The abduction

Review by Booklist Review

How far will political operatives go to elect their candidate president? In 2000, Grippando suggests, they might go so far as to kidnap candidate Lincoln Howe's granddaughter Kristen. But who took Kristen? Howe's own team? Or those who support his opponent, Attorney General Allison Leahy, whose own daughter was abducted in the early '90s and who needs to decide how involved to become in the search for her opponent's granddaughter?

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The presidential election of 2000 is coming down to the wire in this disappointing thriller, when Democratic candidate (and attorney general) Allison Leahy blows a solid lead by refusing to answer the question whether she's ever been unfaithful to her husband. Just as Republican candidate Lincoln Howe (read: Colin Powell) is about to pull ahead, his granddaughter is kidnapped. Leahy's own newly adopted baby daughter was the victim of a similar crime eight years earlier. Are the abductions linked? Is someone connected to either of the candidates responsible? Those are the questions that never quite propel Grippando's latest, after The Informant. While that novel had a strong narrative engine fueled by insider information on the FBI, this one never hits second gear. Neither Leahy nor Howe seems a particularly worthy candidate or likable person, and the possible villains‘an ex-boyfriend, a pair of conniving campaign managers, Leahy's tough businessman husband‘are equally flat and unconvincing. Author tour. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

A U.S. attorney general running for president must deal with the kidnapping of an opponent's granddaughter. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Woman-in-periler in which the second female US attorney general, who also happens to be the first Democratic female presidential candidate, puts her campaign on hold two weeks before Election Day to rescue the kidnapped granddaughter of her Republican adversary. Thriller-machinist Grippando (The Informant, 1996, etc.) takes us back to 1992, when Emily, the adopted baby daughter of his heroine, the have-it-all, never-lost-a-case, unmarried career prosecutor Allison Leahy, is mysteriously spirited away from her Chicago home. Despite the considerable law enforcement resources available to Leahy, Emily's disappearance remains unsolved as, eight years later, the beautiful, courageous, now-married US attorney general and Democratic presidential hopeful blows a televised debate against her rival, the General Lincoln Howe (a thinly fictionalized Colin Powell), and finds herself slipping in the polls. Then, in the last week in October, a pair of cartoonish thugs snatch Howe's granddaughter Kirsten from her public school. Remembering the pain she endured when her own daughter vanished, Leahy decides to duck campaigning and, as head of the FBI, do her job by catching the kidnappers, even if means losing the election. As he's done in previous page-turners, Grippando again reveals too much of his story too soon--here, not only that the kidnapping was politically motivated but that the mastermind behind it all may be too close to Leahy for comfort. Among the usual suspects: Leahy's wet-blanket husband Peter; her torch-carrying ex-lover Mitch O'Brien; her Machiavellian campaign strategist David Wilcox; Howe's even more Machiavellian strategist Buck LaBelle; and a host of unsavory Beltway types. Meantime, Leahy's spunk and gutsy bravado have her dodging bullets and wringing every possible victory from a series of preposterously affected defeats. Corny dialogue, cheesy political stereotypes, and a shrill, headstrong heroine who wouldn't last a minute in a real courtroom, much less the Oval Office. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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The Abduction Chapter One Allison could feel her heart pounding. Her lungs burned as she fought forair. The treadmill's digital display told her she was passing the two-milemark. She punched the speed button to slow the pace and catch her breath.Perspiration soaked her, pasting the nylon sweat pants and extra-large T-shirtto her trim forty-eight-year-old body. It was her favorite T-shirt, whitewith bright red and blue lettering. It read, "Leahy for President--A New Millennium." After nearly four years as the United States attorney general, Allison wasjust fifteen days away from the historic date on which voters would decidewhether the nation's "top cop" would become its first woman president.The race was wide-open and without an incumbent, as her boss--DemocraticPresident Charlie Sires--was at the end of his second and final four-yearterm. Allison was his second-term attorney general, part of the president'sshake-up of his own cabinet upon reelection in 1996. Eight months ago, Allisondidn't consider herself a serious presidential contender. But when the Republicansnominated Lincoln Howe, the nation's