| Parents face the nightmare of possible child abduction. This section describes books on abductions, how to prevent them, and what to do if they occur. |
Amazon.com: child abduction in Amazon.com Tears of Rage  In this aptly titled book, John Walsh traces the steps that led him from being a grieving father to becoming a grieving father who hosts TV's America's Most Wanted, the Fox true-crime show that hunts down bad guys every week through a toll-free tip line. Walsh, however, seems ambivalent about the fame he's been granted. He presents a somewhat halting, uncertain narrative in this autobiography (cowritten with Susan Schindehette), and he makes it clear all the way through that his life is really only driven by one thing: the still-unsolved 1981 abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam.Walsh's anger and frustration over a "bumbling" police investigation of his son's murder is evident throughout. According to Walsh, the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department should have arrested a drifter named Ottis Toole--a convicted serial killer who played sidekick for many years to the notorious killer Henry Lee Lucas. Walsh speculates that the police had "formed their own ideas" about who killed Adam and didn't want to believe Toole could have been responsible. But Walsh is convinced, and he presents a large amount of evidence to support his case. Unfortunately, it's too late: Ottis Toole died several years ago in prison. This is not an easy book to read, and one imagines it wasn't an easy book for John Walsh to write, as he describes, with a staccato style reminiscent of Jack Webb, the probable sequence of events of Adam's disappearance as well as the manner of his death. The bulk of Tears of Rage concerns Adam's abduction and its aftermath and the impact the Walsh family has had since in helping to pass various victims' and children's rights legislation. --Tjames Madison Girl in the Cellar: The Natascha Kampusch Story  On March 2, 1998, while on her way to school, ten-year-old Natascha Kampusch was abducted. More than eight years later, on August 23, 2006, she escaped with a story that shocked and horrified the entire world. She spent the most delicate years of her life hidden in a cellar underneath an ordinary Austrian suburban home. How was she able to survive? What sort of woman had emerged? What kind of man was Wolfgang Priklopil, her abductor—and what demands had he made of her? As the days and weeks passed, and Natascha's only TV interview failed to quell the world's curiosity, the questions began to multiply: What exactly was the relationship between the abductor and the hostage? Why had Natascha waited so long to make her bid for freedom when it seemed she had earlier opportunities to do so? Did Natascha's parents know Priklopil before he kidnapped their daughter? Allan Hall and Michael Leidig have covered the story from the first days of the ten-year-old's disappearance, interviewing police investigators, lawyers, psychiatrists, Priklopil's coworkers and the family members closest to Natascha. A work of extraordinary investigative reporting, Girl in the Cellar gets to the heart of this very tragic case to reveal a truth no one would have imagined. Author: Allan Hall, Michael Leidig Hardcover: 288 pages Company: HarperCollins (2007-01-01) (2007-01-02) ISBN: 0061345105 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $4.79 Used Price: $4.40 Abduction!  When Matt leaves his kindergarten class for a quick trip to the bathroom, he never imagines what will happen next. He suddenly finds himself in a stranger's car traveling to an unfamiliar place. But who is this man, and is he really a "stranger"? When the school bell rings and Matt is nowhere to be found, his sister, Bonnie, is frantic. She quickly realizes that her little brother is not lost, but missing! And she must do everything in her power to save him…even if it puts her own life in danger.Author: Peg Kehret Paperback: 224 pages Company: Puffin (2006-04-20) ISBN: 0142406171 List Price: $6.99 Amazon Price: $3.26 Used Price: $0.70 Abduction (Kidnapped)  Aiden Falconer and FBI Agent Harris are closing in the people who kidnapped Aiden’s sister, Meg. There’s just one hitch: Meg is trying to escape from them on her own, and is never where she’s supposed to be. As tension mounts and the net tightens, only one thing is clear: The kidnappers aren’t going down without a fight. Before, it was Meg who was in trouble. Now both Meg and Aiden are in grave danger.Author: Gordon Korman Paperback: 144 pages Company: Scholastic Inc. (2006-05-01) ISBN: 043984777X List Price: $4.99 Amazon Price: $0.25 Used Price: $0.01 Gone, Baby, Gone (Harper Fiction)  Cheese Olamon, "a six-foot-two, four-hundred-and-thirty-pound yellow-haired Scandinavian who'd somehow arrived at the misconception he was black," is telling his old grammar school friends Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro why they have to convince another mutual chum, the gun dealer Bubba Rugowski, that Cheese didn't try to have him killed. "You let Bubba know I'm clean when it comes