Paying The Piper [Kindle Edition]

If you're looking to get pulled in and pumped up by a truly kick-ass suspense novel, then this book is for you! Simon Wood's Paying the Piper is a pure adrenaline rush that will have you hanging by the edge of your seat while clawing at your heartstrings. Mr. Wood tells the tale of a parent's worst nightmare, the kidnapping of a child and the unrelenting attempts to get them back! The excitement begins as soon as you open the book, the story moving along at a swift and thrilling pace. The storyline is fantastic and the characters are complex and diverse. I saw and felt this novel come to life as I'm sure many readers have and will!

Right off the bat we are introduced to Scott Fleetwood, a crime reporter for the Independent, as he races his way across town to his children's elementary school. His wife had just called with horrible, life-altering news...their son had been kidnapped! Every parent hopes and prays for their children to be kept safe from such a tragedy, but Scott had almost expected it. Just eight years ago Scott had made a terrible mistake and put publicity and a good story above bringing down the bad guy. Scott believed the man on the phone was The Piper, a serial kidnapper contacting him personally to tell his story. This was huge, or it would've been had he really been speaking with The Piper. Scott soon realized he had been duped when the area's highly feared kidnapper became a cold-blooded killer, showing the F.B.I., the news and Scott that they had made a grave mistake in ignoring his demands. A young boy had been killed and Scott has been blamed by all for his death. Now, after eight years his children were being used as pawns in this sick and vengeful game that The Piper had waited long enough to play. Scott wanted his children back and was willing to get them no matter the cost. It was time to pay The Piper.

I highly recommend reading this book to just about anyone! I was completely engaged in this story from the beginning and found myself emotionally vested in the main character's course to get his kids back. There were twists and turns I never saw coming, keeping the storyline fresh and invigorating! Loved this book!

Hazel O'Shea
Written for the Juniper Grove Blog

One such place is a fictional bar called Justice Served. Located between the fictional courthouse and the fictional FBI field office, it's a little too upscale for the likes of "Make my Day Callahan" and Harry Bosch. Most of the clients are judges, lawyers and FBI agents.
Particularly FBI agents.
Trainee Clarice Starling drops in once or twice a week. She sips Southern Comfort and 7UP and stuns her girlfriends by telling them about her developing relationship with Hannibal Lector. (Yes, yes, I know it's a dreadful combination, Southern Comfort and 7UP, but that's our Clarice - and her taste in drinks is every bit as bad as her taste in men.)
Profiler Benton Wesley is a regular. Benton, to hear him tell it, has finally become as fed-up with his needy girlfriend, Kay Scarpetta, as the rest of us. (He's thinking of going back into witness protection to get away from her.)
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is said to drop by often, but nobody knows for sure. (He's such an incredible master of disguise. Nobody ever recognizes him.)
But the real pillar of the establishment, the guy you'll find there every day of the week, soaking up draft beers and whiskey chasers like there's no tomorrow, is Tom Shiels,
What? You haven't heard of Tom? Then you haven't yet read Simon Wood's Paying the Piper.
Paying the Piper (Leisure Fiction)
Stick around, and I'll try to explain why you should.
Tom Shiel's creator doesn't paint him as a man who consumes immoderate amounts of alcohol . But Tom has more reason to drink than most of the other patrons. (Yes, even Benton Wesley.) And when I think of Tom, that's where I place him, propping up the bar at Justice Served.
Without me giving too much away, bear with me while I tell you a little about what drives him to drink.
First of all, there's the hate triangle between him, a newspaper reporter and a serial-kidnapper. (Hate triangles are similar to love triangles, but with animosity replacing affection - and no sex.)
Shiels, for years, has been holding the reporter, Scott Fleetwood, partially responsible for the death of the kidnapper's last victim.
Ironically, so does the kidnapper, whom the media has dubbed the Piper.
Scott can't be persecuted for what he's done, technically it's not a crime, but Shiels so despises him that he never wants to see him again - and hasn't for eight long years.
And, during those eight years, the trail of the Piper has gone cold. It's the most galling failure of Shiel's career - and his problems are just beginning.
Sammy, one of Scott's sons, is kidnapped.
That forces the two men, Shiels and Scott, to work together - the last thing either one of them wants.
Scott then makes it worse by revealing himself to be the most obstinate and difficult of parents. And he starts making his own decisions about how he's going to get his son back. The duplicity he practices with the FBI agent almost gets Shiels killed - twice.
All of that sound bad enough?
It gets worse.
Scott's other son is snatched.
And, while the previous kidnappings have been motivated by money, it soon becomes evident that this one is motivated by something else.
But you wouldn't want me to give anything away, would you?
Read the book. It's a cracking good story that moves with the speed of an express train.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.