A humorous romantic suspense novel that’s fresh, quirky, and surprising! Find out why Snatched has been described as “Janet Evanovich meets the Coen Brothers.”Is an uncomplicated divorce and a fresh start at forty too much to ask? Apparently it is for Lucy Narby, whose life goes from blah to bizarro when competing kidnappers lock horns in her kitchen. And really, does the victor have to be that hot? If this is the Stockholm syndrome, it sure didn’t take her long to catch it!Lucy’s kidnapper calls himself Will but looks suspiciously like former child TV star Ricky Baines, whose acting career was cut short when he himself was snatched and held for ransom 25 years ago in a notorious cold case that remains unsolved. Will’s gang includes an aging French bombshell, an outlandish Irish giant with a mysterious past and a thing for Will’s sister, and long-lost Cousin Hal—a charming fellow who neglects to mention that he happens to be the twisted sociopath who kidnapped Will when he was still America’s favorite little star. Hal spent the past quarter century in the slammer for an unrelated murder, and now he’s out and determined to locate the $2 million ransom Will’s family paid. Someone else dug up the cash while Hal was behind bars, and that sort of thing tends to make twisted sociopaths a tad grouchy.Fortunately (or not), Lucy’s bigamous ex is on the case. But so are a gay private eye in a fat suit and a bad-tempered parrot with an ax to grind, so no worries. Everyone has a secret and no one is who he seems when Kidnap Fever strikes.
Pamela Burford comes from a funny family. You may take that any way you want. She was raised in a household that valued laughter above all, so of course the first thing she looked for in a husband was a sense of humor. Is it any wonder their grown kids are into stand-up comedy and improv? Oh, and here's another fun family fact: Pamela's identical twin sister, Patricia Ryan, aka P.B. Ryan, is also a published novelist. Patricia is the Good Twin, and yeah, Pamela knows what that makes her. But hey, Evil Twins have more fun.
It should come as no surprise that everything Pamela writes is infused with her own quirky brand of humor, from her feel-good contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels to her popular Jane Delaney mystery series, featuring snarky “Death Diva” Jane, her canine sidekick Sexy Beast, and a fun love triangle. Pamela's own beloved poodle, Murray, wants you to know that any similarities between himself and neurotic, high-strung Sexy Beast are purely coincidental.
Pamela is the proud founder and past president of Long Island Romance Writers. Her books have won awards and sold millions of copies, but what excites her most is hearing from readers. So swing by her website and say hi. And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for her newsletter. Not only will you learn about new releases and other fun stuff, but you'll receive a free ebook as her special thank-you.
For whatever reason, I really thought this book was going to be humorous (I know, I know...what's humorous about kidnapping and potential torture, huh?) Maybe it was the cover, maybe it was the brief blurb I read...but for some reason, I thought this was going to be a screwball comedy sort of book.
Sadly, it wasn't. It was intense at times, with a very, very bad villain that I wanted to take out myself, but that I knew would be put down eventually. I bonded with the main characters, and I got invested in them. For that, I am grateful...otherwise, I probably would not have lasted very long. As it was, I did finish the book.
However, this book is not my cup o' tea. I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I like escapism books, not gut wrenching ones. If you like thrilly, scary, books, (with a dash of hetro sex...because, yes...there is SEX in this book, which is something that I wasn't exactly expecting,) then this book is for you.
It did read fairly quick, was about the right size (I never was bored and desired to skip ahead,) and unlike some readers, I didn't think there were too many characters in the book. Some typos here and there (to be expected,) so I can't complain about that.
The initial plotline seemingly dwindled after a third of the book letting other storylines evolve. I had no idea where the book was going to go next and enjoyed every minute. I'd recommend it to my friends for sure.
Who Dunnit? I laughed out loud reading this fun and funny cozy mystery. Is this going to be made into a movie? It should. Clever and cute with hysterical characters.
I only got a little ways into this book, and realized, it's not for me. seems like it's going to end up with steamy bondage stuff, and I'm not interested.
I tried reading this. Way too much foul language and sexual innuendos and that's only the 1/3 of the book I got through. Didn't finish - don't want to.
This book was a romp. Poor Lucy gets kidnapped right in the middle of a divorce and then EVERYTHING goes sideways. There’s two sets of kidnappers, a not-so-evil twin, a child star, a parrot, a French seductress, a runaway, a dim witted druggie, a fastidious polygamist, a giant Irish man, a pet rat, a psycho, a guy with a Hannibal Lector fetish, and grumpy former maid who curses in Mandarin. What a fun read!
Good read, started too imagine all the characters. It was so bizarre that all these characters came together to finally answer the Kidnapping of a child 25 years before.
