Rating: 
Summary: A Super Heroine Who has My Name
Review: So I opened the book and much to my surprise, the heroine had my name. Talk about identifying with a character, that'll do it, least for me, just drew me right in. But I'd've been drawn right into the book whether or not the strong female protagonist had my name, because I like reading about strong women who don't go running to a man as soon as they get into trouble. And boy does the Sara Hackett in the story get in trouble.
She's a racecar drive just back from a race in Australia. She plans on making her hubby Clay's favorite dinner, but when she gets home, she comes face to face with her police officer husband's very pregnant girlfriend. Worse, she finds out that Clay abuses her. Then she finds out that her niece Kelly, who she and Clay have been raising, has been kidnapped and the kidnappers want a ransom she can't pay. Before she can adjust to that, she hears on the news that software giant Cyril Radoslaw's daughter has been kidnapped too and now she knows Clay has to be behind the crimes, because he has just been hired as head of the software man's security.
To make matters worse, her house burns down with Radoslaw dead inside and the police, led by her husband, think she killed him and started the fire. She has to avoid the cops and find the girls before the kidnappers harm them.
Sara is a super character who never gives up and in her quest to save her niece, she enlists the aid of a determined old woman and her faithful dog Sherman, who support her every step of the way, while she follows one clue, than another, overcomes one hurdle, than another as she races against time to save Kelly. This is one terrific action-packed tale that you won't be able to put down and I'd say that even if the Sara Hackett in the book hadn't stolen my name.
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Summary: Desperate Heroine and a Bad Guy with Nothing to Lose
Review: "Rice stared into the mirror behind the bar. Death stared back. Even filtered through the smoky haze, he saw it, clear as if it were lit up." And so begins one of the most exciting thrillers I've read in ages. Rice is just out of prison, has AIDs and has been hired by Huntington Beach Police Officer Clay Tredway to kidnap a rich software developer's two children.Clay's wife Sara is in the middle of an off road car race in Australia and while she's gone, Clay wants Rice to kidnap her niece Kelly as well. Sara and Clay have custody of the child, but it's being contested by her wealthy grandmother and Clay figures as long as he has Rice kidnapping two children, one more will be a piece of cake, especially since he can arrange it so Rice can't possibly get caught. Rice doesn't want to do it. It's just too much, but he's afraid of Clay and besides there's that AIDs business. If he gets away with the crimes, then he can live out his remaining days in comfort and if he fails, well he's used to jail. When Sara gets back from Australia she finds another woman in her house and swiftly learns that Kelly has been kidnapped. Then her darling and caring husband gets her framed for murder. So now you have the premise of this book that I couldn't put down. You have a bad guy with nothing to lose and a heroine on the run who is desperate to save her niece. Mr. Douglas had me hanging on every page and tomorrow I'm ordering another one of his books.
Rating:
Summary: They Kidnapped the Wrong Children
Review: A no good cop hires two losers to kidnapped his wife's niece and the daughter of a billionaire software developer. The cop's wife is a race car driver and as independent as they come, so when she returns from a race and finds her niece kidnapped, she quickly puts it all together, but before she can accuse her husband, the software developer is killed and our heroine is on the run. But she's not exactly running from the cops, she's running after the bad guys who have taken the kids. Meanwhile the girls have escaped and are leading the kidnappers on a desperate chase through some muddy and grimy Central California oil and cattle fields. This book is full of non-stop, nerve-wrenching action and I really, really identified with those kidnapped girls. I can't recommend it highly enough. If it's thrills you're after, look no further.
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Summary: Grabbed My Eyeballs and Glued them to the Page!
Review: After a wild ride with "Firestorm" by Iris Johansen, I decided to settle down with what I thought would be a slow mystery. Boy was I ever wrong, "Desperation Moon" grabbed my by my eyeballs from the first sentence and kept them glued to the pages long into the night. Kelly Hackett and Paige Radoslaw have been kidnapped and Kelly's Aunt, Racecar Driver Sara Hackett is supposed to pay a million dollars to get them back. Well Paige's father was supposed to pay as well, but he's been murdered and his body was dumped in Sara's bed, so not only does she have to come up with the ransom she doesn't have, but the cops are after her for murder. And the cop most eager to catch her is the scumiest cop of them all, Sara's own husband, who, by the way, engineered the kidnappings. You won't want to miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Facinating, Exciting, Terrific and Suspenseful!! I loved it!
