The Abduction - Hardcover

Holt, Jonathan

3.88

931 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062267043 ISBN 13: 9780062267047

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2014

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The Abduction is the heart-pounding, adrenaline-fuelled follow up to Jonathan Holt’s highly acclaimed international thriller The Abomination—a modern tale of mystery, treachery, and intrigue that moves between the physical and virtual worlds of Venice, Italy, blurring the boundary between dark fantasy and terrifying reality.

An unlikely trio must form an alliance to save a kidnapped young girl and untangle a nefarious plot that reaches back decades.

Second Lieutenant Holly Boland is an intelligence analyst trained to look for clues ordinary investigators miss. When a U.S. army officer’s daughter is kidnapped from an American base in Venice, Holly is sure that the mysterious abductors want more than a ransom.

Venetian police captain Kat Tapo has found a webcam feed embedded in the encrypted website Carnivia.com, a virtual Venice. It streams video of a terrified teenage girl, hooded and tied to a chair. A strand of text scrolls across the screen: “Sensory deprivation is not torture.” Is the girl the missing daughter of the American military officer? Who is behind the cryptic message?

Daniele Barbo, the genius webmaster and creator of Carnivia, has never let the government access his servers, and finding the missing girl is not his problem. But then secrets from Italy’s dark wartime past begin to surface—revelations that could put them all in danger. To save his own skin, Daniel must decide how far he’s willing to let them in.

In a race against time, Holly, Kat, and Daniel must find the shocking truth . . . or watch as more than one innocent life is sacrificed.

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Review:

Enthralling . Holt deftly avoids prurience or gratuity while conveying the horror of walling, waterboarding, and similar practices raising troubling questions about how the U.S. defines its allies and foes, and how it treats both. --Publishers Weekly"

Holt gives us excruciating suspense in the kidnapping narrative, suspense that s heightened by also presenting the victim s shifting point of view, from a benign This is a matter of business to unraveled terror. --Booklist"

"Enthralling.... Holt deftly avoids prurience or gratuity while conveying the horror of walling, waterboarding, and similar practices... raising troubling questions about how the U.S. defines its allies and foes, and how it treats both."--Publishers Weekly

"Holt gives us excruciating suspense in the kidnapping narrative, suspense that's heightened by also presenting the victim's shifting point of view, from a benign 'This is a matter of business' to unraveled terror."--Booklist

From the Back Cover:

The Abduction is an adrenaline-fuelled tale of mystery and intrigue that moves between the physical world of Venice, Italy, and its online counterpart, blurring the boundary between dark fantasy and even darker reality.

Captain Kat Tapo of the Venice Carabinieri knows that the social media site Carnivia.com harbors disturbing secrets—she's already endured one encounter with this digital incarnation of Venice and its creator, the reclusive hacker Daniele Barbo. But she's shocked to discover a webcam feed that streams video of a terrified teenage girl, hooded and shackled. A strand of text repeatedly scrolls across the screen: Stressful Standing Is Not Torture.

At the same time, Second Lieutenant Holly Boland is desperately trying to find the daughter of a US Army officer, missing from an American military base near the city. An intelligence analyst trained to look for clues that others miss, Holly is sure the kidnappers are after more than just money.

When responsibility is claimed by a group demanding an end to US bases in Italy, it seems that the motive behind the kidnapping is clear. But the more the two women investigate, the more the case becomes as murky as the dark waters of Venice's lagoon itself.

Uncooperative at the best of times, Daniele has never before allowed Carnivia.com to yield its hidden truths to the authorities. But when secrets from Italy's complicated wartime past begin to surface, revelations that could put them all in danger, he must make a difficult choice. How far will he let them in? If the shocking truth is not discovered, more than one innocent life will be sacrificed....

With The Abduction, the second book in the Carnivia Trilogy, Jonathan Holt delivers a heart-pounding sequel to his acclaimed international thriller The Abomination.

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