Didn't finish after page 175ish. This book is strange, and not really in a good way. It isn't what you think it is at all. I think I read in the synopsis that there was 'a little humor and a bunch of interesting characters coming together in an interesting way'. But this is a little misleading. There is zero humor. Not even an attempt at humor. The whole tone of the book is weird. It's a little creepy. And, again, not in a good way. What Will does for a living is just kinda disturbing. I was interested in the romance aspect between him and Lucy, but how can I root for a character and his romance when he does what he does. What he does alone maybe wouldn't be a deal breaker if the author had managed to make him more endearing somehow. Or done a better job at character development. But she just didn't. there were a bunch of other characters too and the way they all get tangled together is somewhat interesting. The authors attempt to weave an interesting, layered tale wasn't totally unsuccessful. It was a bit far fetched, but still mildly entertaining. But what made me want to stop reading was the romance. Or I should say, lack there of. Seriously the relationship developement between Lucy and Will is absolutely nonexistent. They have a handful of very brief interactions and then all of the sudden they start making out. It was so odd and out of place and came out of nowhere that I immediately wanted to stop reading. It took me right out of the story. I felt like there was a huge chunk of the story that had been left out or something. Like The part where they get to know one another somewhat and then some sort of hinting at wanting to be with eachother or just something. Sure, there are a couple of off handed comments inner monologued by the two characters slightly hinting at sexual interest but that's the extent of it. But to top it off, they don't even really get together the rest of the book after that kiss. It was such a let down. The trajectory of their romance just tanked after that one semi sexual encounter. So I just wanted to give a heads up about that aspect. But the rest of the plot is somewhat interesting, like I said before. There isn't a ton of mystery since the book is written in like a million people's points of view it feels like. So we know everyone's motives and what they've done in the past and what they are thinking and everything. But really the author just needed to spend more time on bringing the story to life more. Painting a better picture of Will and his family. Because they all just came across as creepy. Like, I was picturing them in the woods in a weird house with these torture rooms where kids lived too and it just is too off putting. I see the author tried to make them all seem like really good people, it was just tricky to do given the weird situation of what Will actually does. Especially since we don't know exactly what he does until after we've established our first impression of him and everyone involved. And the first impression isn't very good and shrouded in mystery. We don't know if he's a good guy or bad and then the fact that he's bringing kidnapped victims in his home with his children gives off a bad vibe that's hard to overcome. So those are the reasons it's just a strange book. It isn't horribly written and there aren't any annoying cliches. It's definitely unique. I just couldn't really get into it. I wasn't connecting with the characters and the relationship developments needed more work.
I really loved the first half of this novel. It's clever, witty, and the author has such a fun and unique voice. My problem is somewhere between one-third to one-half of the novel, the immediate conflict is resolved. Other conflicts are introduced, not to mention a cast of quirky characters, but they just couldn't hold my attention the way the original conflict had. To be fair, the author does a great job of developing her characters. Hal, for example, is a sociopath, yet has some interesting traits that make him almost likable (such as his distaste for Mick's preference towards younger girls). I love it when a writer creates dimension within the antagonist instead of just defaulting to a cookie cutter 'bad guy.' And it wasn't just Hal-- I felt like Pamela Burford accomplished this with almost all of her characters. Character-profiling is definitely one of her superpowers. Unfortunately the further I got into the novel, the more I found that I was "forcing" myself to keep reading. I think my biggest problem was I really wanted to spend more time with the main character, Lucy, but I was being forced to dwell in a slew of minor characters' stories. It was also getting more and more difficult to see how Lucy's abduction even connected with the overall story arc. It felt like the author really wanted to explore this intriguing concept of fantasy abductions but couldn't quite make it work for an entire novel. In a way, this seemed like two unrelated stories packaged in one cover.
The writing is so clever, however, that I feel tempted to check out some other novels by Burford. She has an amazingly fresh voice that somehow manages to stay light and humorous, even amidst dark/disturbing subject matters. I'd recommend you try out the novel for yourself. If you have a little more reading stamina than I do and can push through the middle of the book, it might be worth it in the end.
"Snatched" is a crazy, mixed up, conglomerate of too many subplots and too many characters. Keeping those characters straight was a chore, especially since so many of them had alternate names. Will was actually Ricky, Keith was actually Hal, Archie (and at one point, Joe) was actually Wesley. It got rather confusing, especially since there was so much going on at the same time! The story kept flipping from a kidnapping 25 years ago to today's kidnapping, which wasn't really a kidnapping. It seems that some people actually want to be kidnapped and will pay to have their fantasy played out. But when the victim doesn't know it's all play-acting, things get really weird. It was funny... in an outrageously silly way, especially when additional kidnappers showed up who were hired by someone else.