Review: I sat down and read the first page of this book and didn't come up for air until I had finished it!! This hasn't happened in a long time. Sara is a feminine, strong and resourceful woman who returns from Australia to find her niece kidnapped, and a pregnant stranger living in her home - with her husband (who masterminded the kidnappings, the scumbag).
In addition to Sara's niece, Kelly, another girl has been abducted at the same time (the bad guys are looking for double the payoff). The two girls are no pushovers, however, and do their best to excape their captors.
There is no shortage of action and suspense from beginning to end.
This is a great book and I since this book I have read Ken Douglas's Running Scared, and Diamond Sky(written by Ken and Jack Stewart). Every one of thse books got my pulse pounding and me rooting for the heroines.
By the way Jack Stewart writes nail- biting adventure books too. I have read Hurricane by Stewart and Tangerine Dreams (I believe it was a joint venture of these two authors). I hope both these men keep writing because I have become hooked on their brand of excitement and suspense. I have recommended them to several of my friends at work and to you too!
Rating:
Summary: Fast-Paced, Super Read
Review: I went straight from Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" to "Desperation Moon" on one of those hot and rainy weekends we can get in Nashville. One of those weekends that can make you feel cooped up in the house, but you know, with back to back thrillers, the sultry weekend flew by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it, I was getting ready to go to work on a bright and sunny Monday morning.
This book starts out with race car driver Sara Hackett blazing a trail across the Australian desert in a wicked fast off road rally, but her mind is on her adopted niece back home in California and she wrecks her car, so she goes home early, where she finds her husband's pregnant girlfriend in her house, plus she learns that her adopted niece has been kidnapped. It doesn't take long for her to figure out her husband, who is a cop, is behind the kidnapping, but he has Sara framed for murder, so even if she could tell someone, they wouldn't believe her.
And there you have the gist of this non-stop, high speed thriller that will have you gnashing your teeth while you flip through the pages as Sara frantically races the clock in a desperate attempt to save her niece with both some very bad guys hot on her trail. Bad guys behind, bad guys up ahead in this fast-paced story that is just a super read.
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Summary: Desperate Woman, Desperate Girls and a Desperation Moon
Review: It was just before midnight, Sunday finished, Monday and a new work week coming up. I'd just finished James Patterson's 1st TO DIE and wasn't sleepy yet. I'd spent the last two nights with Mr. Patterson and wasn't eager to start a new book, but like I said, I wasn't sleepy, so I started DESPERATION MOON, big mistake, because not only did I not get any sleep, I was still reading on the Metro as it spirited me to work. I read through my break, finishing during lunch. Boy was I dragging when 4:30 rolled around. The book starts out in Australia with racecar driver Sara Hackett wrecking her car on an off road race between Sydney and Darwin. She's supposed to go on to Papua New Guinea next, but she sends her navigator sister on with the car and hurries home to California, because she's worried about her niece Kelly, who she is raising. When she gets home she discovers that Kelly and the daughter of a rich software developer have been kidnapped. Someone kills the developer, deposits the body in Sara's bed and burns down her house. Her husband Clay, who is behind the kidnapping, is a police officer who wants out of his marriage. Kelly's grandmother is rich and so was the software guy. Sara figures out Clay is behind the kidnapping and the murder, but the cops are after her for the crime, so she is on the run. Meanwhile, the girls have escaped and they're on the run too, with some very bad men hot on their trail. Sara is on the trail of the kidnappers and Clay and the cops are on Sara's trail. So you can see why I didn't get any sleep. Fortunately I work for the government and my job is secure. However I should know better. Pretty dumb, trying to do two books in one night, especially books by these two guys. I won't do that again. One book a night is plenty. Oh yes, as far as I'm concerned you can't go wrong with DESPERATION MOON. Highly recommended.