most beloved black man, the polls madeit clear that the only Democrat who could beat him was a charismatic whitewoman. Ironically, thirty minutes of walking in place on the treadmill had actuallyput Allison thirty miles closer to her afternoon rally in Philadelphia.She was on the last leg of a two-day bus tour through Pennsylvania, a criticalswing state with twenty-four electoral college votes. Her campaign bus hadlogged nearly ten thousand miles in the past six months. Now more than ever,it was showing the signs of a well-oiled political machine in the homestretch--whichto the average organized human being looked remarkably like utter chaos.A dozen noisy staffers were busy at the fax machines and computer terminals.A scattered collection of bulging archive boxes blocked the bathroom entrance,as if strategically placed to trip up anyone desperate enough to use theon-board facilities. Thousands of campaign buttons, leaflets, and bumperstickers cluttered the rear storage area. Four small color television setswere suspended from the ceiling, each blaring a different broadcast forsimultaneous multi-network viewing. One set was electronically "padlocked,"permanently tuned to CNN's virtually continuous coverage of Campaign 2000. "That's about enough self-flagellation for one day," said Allison,groaning. She hit the stop button and stepped down from the treadmill. Walking had been her chief source of exercise since the beginning of theNew Hampshire Democratic primary in January. Whatever the town, she'd walkup and down Main Street, and people would join in and walk along with her.It provided great photo ops early in the primary, but after she won theDemocratic nomination in August the crowds grew so large that she neededa parade permit. In the last week, time constraints and cold Appalachianrains had forced her to confine her walking to the treadmill during bus-ridedebriefings from her campaign strategist, David Wilcox. "What else, David?" she said as she leaned over and stretchedher calf muscles. Wilcox was a tall and wiry fifty-one-year-old graduate of the Woodrow WilsonSchool of Public Affairs at Princeton. He had shone as a young White HouseFellow under President Carter, but a bitter loss in a personal bid for Congressin 1982 convinced him he'd rather not be a candidate. In high school hewas voted most likely to become a game show host, and he'd finally foundhis niche as a political strategist. Over seventeen years his list of satisfiedclients included nine United States senators, seven congressmen, and fivegovernors, and he'd masterminded Allison's upset victory over a sittingvice president in the Democratic primaries. In the last few weeks, however,he'd grown concerned about the growing influence of outside consultants,so he'd decided to glue himself to Allison's side for the bus tour. At themoment, he was reviewing his checklist, seemingly oblivious to Allison'ssweaty exercise attire or to the blurred Pennsylvania countryside in thewindow behind her. "The drug problem has reared its ugly head." He had an ominousvoice for a thin man, part of an overall seriousness that was more suitablefor a White House state dinner than the frenetic campaign trail. "Ithink our distinguished opposition is turning desperate. They're finallytrying to make something out of your treatment for depression, back in '92." "That was eight years ago. Politically speaking, it's ancient history." "They're saying you took Prozac." "I told you I was in counseling." "Are you splitting hairs on me?" She flashed a sobering look. "My four-month-old daughter was takenright out of her crib, right from my own house. Yes, I was depressed. Iwas in group counseling. Eight of us. Parents who'd lost children. No, Ididn't take Prozac. But if you ask the other members of my support group,they'll probably say I needed it. So don't expect me to apologize for havingreached out for a little support. And don't sit there and act like thisis news to you, either. I laid out all the skeletons the day I hired you." He grimaced, thinking it through. "I just wish we could put the wholeepisode in more of a context." Her look became a glare. "I won't make Emily's abduction part of thiscampaign, if that's what you mean." "Allison, we can't just say you were depressed and leave it at that.We need a positive spin." "Okay," she said sarcastically, "how about this? Depressionis a good thing. It's what stimulates ideas. Every invention, every accomplishmentstems from depression, not euphoria. Nobody ever said, 'Life's swell, let'sinvent fire.' It was the malcontent in the back of the cave who finallystood up and said, 'Hey, I'm freezing my ass off in here!' You want somethingto get done in Washington? By all means, elect the clinically depressed." He was deadpan. "Please don't repeat that publicly. Or I'll be verydepressed." The Abduction . Copyright © by James Grippando. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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