Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11524.33 | Fiction literature | 21 September 2011
3
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian
Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr is one of the best figures in the world of detective fiction, which is illustrated by number five in this funny series. Used book seller, Bernie has sticky fingers that make him the least suspected amateur detective in the genre. The supporting players in this romp are equal to Bernie. A ransom of a Mondrian for a kidnapped cat it an outrageous beginning. This Bernie demands a good art reference to make it really shine.
On assignment in the Philippines, archaeologist Annja Creed meets with a contact to verify some information. Easy enough. But when the man doesn't turn out to be whom he said he was, Annja finds herself handcuffed, blindfolded and kidnapped. And to make matters worse, she's a prisoner of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf, a notorious terrorist group.
Maybe Abby Knight shouldn't have chosen a home and garden show sponsored by Uniworld Food as the venue for her protest against the corporation's harmful farming practices. But being bodily removed from the event won't stop her campaign. Nor will a burning brick thrown through her flower shop's window. After she narrowly escapes being kidnapped three times, Abby calls in the big guns-her ex-Ranger boyfriend Marco and her friends and family. And then the stakes are raised by murder...
Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: “You have something I want. You’re the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don’t hear from you, you will be childless.” His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone’s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Andrew Douglas works for a company specializing in returning kidnap victims to their families. Italy's foremost woman jockey is kidnapped, then a racehorse owner's son and finally the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club. Douglas is brought in to deal with these cases.
