Desperation Moon

In DESPERATION MOON Ken Douglas provides his readers with one of the most despicable bad guys I've come across in a long time. I'm talking about Rice, the aids infected kidnapper of two young girls, who somehow doesn't think he's a pervert, when he so obviously is. Rice is hired by Huntington Beach police officer Clay Tredway to kidnap his wife Sara Hackett's niece along with the daughter of a wealthy software developer. Sara is a racecar driver and when she comes home early from a race in Australia, she finds a pregnant woman in her house. Apparently hubby Clay is a philanderer as well as a kidnapper. Soon after she finds out about the kidnapping, she figures out what a weasel her husband really is. She sets out to rescue the two girls. But Clay doesn't make it easy for her. He frames her for the murder of the software guy and now she is on the run even as she's running to save the girls. Meanwhile, Rice, and his not-to-bright accomplice Gundry, have problems of their own as the girls have escaped into an oil field in the heart of California, where the kidnappers had been holding them hostage. Now they don't care about the ransom anymore, they just want the girls dead. Can Sara, and the quirky band of characters she's enlisted to help her, get to them before the killer/kidnappers do? In a frantic race against time which involves stealing a small plane in the middle of the night, a midnight swim and more tension than you can shake a stick at, Sara finally confronts her bad cop, no good, two timing, kidnapping rat of a husband. And if you're a girl who has ever been two-timed the way Sara has been, you are absolutely going to love the ending of this book as it plays out to the tune of Bob Dylan singing "Tangled up in Blue." This is a thriller.

Two police decide to stage a kidnapping to score bags of undeclared cash. Then they compound the plans by setting up a second kidnapping. Then everything goes very wrong. The wife of one of the cops arrives home early from overseas and walks in on his mistress. The two thugs brought into the act are not trustworthy companions - one has an obsession about raping one of the kidnapped girls, and the other tries to kill the two kidnap victims. The kidnappers haven't factored in the ingenuity of the victims, and the tenacity of the cop's wife, Sara. Sara picks up some unlikely allies and the chase begins. Sara must find the kidnapped children, both to save them and to clear her own name. Stealing automobiles, playing bumper cars, commiting arson and assault, and even stealing an airplane are on the agenda. This is a crime story, rather than a mystery, but it is interesting to see how the white hats win. Everything works out well for the white hats, although there are some bumps and bruises along the way. Many crimes are conveniently overlooked. Some people would rather not have too much dredged up to the light of day.

Two young girls are kidnapped. One of them is race car driver Sara Hackett's niece seven-year-old Kelly, the other fifteen-year-old Paige, the daughter of a wealthy software developer. The kidnappers - Rice, an emaciated man just out of prison and dying with aids and Guthrie, a big, dumb character who works as a security guard in an oilfield who believes violence is the first comeback in an argument - argue about whether or not they should keep the girls alive, and this gives Paige and Kelly the courage to escape. But when they get away, they find themselves in the middle of a working oilfield out in the middle of nowhere and it's the middle of the night. Very spooky, very scary. They're not gone long before Rice and Guthrie discover their escape. The frightened girls go deeper and deeper into the oilfield, with the kidnappers ever on their heels. Meanwhile Sara has been framed for murder, is on the run, running from the cops, running toward that oilfield to rescue the girls and running out of time. She has been betrayed by the system and betrayed by her husband, but she's not about to brood over it, because those girls are in desperate need of her help. This is a fast-past book with excellent and very believable characters. I liked it very much. I think you will too.

Race Car driver Sara Hackett comes home from a grueling race in Australia a few days early and finds a pregnant woman living in her house, her niece kidnapped and her husband out of control. Her hubby is a cop and also the head of security for a Bill Gates type software tycoon. It turns out that Mr. Tycoon's daughter has also disappeared and Sara puts it together that her husband is behind it all as her niece's paternal grandmother is wealthy. Hubby wants to cash in big one time, then check out with the pregnant bimbo. The rich guy won't pay, so hubby murders him and frames Sara for the deed. Now she is on the run with the cops hot on her tail. She has to get of Dodge. She also has to find the girls before the dim witted guards hired to watch them harm them. This one is just a thrill a minute. Fast-paced, action-filled, a couple tough little girls to die for, a swell old lady and a German Shepherd dog that is simply super are just some of the elements of this terrific book. I just loved it.

I sat down and read the first page of this book and didn't come up for air until I had finished it!! This hasn't happened in a long time. Sara is a feminine, strong and resourceful woman who returns from Australia to find her niece kidnapped, and a pregnant stranger living in her home - with her husband (who masterminded the kidnappings, the scumbag).In addition to Sara's niece, Kelly, another girl has been abducted at the same time (the bad guys are looking for double the payoff). The two girls are no pushovers, however, and do their best to excape their captors.There is no shortage of action and suspense from beginning to end. This is a great book and I since this book I have read Ken Douglas's Running Scared, and Diamond Sky(written by Ken and Jack Stewart). Every one of thse books got my pulse pounding and me rooting for the heroines. By the way Jack Stewart writes nail- biting adventure books too. I have read Hurricane by Stewart and Tangerine Dreams (I believe it was a joint venture of these two authors). I hope both these men keep writing because I have become hooked on their brand of excitement and suspense. I have recommended them to several of my friends at work and to you too!