Book #58 – A King’s Ransom

Most books don’t bother me, but reading A King’s Ransom makes me never want to travel to South America. It’s not linked to any other of the Grippando novels that I know of. It starts with an American fisherman, the owner of multiple boats in Columbia working on purchasing new boats. He’s kidnapped, with some of his men killed.

Back in the US, his son, a lawyer at a prominent firm, learns of the kidnappnig and tries to involve the FBI. When he learns that they won’t get involved unless he helps them determine if his father is a drug smuggler, he doesn’t know where to turn.

Until he finds out that his father had kidnapping and ransom insurance. It seems like things are going well until his coverage is denied, and he’s fired from his job. In typical mystery/thrilled fashion, we are led down a path, hope seems lost, and we alternate the struggles of his father in captivity, with the son learning more about his father and trying to track down a way to pay the ransom.

It’s a better ending, in my opinion, than some of the other Grippando’s, and the pace picks up nicely at the end, with a quick ending and then an epilogue. However it was the author’s notes, talking about kidnapping and how prevalent it is in South America that’s kind of disturbing. I kept thinking how hard it would be for my kids if I were gone, or the anguish if they were kidnapped.