to what happened to him. You want me alive. Okay? Without me, that girl will be gone. Gone-gone. You understand? Gone, baby, gone." Of all the chilling, completely credible scenes of sadness, destruction, and betrayal in Dennis Lehane's fourth and very possibly best book about Kenzie and Gennaro, this moment stands out because it captures in a few pages the essence of Lehane's success. Private detectives Kenzie and Gennaro, who live in the same working-class Dorchester neighborhood of Boston where they grew up, have gone to visit drug dealer Cheese in prison because they think he's involved in the kidnapping of 4-year-old Amanda McCready. Without sentimentalizing the grotesque figure of Cheese, Lehane tells us enough about his past to make us understand why he and the two detectives might share enough trust to possibly save a child's life when all the best efforts of traditional law enforcement have failed. By putting Kenzie and Gennaro just to one side of the law (but not totally outside; they have several cop friends, a very important part of the story), Lehane adds depth and edge to traditional genre relationships. The lifelong love affair between Kenzie and Gennaro--interrupted by her marriage to his best friend--is another perfectly controlled element that grows and changes as we watch. Surrounded by dead, abused, and missing children, Kenzie mourns and rages while Gennaro longs for one of her own. So the choices made by both of them in the final pages of this absolutely gripping story have the inevitability of life and the dazzling beauty of art. Other Kenzie/Gennaro books available in paperback: Darkness, Take My Hand, A Drink Before the War, Sacred. --Dick Adler Living Dead Girl  Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was. When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget. Vanishing Acts: A Novel  Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her beloved, widowed father, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall...until a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret about herself that changes the world as she knows it -- and threatens to jeopardize her future. With Vanishing Acts, Jodi Picoult explores how life -- as we know it -- might not turn out the way we imagined; how the people we've loved and trusted can suddenly change before our very eyes; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat. Once again, Picoult handles an astonishing and timely topic with under-standing, insight, and compassion. Child Lures: What Every Parent and Child Should Know About Preventing Sexual Abuse and Abduction  Read this book. It will give you the kind of practical advice that may just save your child. --Chris Wallace, Correspondent, ABC NewsAuthor: Kenneth Wooden Hardcover: 100 pages Company: Summit Publishing Group (1995-06) ISBN: 1565301757 List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $6.98 Used Price: $0.01 We Disappear: A Novel (P.S.)  The body of a teenage boy is discovered in a Kansas field. The murder haunts Donna—a recent widow battling cancer—calling forth troubling details from long-suppressed memories of her past. Hoping to discover more about "disappeared" people, she turns to her son, Scott, who is fighting demons of his own. Addicted to methamphetamines and sleeping pills, Scott is barely holding on—though the chance to help his mother in her strange and desperate search holds out a slim promise of some small salvation. But what he finds is a boy named Otis handcuffed in a secret basement room, and the questions that arise seem too disturbing even to contemplate. With his mother's health rapidly deteriorating, he must surrender to his own obsession, and unravel Otis's unsettling connections to other missing teens . . . and, ultimately, to Scott himself. Author: Scott Heim Paperback: 320 pages Company: Harper Perennial (2008-03-01) (2008-02-26) ISBN: 0061468975 List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $4.84 Used Price: $4.98 Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda's Children  For several decades a brutal army of rebels has been raiding villages in northern Uganda, kidnapping children and turning them into soldiers or wives of commanders. More than 30,000 children have been abducted over the last twenty years and forced to commit unspeakable crimes. Grace Akallo was one of these. Her story, which is the story of many Ugandan children, recounts her terrifying experience. This unforgettable book--with historical background and insights from Faith McDonnell, one of the clearest voices in the church today calling for freedom and justice--will inspire readers around the world to take notice, pray, and work to end this tragedy.Author: Faith J. H. McDonnell, Grace Akallo Paperback: 240 pages Company: Chosen (2007-06-01) ISBN: 0800794214 List Price: $13.99 Amazon Price: $3.84 Used Price: $2.87 |
