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Read The Wrong Hostage (2007)

The Wrong Hostage (2007)

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Rating
3.83 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0060829834 (ISBN13: 9780060829834)
Language
English
Publisher
avon

The Wrong Hostage (2007) - Plot & Excerpts

The Wrong Hostage3.5 StarsGrace Silva is a federal judge backed into a corner when her teenage son is taken hostage by Mexican drug traffickers. With time running out, Grace turns to the only man she has ever loved and the one who believes she betrayed him 16 years ago: Joe Faroe, an operative with St. Kilda’s Consulting. As Grace and Joe work together to save her son, old feelings resurface and old secrets come to light. Can Grace and Joe leave the past behind to rescue her child before it is too late?Series note: Although this is book #2 in the series, it can be read as a standalone as there is no connection to the previous installment either in terms of plot or characters. Despite the rather stereotypical and prejudiced portrayal of Mexico and Mexicans and the somewhat far-fetched and convoluted storyline, The Wrong Hostage is fast-paced and action packed with a touch of romance.Grace and Joe’s romance takes a back seat to the drug cartel/money laundering storyline. Nevertheless, they have an interesting backstory (which could have been better developed) and some solid chemistry. The secret keeping trope is thankfully kept to a minimum and leads to very little angst although what there is, is believable given the circumstances. The best aspect of the story is Grace with her no nonsense, take no prisoners attitude and her transition from a naive believer in the rule of law to a woman who understand the realities of life. There are definitely no TSTL moments from this heroine and her reactions to her dirtbag ex made me smile. Joe is your typical alpha male, covert operative, but he is exceedingly good at his job and his actions and decisions are appropriate and believable. It doesn't hurt that he is very yummy!The secondary characters from the enigmatic head of St. Kilda’s to Grace’s willful teenage son to the disgusting drug lord and his minions are all fleshed out well and contribute to the overall effect of the story. If there is one small nitpick, it is that some passages are overly descriptive and the book could have been 50 pages shorter. All in all, the likable characters and suspenseful storyline make this a worthwhile read.

It seems that Elizabeth Lowell is trying to break in a new series these days: books all centered around St. Kilda Consulting, a group of freelancers who are apparently "consultants" who go in and do tough jobs regular governmental types won't. Like, in the case of this particular novel, rescuing a teenaged boy from being held hostage by a Mexican gangster. It's too early to tell yet whether this set of stories will develop the same elan as the Donovan series or the related Rarities Unlimited one--much will depend upon which characters are recurring and, of those, which stay interesting.This book does have a couple of interesting side characters connected with St. Kilda, the leader of whom is noteworthy even if there's something of a cross between Professor X and Remington Steele to him. A couple of his side assistants are also on screen long enough to show enough character quirks to make a bit of an impact, and I suspect quite a few of them will be showing up in subsequent novels.And of course you have your pretty basic hero and heroine. This time around they're a bit unusual in that they've both got non-white ethnic heritage, which is a bit of a nice switch for these sorts of novels. Pretty standard "heroine must call upon the only man she ever wuvved to get her ass out of a jam", and the plot twist involving the real reason he needs to come help her isn't surprising. I will give Lowell points, though, for keeping the angst about that plot twist to a minimum. Points off, though, for another heroine driving an SUV. Three stars over all, I think.

What do You think about The Wrong Hostage (2007)?

SPOILER ALERT!Ms. Lowell' s descriptive monologue rendered through Judge Grace Silva, as she drove through Mexico to see her smartaleck son, Lane, who was being held hostage at All Saints' Catholic School, had you gripped with a foreshadowing of 'things' to come. Throughout the novel, she cleverly embeds some realistic facts on the true nature of the USA / Mexico's political-economic relationship, and why our nation's 'war on drugs' has been such a horrendous failure, despite the billions of dollars thrown at it, since the Reagan Era.This novel was a blend of the movies, 'A-Team' and 'Taken', in book form. Joe F., who was truly Lane' s biological dad, unbeknowst to the both of them,, had to rescue Lane from Hector, the butcher, leader of the largest Mexican drug cartel. The St. Kilda' s security team, headed by Ambassador Steele, was able to formulate a plan within the forty-eight hour deadline, which not only rescued Lane, but had the Judge executing Hector after she tendered her resignation from the federal bench.The novel was well written, with an amazing plot, and great character development, so much that I truly despised Ted Franklin, the ex-husband /legal father of Lane, and the person who gave him, as collateral to Hector. I was slightly perplexed, as to how easily the judge tendered her position to the federal bench, but I realized she would not have desired it once she realized how tainted it was achieved. The ending I was a tad disappointing, as I would have preferred. Joe and Grace to finally enjoy each other after all these years apart, and not be associated with St. Kilda even in a managerial aspect. Joe needs to go to his TAZ with Grace and 'get it on' . I highly recommend this novel.
—Gwen

#2 in the St. Kilda Consulting mystery series. It is a for hire company which operates behind the scenes and gets things done that governments and real world justice agencies aren't able to accomplish. This story takes place in north western Mexico involves Mexican drug lords and an American high powered businessman who appears to be swindling the drug lord out of multimillions. The business man has placed his son as a hostage to the drug lord who is threatening to kill the boy if the business man doesn't come up with the money and other things. The mother hires St. Kilda to rescue her son.The story moves quite quickly and is action packed with macho people, plots, counter plots, and U.S. government agencies. The story is pretty standard for this genre in that there's a good guy who operates outside the law who can pretty much accomplish anything, romance between the lead female and male characters, stumbling bumbling bad guys, and U.S. government agencies. One can pretty much predict the conclusion, but it was still an enjoyable read.
—George

Elizabeth Lowell has been one of my favorite writers for years even though I've not read anything of hers in a while. I was in the right mood and this was in my queue...I'm a little peeved that this is the second in a series (I hate reading out of order), but I really don't feel that I missed that much. Joe and Grace were good characters, better than I thought they'd be at first. In fact, I have no complaints on that end. The story made sense to me and it was chock full of realistic details...too full at times. I'd get so caught up in the background of the world that going back into the plot was a little jarring at times.That being said I can't wait to read more about St. Kilda.
—Alice

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