The Truant Officer

by Derek Ciccone

To have and to hold from this day forward...
Darren McLaughlin thinks he's having a nightmare as he watches his wife, Lilly, being abducted from a gas station in Chandler, Arizona. Things then go from bad to worse, when it's revealed that her captor is one of the students she taught at a local high school.

For better or worse...
In Manhattan, US Attorney Aaron Eicher cringes upon learning the identity of the man who abducted Lilly McLaughlin. Nick was the one thing holding his case together against the son of Russian crime boss, Viktor Sarvydas—but now his star witness was on the run, and in mortal danger. It is just the latest surprise in a case that went against everything he'd learned in school—when it came to the Russian Mafya 1+1=3.

Seeking refuge in Israel, fleeing the fallout of his son's arrest, Viktor Sarvydas smiles when he learns the news about Nick. He knows that it's now just a matter of time before he comes face to face with the man who was going to testify against his son.

With the FBI, media, and dueling Russian assassins in a cross-country race to get to Nick and Lilly, it becomes clear that the only one who can truly save them is Darren. Will he get to them first, or will...death do us part?

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Crime, Suspense

329 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2011

Reviews

[Sandra Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read!!!

Cannot wait to read something else, from this author. Nothing, or anyone is as they appear to be. Keeps you guessing!

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had some trouble getting into this book at the beginning. I found it to be slightly confusing, and difficult to follow. It did not grab my attention in the beginning. I gave it another chance, and once I got into the book, I found it to be more interesting as the story developed. There were a lot of twists and turns, often surprising me. I did not like the character of Lilly- and felt that her husband was left twisting in the wind by her and her "boyfriends". I was continually wishing that Darren would be less concerned about Lilly and more concerned about himself. Nick was a character I found difficult to trust - even while I sympathized with him.
I would love to read the sequel - very interested in seeing Darren move on.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

To have and to hold from this day forward....

Darren McLaughlin thinks he's having a nightmare as he watches his wife, Lily, being abducted from a gas station in Chandler, Arizona. Then things go from bad to worse when it is revealed that her captor is one of the students she taught at a local high school.

For better or worse....

In Manhattan, US Attorney Aaron Eicher cringes upon learning the identity of the man who abducted Lily McLaughlin. Nick was the one thing holding the case together against the son of Russian crime boss, Viktor Sarvydas - but now his star witness is on the run and in mortal danger. It's the latest surprise in a case that went against everything he'd learned in school - when it came to the Russian Mafia, 1+1=3.

I found it hard to get into this book. It was hard to follow and quite confusing. The pace is slow and everyone seems to be some kind of double agent. I nearly DNF this book, now I wish I had. It wasn't worth sticking with it.

#KindleBook

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely want to give up on a book part way through but I really struggled with this book and should have abandoned this one. I did not enjoy reading this book, I found it quite confusing with all the characters and the double crossings. Didn't warm to any of the characters, couldn't wait for it to end.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed this book I found it aggravating as well. Everyone seemed to be a double agent of some sort and this caused some confusion within the storyline. It would have been 5 stars if not for that.

[Michal Hild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it! Best of his best!

I have read almost all of his books, and his JP series and this is the best book ever!! I hope he keeps me twisting and confused like This book did forever!

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burner

This book started off slow but gradually turned into a page Turner. So many twists and turns. Enjoyed the ending

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh... started off good, pulled me right but felt as the story was going on it was very drawn out and somewhat predicatble at times.

[Paul Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, found myself struggling to carry on reading at times

[Eric HInsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not get into this book at all, even after trying several times from starting at the beginning so gave up.

[Dee DenBleyker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Ciccone starts the reader off with the kidnapping of airline pilot Darren McLaughlin's wife Lilly. There are many threads to follow...the main one being the Russian Mafia and that is where we are introduced to Nick Kellen. Nick is in the witness protection program having witnessed the murder of his father who was a part of that world. The writer takes us on a fast paced action packed adventure with many twists, turns, mystery and a surprise ending. I will say that I do think that the ending was a bit abrupt and left me wanting more. I would have liked to have had more resolution for some of the characters but that in no way detracted from the overall enjoyment of the book.

