The Danger by Dick Francis covers a series of kidnappings in England, Italy, and the US, in the horseracing world. Andrew Douglas, a private detective who specializes in finding victims and negotiating with kidnappers, helps solve all these crimes.
I highly recommend any thriller by Dick Francis
Douglas and the firm he works for know a lot about kidnappings. Usually, the criminals target the wealthy. This private force of detectives and kidnap specialists collaborate with the police to save the victims. Sometimes the police cooperates with Douglas’ firm. On other occasions, the police hate taking orders from an organization which flies under the radar. And things do not end up so well.
I learned a lot from this book: how to avoid getting kidnapped in broad daylight, for instance; what they do to victims while they negotiate with the relatives; how to keep sane in captivity; why most of the time the sum they ask for is huge at first etc. Nobody should have to go through such an ordeal.
These Dick Francis books keep me so entertained, I could read all of them for the rest of the year. However, I have to remember the long list of classics or nonfiction books I need to read. And so I put these books down with the promise that I will, one day, pick up another one.
