Kliatt: Kehret, Peg. Abduction

KEHRET, Peg. Abduction. Penguin, Dutton. 224p. c2004. 0-525-47294-0. $16.99. J

Bonnie is a pretty typical seventh grade student. She is responsible for her six-year-old brother after school and so she leaves the middle school directly to join her brother in the bus line and get him home. But on this Friday her brother isn't standing in the line waiting for her. In fact, he has disappeared from the elementary school. The school is searched, the teachers are brought in, and finally the police arrive, but Matt Stolter is still missing, abducted by his father. Denny Thurman is a desperate man and intends to use Matt to get money to pay off gambling debts. He disguises himself to cover his tracks and uses a pet dog to lure Matt away. While Bonnie and her mother talk to news media, hang posters, and wait for news, Denny hides Matt in an apartment and tells him that his mother and sister have died. After a week, Matt is bored and Denny needs more money--fast. Matt, Bonnie and Denny end up at a Mariners game in Safeco Field where the situation goes from coincidence to climax.

The novel follows the situation at home and at Denny's as the sense of loss and missed clues mount up. Coincidence provides much of the suspense. There is little violence and the story is happily resolved. Janis Flint-Ferguson, Assoc. Prof. of English, Jordon College, Wenham, MA