First Daughter  Sometimes the weakness we fear most can become our greatest strength . . . Jack McClure has had a troubled life. His dyslexia always made him feel like an outsider. He escaped from an abusive home as a teenager and lived by his wits on the streets of Washington D.C. It wasn’t until he realized that dyslexia gave him the ability to see the world in unique ways that he found success, using this newfound strength to become a top ATF agent. When a terrible accident takes the life of his only daughter, Emma, and his marriage falls apart, Jack blames himself, numbing the pain by submerging himself in work. Then he receives a call from his old friend Edward Carson. Carson is just weeks from taking the reins as President of the United States when his daughter, Alli, is kidnapped. Because Emma McClure was once Alli’s best friend, Carson turns to Jack, the one man he can trust to go to any lengths to find his daughter and bring her home safely. The search for Alli leads Jack on a road toward reconciliation . . . and into the path of a dangerous and calculating man. Someone whose actions are as cold as they are brilliant. Whose power and reach are seemingly infinite. Faith, redemption, and political intrigue play off one another as McClure uses his unique abilities to journey into the twisted mind of a stone cold genius who is constantly one step ahead of him. Jack will soon discover that this man has affected his life and his country in more ways than he could ever imagine. Author: Eric Van Lustbader Hardcover: 400 pages Company: Forge Books (2008-08-19) (2008-08-19) ISBN: 076532170X List Price: $25.95 Amazon Price: $6.20 Used Price: $6.00 White House White-Out: A to Z Mysteries Super Edition 3 (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))  IT’S A SNOWY December in Washington, D.C., and Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are there to see the sights. While they’re admiring the White House, they meet the president’s stepdaughter, KC, and her friend, Marshall. Soon, in the confusion of all the people decorating the White House for Christmas, the president’s dog, Natasha, goes missing! The kids set out to find her, but it’s not going to be easy. The area is still crowded with decorators, it’s getting dark, and all five of them risk getting caught in a monster snowstorm!Author: Ron Roy Paperback: 144 pages Company: Random House Books for Young Readers (2008-08-12) (2008-08-12) ISBN: 0375847219 List Price: $4.99 Amazon Price: $2.12 Used Price: $2.08 The Husband  With each and every new novel, Dean Koontz raises the stakes—and the pulse rate—higher than any other author. Now, in what may be his most suspenseful and heartfelt novel ever, he brings us the story of an ordinary man whose extraordinary commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, sacrifice, and redemption to the mystery of love itself—and to a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever.What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill? We have your wife. You can get her back for two million cash. Landscaper Mitchell Rafferty thinks it must be some kind of joke. He was in the middle of planting impatiens in the yard of one of his clients when his cell phone rang. Now he’s standing in a normal suburban neighborhood on a bright summer day, having a phone conversation out of his darkest nightmare. Whoever is on the other end of the line is dead serious. He has Mitch’s wife and he’s named the price for her safe return. The caller doesn’t care that Mitch runs a small two-man landscaping operation and has no way of raising such a vast sum. He’s confident that Mitch will find a way. If he loves his wife enough. . . Mitch does love her enough. He loves her more than life itself. He’s got seventy-two hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he’ll pay a lot more. He’ll pay anything. From its tense opening to its shattering climax, The Husband is a thriller that will hold you in its relentless grip for every twist, every shock, every revelation…until it lets you go, unmistakably changed. This is a Dean Koontz novel, after all. And there’s no other experience quite like it. From the Hardcover edition. Author: Dean Koontz Paperback: 448 pages Company: Bantam (2007-05-01) (2007-05-01) ISBN: 0553589091 List Price: $7.99 Amazon Price: $0.98 Used Price: $0.01 Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, Book 1)  Eoin Colfer describes his new book, Artemis Fowl, as "Die Hard with fairies." He's not far wrong.Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. With two trusty sidekicks in tow, he hatches a cunning plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Of course, he isn't foolish enough to believe in all that "gold at the end of the rainbow" nonsense. Rather, he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive. But when the time comes to put his plan into action, he doesn't count on the appearance of the extrasmall, pointy-eared Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaisance) Unit--and her senior officer, Commander Root, a man (sorry, elf) who will stop at nothing to get her back. Fantastic stuff from beginning to end, Artemis Fowl is a rip-roaring, 21st-century romp of the highest order. The author has let his imagination run riot by combining folklore, fantasy, and a fistful of high-tech funk in an