Ben Brice lives alone in the New Mexico wilderness, where he builds furniture and battles memories of Vietnam with oceans of Jim Beam. Miles away in Texas, his estranged son, John, an Internet geek-turned-billionaire, half-watches his daughter Gracie’s soccer game while on his cell phone. When her mother, Elizabeth, arrives, the coach reports that her “brother” has already collected Gracie. But she has no brother – the girl was kidnapped. The FBI gets called, as does Ben Brice. Though rebuffed by his family as a pathetic drunk, Ben hopes to help save his beloved granddaughter. With dozens of Feds and cops camped out in the house, the family offers a reward of $25 million. Then the cops, searching out known sex offenders in the area, find Gracie’s jersey and traces of her blood in the car of Gary Jennings, an employee of John Brice. They bring Jennings in, the case is closed, and Gracie is presumed dead. Ben, however, does not believe Gracie is dead, nor does he believe that Jennings is the abductor. After uncovering an FBI lead that placed two men with a blonde girl in Idaho, Ben and John decide to check it out. As the race against time continues, family secrets from their past make Gracie’s survival more uncertain than ever.
Entertaining read and sufficient for long hours in the car. The story has parts that are a little unrealistic but if taken in stride, the book is worth a listen. I would try this author again.