I first discovered this author by picking up a free offering on Amazon of his book The Trials of Max Q and feel he is now one of my favorite authors. I am a little surprised by some of the negative reviews on this site and that some readers didn't know what a Truant Officer was. I genuinely love Mr. Ciccone's work and am working my way through all is novels.

[Bobbi Steadman · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you download one of those thousands of 'free' kindle books, you think that there might be a chance this is decent, but chances are, it's not. It's probably boring, probably poorly written. But, for me, that wasn't the case with this book. The beginning was a bit slow, and somewhat boring, admittedly. By the time I read it, I had forgotten what it was supposed to be about, so I was thrown through a loop several times as the story developed. I was a bit disappointed in the ending as I had hoped that the beginning of a romance was forming between Darren and 'Fitzgerald', but I don't think the lack of the romance took away from the book. Overall, a great read and I would certainly pick up another one of this author's books.

[Grammar*Kitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nick’s wife is kidnapped, seemingly the latest in a string of gang-initiation kidnappings where women were kidnapped, beaten and raped. As the truth unfolds, he finds that a gang initiation would have been a merciful alternative, as a tangled web of lies and deceit unfolds before him, propelling him across the country and into another continent chasing her down, while he himself is hunted by an enemy nobody could predict. A fabulous thriller, the second book I have read by Ciccone, both of which have been free on Amazon. Both books I would happily have paid full price for!

[Dorel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by Derek Ciccone. I really don't like mob books but this really surprised me. I couldn't put it down once I started it. It took me about a week to finish reading it. I love that it is an action pack page turner. All the characters was well written. I love that it was full of surprises. I agree with all the 5 star reviews. I would definitly read more books by this author.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

To my dismay, I read this book twice. It seemed vaguely familiar as I read the second time, but I was already hooked by the story, as unlikely and changeable as it was, before I recognized that I had indeed read it before. I have to say I didn't like it any better the second time. It was disjointed and confusing, good guys became bad guys and vice versa every few pages. By the time I had finished it, I was sure that there were no good guys at all.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Initially I found this quite confusing, as I struggled to get my head around the backstory and to remember how all the characters related to each other. This was a bit easier as the novel progressed, but all the double agents and people lying about their identities didn't help. I felt that this was a good twist, but Ciccone took it too far and it got boring. Overall, I found this laborious and was relieved when it ended.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has short chapters and jumps from person to person.. by chapter 10 I was completely lost. I couldn't keep up with who did what and how anyone was connected so I gave up.. according to the Kindle I was 11% into the book. The book was an Amazon freebie tho so I can't complain. I just deleted it and moved on.

[Oma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little tedious in the beginning and hard to get into. But as Darren's character started getting more bold, I enjoyed it more. He was really the only "good" character so when he acting as a milquetoast husband, I was turned off by all the evil bolder players.
It was worth sticking with it to the end.

[Julie Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this an unusual read. It's a crime thriller of sorts with a rather odd take on how things would be in reality. However, I did think that, on the whole, it was well written. I liked the beginning, the mystery of who and why, although the story did have its twists and turns, and, if you could keep up, it was quite well done.

A story for those who like the unexpected.

[Rick Mekemson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I couldn't help but think I was wasting my time. I figured since none of the characters were worth caring about why should I keep on while I could be organizing my sock drawer or something else of equal value. You can't expect to like everything you pick up to read.

[Margie Mcgee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot of this book. There were a lot of characters to kept track of and sometimes that was difficult to achieve. There were a few too many double-crosses in this book for me, otherwise it would have been a five star book.

[Kim Rhoads]

Good read

kept me guessing the whole way through! I thought I had it figured out then something else would happen to make me change my mind. if you like crime novels you will enjoy this book.

[Amy]

Kindle

[Dorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

story moved very fast and was hard to put down. lots of characters in short, choppy chapters.

[Bettyjean Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it to be slightly confusing. It jumped all over the place. I did like the story in the end but was hard to keep tract of the which CHARACTER they were talking about.

[Katy Gaffney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous read from start to finish

[Hazel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interesting at all. The only reference to the title came on the very last page. A very disappointing read. In fact I have read other books in between!!!!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Didnt find it confusing at all and thought the twists were very well placed.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was full of twists and turns. I really liked it.

[Heidi Rothert · Rating 1 out of 5]

started but didn't finish.. not really something I was interested in. a little too dark and dirty for me.