The Abduction

Written by Mark Gimenez

Narrated by Richard Ferrone

When hotshot lawyer Elizabeth Brice turns up to collect her daughter, Grace, from football practice, the coach tells her she needn't have bothered, as Grace's uncle has already picked her up.

The only problem is - Grace has no uncles.

And so begins a furious race against time to save Grace from unknown kidnappers. Grace's Internet geek father, John, leads the search, forced to unite with his terrifying wife and even more terrifying father, Ben, a battle-hardened Vietnam veteran. Somehow they must find Grace before it is too late. But secrets from the past make the little girl's survival more uncertain with every passing minute....

A riveting, action-packed thriller, The Abduction will have you on the edge of your seat from the first minute to the last.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Jun 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781405538473

Mark Gimenez

Mark Gimenez grew up in Galveston County, Texas. Once a partner at a major Dallas firm, Gimenez gave it up in order to start his own practice and to write. He lives outside Fort Worth with his wife and two sons.

Reviews for The Abduction

[josephking6602 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining narrative & fair characterizations even though is was a bit unrealistic with incredible intertwining of story lines; the book relies on a macho "shoot-em-up" ending which is always disappointing in my opinion. Pretty good book....not great literature.

[mugsynoir · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gimenez has written a neatly tied-up thriller that pokes fun at the amount of coincidence he uses throughout the book. The plot is wildly imaginative and provides plenty of drama, laughs and chills. Ten-year old Gracie Brice is kidnapped after her afternoon soccer game. Her brainiac father was more focused on his upcoming IPO and failed to keep tabs on her after the game. Gracie's former-Green Beret grandfather, recently more an alcoholic than anything else, senses the trouble she's in and leaves his isolation in the hills above Taos to rescue her. Gracie's mom, a high-powered Dallas attorney, is more focused on placing blame. The resolution was fantastical, but satisfying. I enjoyed the narration by Buck Schirner.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Took a few chapters to get into this book, then it became really interesting. While not all the characters were fully developed, this book was action-packed enough to be enjoyable. A great holiday read.

[permaswooned · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really like this author. His books have really well-drawn characters and the stories just suck me in. This was the second book I read after The Color of Law and I enjoyed it as well. The Vietnam Era is my era, so it had some historical resonance for me as well. Recommend it to those who like legal or even semi-legal thrillers.

[glenajo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This great novel weaves a path from the Vietnam War to current day through the lives of the men who served there and their families. Gimenez creates wonderfully believable relationships between the players in the story. The continuing lack of full disclosure prevents family members from developing strong lasting relationships. The stress of the abduction causes the players to extend beyond themselves, bonding together to reach a common goal. Excellent book, riveting to the end.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A 10 year old girl is abducted from her soccer game. She went to the concession stand for a snow cone, while her father, who attended the game, stayed in the stands talking business on his cell phone.. Her coach actually pointed her out to the abductor who passed himself off as her uncle. Her mother was working late and arrived to find her daughter gone. She will probably never forgive her husband.This book details the anguish, guilt and anger and invasion that a family goes through in this situation. From her younger brother who doesn’t understand, to her helpless grandparents, this family is broken, probably beyond repair. But, of course, this is no ordinary family. The father is a certified genius who is about to become an overnight billionaire, her mother is a brilliant defence lawyer with a mysterious past, and her grandfather a decorated military hero who blew the whistle about a massacre in Viet Nam. So was Grace taken for ransom, taken for revenge or just taken by a random pervert? As these questions slowly unfold and the truth revealed, the book goes into over-drive as her father and Grandfather race to find and rescue her.I found this book rather slow to get into, but once the action started, it kicked into high gear. The author was a little heavy-handed with his characters, his bad guys were truly evil, and his good guys were practically super heroes. The victim, Grace was a little too spunky and sophisticated for a ten year old, but, with all of that this was a thriller and it certainly managed to deliver the thrills.

[tallydi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting characters and plot. But the parts just didn't quite seem to fit together smoothly. Since this is something at which a novelist can improve, I will look for Gimenez's next book.