‘Kidnap’ by Jane Adams.

Published by Joffe Books,
31 January 2022.
ISBN: 978-1-80405082-8 (PB)

 The beginning of the book is every parent’s worst nightmare. Fourteen-month-old Joshua Banks is taken from his cot in the middle of the night. A shiver ran down my spine as I read how the window creaked and the gloved hand reached in and took the sleeping baby.

A note is left in the empty cot saying, under no circumstance are they to inform the police, but the phone number of former parents whose baby was also taken, and then returned unharmed, after the ransom was paid, was written in the note. The noted ended with the warning that if the parents do inform the police, little fourteen-month-old Joshua will be killed.

This is a good story, well-plotted and once the pace picked up, it became difficult to put down.

It is book two in the Merrow and Clarke series. I will now go back and read book one, as I think it will help to understand the relationship, and its strain, between Merrow and Clarke, as there are references to former happenings as part of the last story which looked to be another good read.

However, this story is still a standalone, and unfolds as one. The question being, after calling in police when instructed not to, can they still get the tiny and obviously terrified fourteen-month-old baby, safely home alive?
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Reviewer: Linda Regan
www.lindareganonline.co.uk

Jane Adams was born in Leicestershire, where she still lives. She has a degree in Sociology and has held a variety of jobs including lead vocalist in a folk rock band. She enjoys pen and ink drawing; martial arts and her ambition is to travel the length of the Silk Road by motorbike. Her first book, The Greenway, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award in 1995 and for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award. Jane writes several series.  Her first series featured Mike Croft. Several books featuring DS Ray Flowers. Seven titles featuring blind Naoimi Blake, and six titles featuring Rina Martin. In 2016 she started a series set between the two World Wars and featuring Detective Inspector Henry Johnstone and his sergeant, Micky Hitchens.  Bury Me deep is the first book in a series featuring Detective Inspector Rozlyn Priest.  Jane has also written several standalone novels. She is married with two children.

Linda Regan is the author of six police procedural crime novels. She is also an actress. She holds a Masters degree in critical writing and journalism, and writes a regular column, including book reviews, for three magazines. She also presents the book-club spot on BBC Radio Kent. She is an avid reader and welcomes the chance to read new writers. 

  To read a review of Linda's most recent book
The Terror Within
click on the title.
www.lindareganonline.co.uk