In the midst of all this humor, we got some gruesome stuff too. During the kidnapping of a young boy 25 years ago, the kidnapper whacked off the finger of the kid. Ugh! Then there was this son-of-a-monster who constantly had his mind in the gutter and talked about having sex with young girls. Ugh! Ugh! At one point I actually hoped the bad guy would shoot Mick and get it over with.
I have to say that Pamela Burford did create some interesting characters. And the main plot was fun and interesting... but stopped about a third way through the book. Then all these subplots took over. I almost lost total interest and put the book down, but I did like the characters and had to see how the author would tie all these loose ends up together.
I love Pamela Burford's books but "Snatched" is out in left field from what I expected. From the book description I thought it was kind of a madcap whodunnit. The story does have some zany moments but, comedy it ain't. The main character is a sociopath hunting for the 2 million dollars he buried before he went to prison on an unrelated murder charge. There are other important characters and subplots, one of which involves "fantasy" abductions. While there were some laugh-out-loud parts, it also included some really intense action and so many characters I almost needed a program to keep track. I had a hard time putting together a houseful of mostly unrelated characters, several of whom could only be described as bizarre, and throwing in a cold-blooded psychopath capable of abducting a child and cutting off his finger, only to return 25 years later hunting for his buried treasure. Call me dull and unoriginal but fantasizing about being abducted is beyond the pale. And for those who find amusement in psychotic behavior, I dunno. I never did figure out what this story was supposed to be, thus my 3 star rating.
This was delightfully humorous for my first read by this author. Though there were an over abundance of characters, so many as to literally confuse the reader, they were all a quirky, lovable bunch, even the villains were adorably stupid..lol. By chapter 16, you can kind of get a handle of all the characters, unfortunately it's not even halfway into the book so you know you still have so much more mystery to piece together. The good thing is that even though there are so many goofy characters, right when you're asking yourself WTF they have to do with the story, the author brings everything together quite nicely, so you have to keep reading past all the craziness to get to the core of the madness!
FYI: While there is some sexual attraction and tension between two couples, there's only some kissing, light groping/petting and the one sexual act is just glossed over, nothing crude nor crass, figured I'd mentioned this for your prudes/scaredy cats who panic at the thought or mention of the word SEX!
This book was actually pretty interesting. I liked that the story line was more complex and had no problem following the cast of characters. Even with all those characters, there was enough character development on all of them. And the plot was well developed.
The down side is that there seemed to be a lot of missing scenes. For example, once Lucy realized who set it up, she knew the safe word. Then it jumps to Will taking her home and he believes she hadn't hired him. There is no explanation of how he reacts to finding out that she really never hired him or how she manage to convince him that it was really her twin who hired him. This should have been a big deal because it completely influences his view of her afterwards, especially as he has thus far been thinking of her as a manipulative 'blank' and as it could open him up to negative liability because suddenly this was actually a real kidnapping.
My first impression of the book was that it was over complicated with too many players, however the author managed to pull that off fairly well and still maintain a lighthearted feel despite the potentially dark topics. However, the biggest failing was among all the chaos of this story the author forgot to actually do a romance, at least for the main characters -- Judith and Fergus had a better developed relationship. The places where Will and Lucy interacted were mostly off screen, so to the reader they went from having one slightly charged interaction during her captivity to nearly screwing during her visit the next day. I don't have a problem with the relationship being a side thing (except in that their supposed feelings become central for the plot) since this technically isn't a romance novel, but we should at least feel like the two have something real developing rather than just being told they do.
-------------Minor plot reveal-------------- 25 years ago a child star was abducted and a 2 million dollar ransom was paid. Today the former star has his own business, abducting people who want to experience the thrill. The only problem is Lucy did not know or pay for a abduction. What to do? -------------------------------------------------
Well I enjoyed this and couldn't put it down as the plot twisted and turned. This story was packed with quirky characters, each pursuing their own plans, plots and agendas till it became very hard to tell where the story would head. Even though there was a identifiable H/h, others were so active and strong, that the main characters faded away from time to time. Nevertheless this is a book worth reading, very original and will definitely hold your attention till the end.
I've read other books by Pamela Burford and really enjoyed them, but this one didn't sit with me. I barely even made it to the end.
Have you ever made a batch of chocolate chip cookies that had so many chocolate chips, the cookies just wouldn't stay together? I felt like this story had too many chocolate chips.
Lucy gets kidnapped, somewhere in the course of a day, develops feelings for the kidnapper, and by the time she's back home half a dozen other plot lines have emerged. We go chapters and chapters without hearing about or thinking about Lucy. Is she the main character? I'm confused. She feels like a background plot device.
There's just so much going on that I don't want to put here to avoid spoilers.
There's lots of good ideas/arcs, and characters in the book, but you can have too much of a good thing.
