The person known only as "One" has pulled off the biggest kidnapping of all time. The wife of a billionaire. His oldest son, and his two younger children are kidnapped within minutes of each other in three separate events. The ransom? One billion dollars.

FBI Special Agent Nicky Gordon is trying to make sure that "One" never sees a penny of the ransom.

Fast-paced action seekers.

The fast-paced nature of the book. There is some humor and at least an attempt to make the characters well-rounded. It was a quick and easy read. Note there is some violence as well.

I stopped reading anything by James Patterson a long time ago, mainly because I felt there was almost an off-hand quality to any kind of character development.

I think that holds mostly true in this novel as well. I would have liked the authors to delve more deeply into the psychology behind the kidnapping and also the FBI agent's reasoning.

Double underscore my note in my book list not to read any more of this author's work.

It has the solid beginnings of a really good novel.

Is prolific! I don't think anyone's not read something by him. I do like his philanthropic work with budding authors, and often "writes" with other authors. Possibly to give the book a selling point? I wouldn't care if the books are worth reading.

I think a good attempt at a story merits a read. It's also a super-fast read, so you can buzz right through it.

See my notes above. Characters. Story. In depth. The complexity of those gives a book Flavor that lingers, rather than just a temporary taste.

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Created Jan 27, 2026 at 3:19pm • Submit your own review...