Coincidence?

Ben Brice is a central character in this book by Mark Gimenez called “The Abduction”. He is a decorated hero from the Vietnam war but he lives alone and drinks a lot to forget things about the war. He cannot understand why certain events have happened in his life. He remembers his mother telling him God had a plan for his life but fails to see it. The only time he does not drink is when his grand daughter comes to visit with him.

One night after drinking he has another one of his recurring nightmares but there is a twist in the end of it. Instead of seeing the face of the Vietnamese girl begging for help in his past, he sees the face of his grand daughter. This seems to coincide with the abduction of his grand daughter – an abduction for which there is no apparent reason. Is this a kidnap for reward? Her father is on the verge of becoming a billionaire - but no ransom demand is made. Is this prompted by a child molester? “Evidence” seems to point to this and a convicted sex offender is taken into custody. But he professes innocence and kills himself while in jail – and Gracie is still missing. Ben sees this as a mission - to find and get her back – he has visions and still feels connections with her.

A photo of the kidnapper from behind revealed a tattoo that places a connection with Ben’s past in Vietnam. Is this kidnapping an act of revenge against him as he suspects? Or is this a coincidence? Ben does not know but follows the trail. He knows the people he is dealing with and knows it will be a difficult (but not impossible) situation to get his grand daughter back. He and his son (who has not had anything to do with him) go after Gracie.

Nothing is simple about this story / plot. There are so many twists revealed throughout the book that shed more light on what seems like unrelated events. They also reveal some surprises – like a planned assassination of the President of the United States.

I find it hard to really summarize this story – without revealing too much. At first I thought there were too many coincidences to be believable but found the theme was consistent. As Ben learns through this experience (and as his mother had told him), " God has a plan for him and this was how he discovered everything was connected. It was in my opinion a very good book. This is the second book I have read by Mark Gimenez and it was different from the first. I am impressed by his writing skills and plan to read the next book by him.

Mystery? Legal Thriller? How should this book be classified or described? I do not know. But I can say it was good!!!

The author -Mark Gimenez- was suggested to me by several people to me including my local librarian and members of my mystery book discussion group. He is a Texas author and The Color of Law was his first book.

There is a murder in the book - the son of a United States Senator/potential presidential candidate. The accused is a prostitute / drug user. A. Scott Fenney is a lawyer for a big firm in Dallas. He is introduced in the book when he is telling jokes and making a speech in front of some other lawyers. He is campaigning to become the state bar president. Little does he know how this speech is going to change his life because a federal judge is at the luncheon where he is making this speech. This federal judge appoints him to be the lawyer for the accused murderer mentioned earlier. Representing the accused is a conflict for the firm he works for. Refusing to jeopardizes the firm's future cases in this judge's court. Continuing this case will bring unwanted publicity for the Senator and that is not good for the firm.

Scott does everything he can think of in order to get out of the predicament he is in - but to no avail. He finally accepts the position he is in and the results are disastrous on his life. He loses his job, his wife, his house, and his cars. And it appears he is going to lose the case as well. All this is hard for somebody who has thrived on making his life a success. Most of the focus of the book is on the time between this appointment as defense and before the trial actually begins. It is during the trial when everything seems almost hopeless that Scott finally realizes the truth about his client and the murder. He had assumed his client was responsible but he was obligated to defend her. He finally realizes she is not responsible and must uncover the truth in order to free his client. Well he succeeds and frees his client but his (and his daughter's) life has been forever changed.

Fiction? Yes. But believable. I will read the other books he has written - The Abduction and The Perk.