outrageously devilish book that could well do for fairies what Harry Potter has done for wizardry. But be warned: this is no gentle frolic, so don't be fooled by the fairy subject matter. Instead, what we have here is well-written, sophisticated, rough 'n' tumble storytelling with enough high-octane attitude to make it a seriously cool read for anyone over the age of 10. --Susan Harrison Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded (Oxford World's Classics)  One of the most spectacular successes of the flourishing literary marketplace of eighteenth-century London, Pamela also marked a defining moment in the emergence of the modern novel. In the words of one contemporary, it divided the world "into two different Parties, Pamelists and Anti-pamelists," even eclipsing the sensational factional politics of the day. Preached for its morality, and denounced as pornography in disguise, it vividly describes a young servant's long resistance to the attempts of her predatory master to seduce her. Written in the voice of its low-born heroine, Pamela is not only a work of pioneering psychological complexity, but also a compelling and provocative study of power and its abuse.Based on the original text of 1740, from which Richardson later retreated in a series of defensive revisions, this edition makes available the version of Pamela that aroused such widespread controversy on its first appearance. Author: Samuel Richardson Paperback: 592 pages Company: Oxford University Press, USA (2001-07-12) ISBN: 0192829602 List Price: $9.95 Amazon Price: $5.59 Used Price: $4.00 Promises Keep  Being kidnapped into a bordello has a way of changing a woman's focus. On the day Mara Kincaid escapes the Pleasure Emporium, she vows to start living for herself. Rebuilding her life isn't easy as the town isn't fond of reformed fallen doves, but she's a Kincaid and Kincaids are known for their stubbornness. She's successful right up until the notorious ex-marshal Cougar McKinnely comes into town. As big as a mountain, dark as sin, and wearing a reputation as deadly as the knife strapped to his thigh, McKinnely is a man who knows what he wants. By rights, Mara should be shaking in her shoes when he approaches her. But when the powerful half-breed turns his dark gold eyes on her, it isn't fear that has Mara trembling, but rather an overwhelming desire to be the kind of woman Cougar needs to satisfy his deepest desires.Author: Sarah McCarty Paperback: 372 pages Company: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc (2005-02-18) ISBN: 1419951572 List Price: $17.99 Amazon Price: $11.08 Used Price: $11.06 The Young Bond Series, Book Three: Double or Die (A James Bond Adventure) (Young Bond)  Kidnapping. Explosions. Murder. This is no ordinary weekend. But then, James Bond is no ordinary boy. . . In a north London cemetery, a professor is kidnapped at gunpoint. Then, a suspicious letter crammed with cryptic clues arrives at Eton. To decipher the deadly mystery, James Bond must take a series of dangerous gambles. Once the code is cracked he has just forty-eight hours to save the professor from the dark forces that threaten to destroy them both. And if they can't escape, it's not only their future under threat. It's the rest of the world's... The Icebound Land (Ranger's Apprentice, Book 3)  Kidnapped after the fierce battle with Lord Morgarath, Will and Evanlyn are bound for Skandia as captives aboard a fearsome wolfship. Halt has sworn to rescue Will, and he will do anything to keep his promise—even defy his King.Expelled from the Rangers he has served so loyally, Halt is joined by Will’s friend Horace as he travels toward Skandia. On their way, they are challenged constantly by freelance knights—but Horace knows a thing or two about combat. Soon he begins to attract the attention of knights and warlords for miles around with his uncanny skill. Even so, will they be in time to rescue Will from a horrific life of slavery? The smash hit series continues with another heart stopping adventure.
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X  The greatest superpower of all isn't to be part spider, part man, or to cast magic spells--the greatest power is the power to create. Daniel X has that power. Daniel's secret abilities -- like being able to manipulate objects and animals with his mind or to recreate himself in any shape he chooses -- have helped him survive. But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond what anyone's imagining. From the day that his parents were brutally murdered before of his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer. Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission--and to take vengeance in the process. Author: James Patterson Hardcover: 272 pages Company: Little, Brown and Company (2008-07-21) (2008-07-21) ISBN: 0316002925 List Price: $19.99 Amazon Price: $6.45 Used Price: $5.99 Saint (Paradise Series, Book 2) (The Books of History Chronicles)  Author: Ted Dekker Hardcover: 400 pages Bargain Price Company: Amazon Remainders Account (2006-09-30) List Price: $23.99 Amazon Price: $5.38 Used Price: $5.25 |