|
KIDNAPPED opens with the violent murder of prominent Las Piernas artist Richard Fletcher by Cleo Smith, a sociopathic serial killer. Cleo successfully plants enough forensic evidence to send Richard's son, Mason, to prison for first-degree murder. Mason was discovered a day later, slumped over the wheel of the family car, half-dressed, drunk and unconscious, the murder instrument and bloody clothes in the trunk of the car. His sister, Jenny, was missing and presumed dead, but no body was ever found. With evidence pointing to Mason, he was convicted of murder and sent to prison.
Five years later, when reporter Irene Kelly, a feature writer for the Las Piernas Express, writes a series on kidnapped children, she receives an avalanche of calls from anguished parents and family members of missing children. Among them is Caleb Fletcher, Mason's younger brother, who contacts Irene about his missing sister Jenny. Caleb, a graduate student studying forensic science with Las Piernas forensics expert Ben Sheridan, firmly believes in Mason's innocence and has never accepted that his little sister was dead.
Irene, who should be accustomed to kicking up controversy since she has become entangled in more than one murder during her career at the Express, realizes that she has opened a Pandora's Box as buried bodies begin to surface. A string of regional kidnappings and murders points to the Fletchers, a huge, prosperous and influential Las Piernas family. Irene must step carefully as her husband, Detective Frank Harriman of the Los Piernas Sheriff's department, is called upon to investigate the murder scenes.
The Fletchers are cultured, refined and fabulously wealthy, allowing some of the more sinister members to hide behind the aura of respectability built on the reputation of the elder generation. There are dozens of Fletcher siblings who operate an elite private school, a research facility and local businesses in what begins to look like a cult atmosphere.
The strong plot and compelling characters keep the pages turning as the ruthless Cleo and her scheming confederates prey on families in need. Keeping track of all the characters might present a challenge to the average writer, but Jan Burke skillfully unravels the tangled web of police, reporters and the ubiquitous Fletchers to tie up all the loose ends. Through the use of forensic sniffer dogs, old friend and colleague Ben Sheridan and his protégé Caleb Fletcher quite literally dig up and expose the dark truth of the Fletcher family, turning the DNA evidence Cleo has so cleverly planted against her.
KIDNAPPED is the 12th book by award-winning novelist Jan Burke. Her fascination with forensic evidence has propelled her character, Irene Kelly, into the forefront of the public interest in police science brought about by the hit "CSI" television programs.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
