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Wilson, Robert - 'Capital Punishment'
Paperback: 416 pages (Jan. 2014) Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409139026

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT is an absolutely outstanding first book of a new series by Robert Wilson, a very experienced writer with ten successful books already behind him.

Charlie Boxer is a former Scotland Yard detective who has decided to specialise in high stakes kidnap hostage negotiation. He is hired by a billionaire Indian mogul whose beautiful daughter Alyshia D'Cruz has been kidnapped from a black cab on her way home from a work celebration in March 2012. Boxer, teams up with his ex-wife, investigative cop Mercy Danqhah, to try and locate the kidnap victim.

They set themselves up in the house of Isobel D'Cruz, the London home of the ex-wife and mother of the kidnapped victim and await contact from the kidnappers. The billionaire Indian mogul has had an illustrious career and upset an awful lot of people in his rise to the top but Boxer is aware of this. Despite the vast amount of money the father of the missing girl can obtain, it seems the kidnappers are not interested but intend to play a cruel game.

The book switches between scenes of the kidnapped girl and her torment and difficulty at being questioned over and over by her captors who want to know lots of detail about her father's business and personal life stretching over decades in India, Pakistan and England. We also hear about the various telephone calls that Isobel D'Cruz has with the kidnappers, in which Boxer listens in, and his dealing with the various personnel in his company and MI5 and MI6 who are involved in the background. Also we hear Boxer relating with his ex-wife and problems they are having on a personal level with their teenage daughter.

There are a lot of other aspects to this story as we hear the kidnappers' back story and a lot of MI5 and MI6 investigations going on in the background, and government involvement in their concern that Alyshia D'Cruz's father, brings in a lot of taxes to the country and needs support and help to keep the kidnap out of the media.

I have read many books in the past that have dealt with kidnap but this one is unlike anything I have ever read before. It was so interesting because the story was constantly changing and twisting and turning and it has such a lot of detail with all the different characters. You suspect the story will follow a certain pattern and then something quite unexpected happens and it moves off in a different direction. I couldn't put it down.

I have read a lot of Robert Wilson books before, but I'm excited that he has introduced this new series after finishing the Javier Falcon detective stories and his African series. I'm looking forward to reading his next one YOU WILL NEVER FIND ME. Well recommended.

Terry Halligan, England
May 2014

Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.



last updated 28/09/2014 09:40