Five weeks, three days, ten hours - that’s how long it’s been since twenty three year old Alessia Cenci has gone missing, aka kidnapped. Andrew Douglas, partner, Liberty Market Ltd, an insurance company, where he is adviser on kidnappings - is the man sent to bring back the young jockey and deliver the ransom, in Bologna, Italy. He is suave, collected and clever, making him the perfect negotiator in ransom cases, within the ‘circles’, he is looked upon with respect for his many successes. When Alessia, one of the best female jockeys in the world, is kidnapped, as she drives home in her expensive sports car - he is the obvious weapon of choice, selected to get her back - alive. After he does so successfully, his services are sought once more when the three year old son of a derby winner is abducted while he plays innocently on a South Coast Beach and the senior steward of the Jockey Club goes missing as he drives to a press reception in Baltimore.
On further investigation it is revealed that the kidnapper, though making all three incidents look independent, is actually the same person - a serial abductor, and while it may seem to the reader that Andrew is sometimes tailing a wild goose, yet he is on the right track, one which spans England, Italy and America! Andrew is pitted against Giuseppe, aka Peter, a cold blooded, elusive and wily European kidnapper, whose favorite prey are people associated with the racing circuit. Paradoxically, Giuseppe is actually from a wealthy family, and has fallen out with his father, and may have walked down the path of crime because he is in dire straits!
The book was written in 1983, a period fraught with kidnappings, which were the most favored modus operandi of criminals - they were ruthless, violent and lacking all human emotion - the abductors were able to put the fear of God not just in the victims and their families, but were also able to capture popular public imagination with vile apprehensions and forebodings of who could be next? Given this background, the story begins in Italy, a country no stranger to high profile kidnappings and unsuccessful police attempts to prevent them or to rescue victims. Even after the kidnapping of the little boy in England, the UK police seem adamant to do things their own way, endanger the child’s life. It is only the Americans who exercise caution and cooperation with Andrew, understanding the dangers of the odds stacked against them.
The technology and some of the settings may seem jaded in the twenty first century, yet the novel is gripping, taking an emotional look into survivors; for instance, Alessia is unable to commit to a relationship after the kidnapping, given that she is mistrustful of the intentions of men. There is the sign of blossoming of a relationship towards the end of the story, though with Andrew. Typically Francis, it is a good thing that comes in too late in the book!
An equine thrill to entertain you on a journey or weekend afternoon, with the interesting perspective that when all else fails, and if the kidnappers don’t want you to call the police- rely on an external agency that can chalk out the best deal for you!
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On further investigation it is revealed that the kidnapper, though making all three incidents look independent, is actually the same person - a serial abductor, and while it may seem to the reader that Andrew is sometimes tailing a wild goose, yet he is on the right track, one which spans England, Italy and America! Andrew is pitted against Giuseppe, aka Peter, a cold blooded, elusive and wily European kidnapper, whose favorite prey are people associated with the racing circuit. Paradoxically, Giuseppe is actually from a wealthy family, and has fallen out with his father, and may have walked down the path of crime because he is in dire straits!
The book was written in 1983, a period fraught with kidnappings, which were the most favored modus operandi of criminals - they were ruthless, violent and lacking all human emotion - the abductors were able to put the fear of God not just in the victims and their families, but were also able to capture popular public imagination with vile apprehensions and forebodings of who could be next? Given this background, the story begins in Italy, a country no stranger to high profile kidnappings and unsuccessful police attempts to prevent them or to rescue victims. Even after the kidnapping of the little boy in England, the UK police seem adamant to do things their own way, endanger the child’s life. It is only the Americans who exercise caution and cooperation with Andrew, understanding the dangers of the odds stacked against them.
The technology and some of the settings may seem jaded in the twenty first century, yet the novel is gripping, taking an emotional look into survivors; for instance, Alessia is unable to commit to a relationship after the kidnapping, given that she is mistrustful of the intentions of men. There is the sign of blossoming of a relationship towards the end of the story, though with Andrew. Typically Francis, it is a good thing that comes in too late in the book!
An equine thrill to entertain you on a journey or weekend afternoon, with the interesting perspective that when all else fails, and if the kidnappers don’t want you to call the police- rely on an external agency that can chalk out the best deal for you!
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