King's Ransom, A

Grippando, James

ISBN 10: 0732270405 / ISBN 13: 9780732270407

Published by Harper Collins Publishers, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2001

About this Item

Large softcover, first Australian trade paperback edition, 686gms, 439 pages. Book is in good condition with minor general age-related wear and tear and moderate to heavy page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings.

Seller Inventory # CRIFIC10374

Bibliographic Details

• Title: King's Ransom, A
• Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Sydney, NSW, Australia
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0732270405
• ISBN 13: 9780732270407
• Binding: Large Softcover
• Edition: First Australian Trade Paperback Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket (As Issued)
• Weight: 0.68 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Espionage

About this title

Synopsis

While on business, Matthew Rey is kidnapped. His son goes to the FBI for help, but they have grown suspicious of Matthew. With nowhere to turn, Nick hires a trained negotiator. But Nick soon discovers that the real danger is not kidnappers, but lawyers in their suits.

Review

Miami attorney Nick Rey was perturbed by his fiancée's ocean-side pronouncement that in the future her title should be preceded by "ex-". So perturbed that he barely noticed when, seconds later, a sharp-shooting seagull dropped him another plate of the same. Odd to think that he'd shortly look back on it all as, well, a day at the beach.

Then again, having one's father kidnapped and held for ransom by Columbian revolutionaries will alter one's perspective, as will hearing that the FBI's declined to pursue the matter as they suspect the kidnappee, Matthew Rey, is not a commercial fisherman at all, but a drug smuggler. The state department, citing official policy against paying kidnappers, won't intercede and, oh yes, the insurance company that sold dad his $3,000,000 kidnap-and-ransom policy won't pay up because they think he's as much in cahoots as he is in Cartagena. Nick's sister, Lindsey, who's probably in South America, hasn't been heard from in a month, and his mother's pregnant.

And that's just the starting block as Nick and the beautiful insurance investigator, Alex Cabrera (also a former revolutionary), run waist-deep into pan-American treachery and deceit--and nifty plot twists and surprises--much of it supplied by Nick's own law firm, Coolidge, Harding and Cash.

Throughout A King's Ransom, author and Miami attorney James Grippando deftly balances first-person (Nick's) and third-person (Matthew's) narrative with true-to-life dialogue and characters drawn as well or better than most. It's fast, it's gripping, and it's getting to be a habit with him. Grippando bolted from the starting gate (and, presumably, the courtroom) with 1994's breath-holder The Pardon; if his sixth book in eight years is any indication, he'll neither slow down nor reenter the courtroom for some time to come. --Michael Hudson