Trans Am

by Robert Ryan, Joel Richards (Reading)

Two all-American families are plunged into the nightmare of human trafficking in this spine-chilling noir. When he isn’t playing softball or coaching Little League, Jim Barry is quizzing his five-year-old on batting averages. He is a persuasive ambassador for America’s pastime, so much so that a foreign neighbor asks him to teach his son how to play. One tragic swing of the bat later, the boy is dead and Jim’s whole world is reduced to an impossible Hand over his own son as a replacement, or die alongside the rest of his family. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a young boy is abducted and his single mother vows to do whatever it takes to bring him back. At the intersection of these two tragedies, a sinister network is exposed, and the deadly, all-consuming passion of familial bonds revealed.

Genres: Crime

MP3 CD

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

aka Tom Neale

Robert Ryan was born in Liverpool but moved to London when he was eighteen to attend university. He lectured in natural sciences for several years before moving into journalism in the mid-1980s, first with The Face and then the Dylan Jones-edited Arena. During this time, he also wrote for The Daily Telegraph, US GQ, US Conde Nast Traveler, Esquire and The Sunday Times.

Robert Ryan lives in North London with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Daniel Proctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

the most savage, disturbing and unsettling book I've read, and that's saying something!

[Chandrashekar Gangaraju · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing. The author has woven Serbian genocide with Black Hawk down with fertility black market quite well. A bit confusing at the beginning as it is difficult to keep up with the various strands of the story.

[Christopher Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this started well with a number of seemingly separate stories. I realised that these would all coalesce as the tale went on and this is indeed what happened.

I have really enjoyed the Rob Ryan Dr Watson series, set in World War I so this was a completely different type of book from this author, for me at least.

Thought it worked reasonably well with a fairly convoluted plot and, without giving too much away, a high octane denouement. Overall only gave this a three star as not convinced some of the characters were well enough drawn for the reader to really care too much what ultimately happened to them.
Quite enjoyable though and if you like this sort of book you should find this well worth reading.

[Jo Boxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harsh but justifiable - stick with it, you can't second guess it.