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Summary: All of a Sudden Her Life is Upside Down
Review: Race Car Driver Sara Hackett comes back from a desert off road race in Australia to find the niece she has been caring for kidnapped, her husband's pregnant lover living in her house and then she's framed for murder and her house burns down. All in all not the best of homecomings. All of a sudden she is on the run, has to come up with a ransom she doesn't have, has no home and then she figures out her police officer husband is the head bad guy.
And that's just the beginning of this super-fantastic thriller. I had a good time with this book. I liked Sara, didn't like the disease ridden Rice, the hireling who snatched Sara's niece and another girl. I felt sorry for Gundry, the kidnapper who isn't playing with a full deck and I loathed the two-timing, louse of a husband Sara is married to. Yes, some of the characters were stinkers, but not the book, the book was great.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-Paced, Action-filled and a Dog to Die for
Review: Race Car driver Sara Hackett comes home from a grueling race in Australia a few days early and finds a pregnant woman living in her house, her niece kidnapped and her husband out of control. Her hubby is a cop and also the head of security for a Bill Gates type software tycoon. It turns out that Mr. Tycoon's daughter has also disappeared and Sara puts it together that her husband is behind it all as her niece's paternal grandmother is wealthy. Hubby wants to cash in big one time, then check out with the pregnant bimbo.
The rich guy won't pay, so hubby murders him and frames Sara for the deed. Now she is on the run with the cops hot on her tail. She has to get of Dodge. She also has to find the girls before the dim witted guards hired to watch them harm them. This one is just a thrill a minute. Fast-paced, action-filled, a couple tough little girls to die for, a swell old lady and a German Shepherd dog that is simply super are just some of the elements of this terrific book. I just loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes Kidnapping isn't all it's Cracked to Be
Review: Racecar driver Sara Hackett is a the top of her sport. She races all over the world, has a police officer husband at home in Huntington Beach, California and is raising her dead sister's seven-year-old niece Kelly, who she loves very much. However Kelly's wealthy paternal grandmother Estelle, who lives in Hawaii, is fighting Sara for custody. Rice is recently out of prison, has aids, is looking for a quick score and doesn't think twice about kidnapping Kelly, but when Sara's cop husband wants him to kidnap wealthy software guru Cyril Radoslaw's two kids as well, Rice balks. He doesn't mind kidnapping Clay's wife's niece, after all, how could he get caught, Clay's a cop and married to Sara, so he could guarantee the safe delivery of the ransom. Kidnapping two more kids just complicates things. But Clay and his police officer partner Jerry Dunn moonlight as Radoslaw's security and Clay convinces Rice that the job will be just as easy as his wife's niece. Rice and slow thinking Gundry Dunn, Jerry's brother, manage to kidnap Kelly, but when they try for Radoslaw's kids, a fourteen-year-old girl named Paige and her younger brother Peter, Peter gets away. The pair take the girls up to an oil field near Colinga, halfway to San Francisco, where Gundry works as a watchman. Meanwhile back in Huntington Beach, Sara's house burns to the ground and Cyril Radoslaw's body is discovered in Sara's bed. The cops think she killed him. Sara knows her husband did it and she thinks it's because Radoslaw wouldn't pay the ransom. Up in Colinga the girls get away and are alone in the pitch dark oil field, hiding first here, then there, with Gundry and Rice always after them, forcing them to stay on the move. Sara figures out where the girls are being held and with the help of Dottie, an old woman who drives a classic '56 Ford, and her German Shepherd named Sherman, she races to save them. But time is running short as Gundry and Rice have decided that alive the girls are just too much trouble. When they catch them the plan to eliminate them. Mr. Douglas does a superb job here. The bad guys were truly bad, Sara was truly heroic, Dottie is an excellent sidekick, Sherman is just simply outstanding, and the girls, those frightened, plucky little girls were to die for. But it's the ending of the book that makes it so very memorable. I've read other books by Ken Douglas and I have to say, he just keeps getting better. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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