The Kidnapping

A Hunter & Holmes Mystery #1

            The first novel in the Hunter & Holmes mystery series, The Kidnapping, describes how the detective team of Hunter & Holmes was formed. As the series begins, teenagers Jason and Daniel are enjoying the carefree days of summer and their extended break from school. Their lives are radically changed when Jason, while walking through City Park in broad daylight suddenly goes missing and no one can figure out what has happened to him. There is no sign of a struggle, Jason's cell phone went strangely silent that morning, and no one in the surrounding neighborhoods saw anything. Jason is a bright, athletic, and well-adjusted kid, with no apparent problems in his life so no one seriously believes that he would run away. Unfortunately that means that he was kidnapped or somehow caught up in a crime. If Jason was being kidnapped for ransom, no one really can understand why. Jason seems to be an unlikely target for a kidnapping for ransom. He is from an ordinary middle class family, who are comfortable enough due to both parents working full time, but certainly not wealthy like the families of many CEOs living in the Silicon Valley. No one had been stalking Jason or for that matter any other kids, and Jason didn't even know he was going to City Park until that morning. The police missing person's unit is unable to find any significant clues in this case. The mystery is further compounded by the complete silence from the kidnappers, leading the police and Jason's family and friends to fear that he has been taken by predators with no interest in returning him. As you can imagine, this puts a real chill in the community. As the days pass, Jason's parents and friends become increasingly more depressed and desperate. When there finally is word from the kidnappers, things are not what they seem in this case at all!

            After he is released from captivity, Jason has a lot to deal with: the police investigation, his medical condition and need for counseling, the news media, his loss of self-confidence as he deals with the emotional and mental turmoil of being kidnapped and his often brutal treatment by the kidnappers, and his puzzlement as he tries to understand why he and his parents were chosen for this crime. Daniel is angered and upset by the treatment Jason received, because it means that no one is safe until the kidnappers are caught. Parents in the community feel the same way and are keeping their children constantly in their sight. This puts a real damper on the summer for Jason, Daniel and their friends.

            Daniel instinctively knows that Jason will never recover from his ordeal until he discovers the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of his kidnapping. Eventually he is able to persuade Jason to check his fears of reliving the horror that he went through and the detective team of Hunter & Holmes was born. But can two amateur detectives succeed in discovering what the police have been unable to find out? The Kidnapping is a full-formed mystery with interesting characters, plot twists, and surprises designed for teenagers and adults who like the “hobby detective” genre.