Starts out pretty interesting when Lucy, a newly separated woman, is kidnapped in her home. During the kidnapping a second duo of kidnappers show up to kidnap her as well. We later learn that Lucy's twin Ethel arranged the initial kidnapping as a practical joke and the kidnappers thought they were being paid by Lucy herself. Meanwhile Lucy's ex Frank arranged the second kidnap attempt as a last effort to woo Lucy by playing the hero when he found and rescued her. The book loses its luster about half way thru and becomes pretty predictable after that. Lucy falls in love with her kidnapper "will" aka Ricky Barnes, a child actor tuwho also was kidnapped as a child ironically enough. All in all the book was ok but could have been a little more interesting
Lucy Narby is going through a divorce. No one ever said going through a divorce would be easy. Well, this divorce is about to get extra spicy. In the middle of divorce, Lucy is kidnapped on her birthday in her home. The kidnapping seems a bit too well placed. How can the kidnappers know so much about Lucy and why does the lead kidnapper look so familiar. The story is filled quirky characters and unexpected turns. The story was entertaining but I couldn't really get into the story. It could have been because there was a lot of characters to keep track of and the many little plots going on. Not a bad book but it's just not for me -- I found it hard to get into the book.
A bit riveting once you get into it and learn all the characters. Fully developed characters that are shown even with flaws. The only part that really disturbed me was when Hal was after Quint. I didn't know if he would quit and I was getting angry. (Haha , yea, it's just a story). This could be a good series. Just don't let anything happy to Quint, ok ? Would like to see Tom get in to acting and play the part in the movie being made. Maybe she could even get Quint a part. Btw, I had a Hazel with a mouth. I got her to stop screaming and swearing. It took less than 6 months
This book was a surprise; what I thought was going to be a lighthearted romance novel turned out to be a much deeper and more developed experience. Romance was present, but not at all front and center. The real story here was Will and Judith, to my mind, a brother and sister finding their way through a deep betrayal to real healing. Almost all the characters felt like unique, real people and were very engaging. The apparent main love story was probably the weakest point of the novel, actually. Well worth reading, with something for pretty much everyone, very original. I will read more by this author.
I found this to be a fun and delightful read. Although there were a lot of characters to remember, the cast was interesting and varied. It's not very often that I read a romantic mystery where the budding relationship is between an older woman and a younger man. I thought Will's occupation was quite unusual and creative on the part of the author. The main plot and the sub-plot were woven together nicely. Really like the characters, although I definitely would keep my distance if I had a sister who pulled pranks on me like the one in the story! Several laugh out loud moments.
A rollicking tale of errors begins with two kidnapping attempts at the same time and those aren't even really what put our lead in danger, but she doesn't know that. Keeping up with the twists and turns of this one require that the reader be open to the unexpected. An unusual business venture, a ex who just won't give up and a murderer/kidnapper who will do anything to get his hands on the money he had to leave behind keep this novel moving that will keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat.
Great read by Pamela Burford. Lots of twists and turns in the plot line, character development, suspense, and humor. I found myself laughing out loud at times. Ms. Burford is great at creating smart dialogue between her characters. This is one of my favourite books by Ms. Burford and I have read it over several times. Probably because I wish there was more or even more books with these characters.Snatched
I have had this book for years and years and finally decided to read it. I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I’m usually not a fan of mysteries but this one was wild! It does have a slow start to it, but once you get into the thick of it it’s pretty stellar! The characters were a bit hard to keep track of at first but once you got into it it was enjoyable. Definitely not what I was expecting. I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did or gasp. I almost missed a work shift to finish the book!
40 yo woman separated from her husband, living alone in their McMansion, gets kidnapped by two different groups, no idea why. First chapter was funny. Not a romance - mystery light?
What a wacky ride. Goofy suspense with a light sprinkling of romance. There were so many characters and so many sub-plots that I have to admire that Ms. Burford brought it all together in a nice, tidy bow. Overall, an interesting read.
I almost did not finish this book. Not at all what I expected. Kidnapping, yes, because of the title, but add in $2 million in missing money, bigamy, murder, an ex convict just released, and three love stories. I am glad I finished, but all the tangled and intertwined stories and events past and present did strain credulity. The writing was entertaining,and the pace non stop.
THIS WAS FUNNY AS HELL I LOVE QUIRKY AND THIS IS SUPER CRAZY QUIRKYLISCIOUS IT WAS GREAT. SORT OF CONFUSING AT TIMES HARD TO TELL JUST WHO ARE THE BAD GUYS, INSANE AND FABULOUSLY FUNNY WITH MANY WTF MOMENTS, AROUND 20% I HAD GUSSED WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON AT RICKY’S PLACE BUT THE OTHER STUFF WAS A MIXED-UP MESS. DAMN! IT HAD ME WORRIED WITH SO MANY TWIST & TURNS PARTS IN IT. A WONDERFUL FUNNY AND FUN READ I LOVED IT. ;D