tormentor puts forth the rules of his game in order to collect $250,000. He insists on the aid of an accomplice, Mona, whom he bullies into doing some of the riskier steps in the kidnapping. Stanley is an abusive character, and both women are victims of this abuse. Because of the violence, some YAs will find parts of the book unsettling, but it is indeed secondary to the plot and characterizations. Readers who enjoy adventure will find this thriller enthralling.
- Diane Goheen, Topeka West High School Library, KS
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Criminal lawyer Nehrbass, formerly commander of the Miami Police Organized Crime Bureau and a special agent of the FBI, turns in a shockingly realistic debut novel only occasionally marred by stiff prose . Floridian Robert Stockton's nightmare begins when a phone call to his office informs him that his wife, Jean, has been kidnapped and brutalized by psychotic--and none too bright--Donald Stanley and Mona Little, Stanley's prostitute girlfriend. Inspired by a TV - movie plot, Donnie leaves a treasure - hunt trail of notes to send Robert racing to deliver the ransom payoff--that same day--with stiff warnings not to contact the police. Frantic to comply, Rob is stymied to find the bank closed and is forced to call in the law. Agent Al Lawrence brings the FBI's formidable personnel and resources to bear on the case. Flustered when Rob doesn't follow his script, Donnie abandons Jean to a gruesome fate, only to be lured back into play by an FBI ruse. The agents' hunts in the isolated tree-farm areas southwest of Miami, their neatly handled cover-your-backside bickering, family dynamics and an unexpected move from Mona are touches that elevates this tale above the conventional psychological thriller.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Florida businessman Robert Stockton leaves his wife, Jean, at home when he goes to work. An hour later his wife's kidnappers call, demanding $250,000 by the end of the day. It's a bank holiday, and Stockton can't get the money. With no way to contact the kidnappers, a panic-stricken Stockton calls the FBI. Special Agent Al Lawrence is known for never having lost a kidnap victim. Determined not to lose one now, he organizes his agents and begins tracking the kidnappers. His team finds Jean staked out in the Everglades, and eventually Lawrence and his partner shoot it out with the kidnappers on a Florida freeway. Written in a spare, taut style, this book takes the reader through a typical FBI investigation of a kidnapping case. This pure police procedural is suitable for most fiction collections.
- Grant A. Fredericksen, Illinois Prairie Dist. P.L., Metamora
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.