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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780786889556
ISBN number: 0786889551
Label: Hyperion
Manufacturer: Hyperion
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 528
Printing Date: July 01, 1999
Publishing house: Hyperion
Sale Popularity Level: 192027
Studio: Hyperion
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Product Description:
A wave of babynappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland.And when the Pied Piper--named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims--claims his very first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way.But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary--so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department.They form a sub rosa task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley. Combining strong characterizations with an impressive command of both policing and pacing, Ridley Pearson, author of Chainof Evidence and Beyond Recognition, delivers another sure winner in this outing for Lou Boldt. --Jane Adams
Amazon.com Review:
A wave of babynappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper--named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims--claims his very first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way. But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary--so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department. They form a sub rosa task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley. Combining strong characterizations with an impressive command of both policing and pacing, Ridley Pearson, author of Chain of Evidence and Beyond Recognition, delivers another sure winner in this outing for Lou Boldt. --Jane Adams
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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The Bookcassette Adapter gives you balance control on your headphones and is so easy to use: Plug it into the stereo jack of your personal tapeplayer and then plug your headphones into the other side. The Bookcassette Adapter Works ONLY on Stereo Tapeplayers.
If you plan on listening to Bookcassette audio books on a stereo system where you can adjust the sound between the left and right speakers separately, such as a rack system with separate left and right speaker controls or a car stereo with a left and right balance dial, you will be able to listen to Bookcassette audio books without a problem. If you plan on listening to these audio books on a portable cassette player that does not have this capability, such as a Walkman with headphones, you will require an adapter.
As I said, it would be cheaper to buy it on the Internet, especially on eBay, instead of directly from the company (Brilliance Corporation) at 1-800-697-6797
Rated by buyers 
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I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Ridley Peason's books until I read this overlong diatribe.
The book is way too long. If he cut it down by about 150 pages, it would have been much, much better. Examples of his excessive writing are:
1- The 5 sex scenes between LaMoia and Hill. Two would have achieved his intended objective.
2- The episode in the airport. This could have been halved and still maintained its intended effect.
3- The final 100 pages could have been halved as well.
4- Chicken ending... vague and sucked. Flemming should have been arrested for murder, plain and simple. And re LeMoia being reinstated, etc., that part was vague as well.
In this one Pearson lost the plot and was trying to be too detailed which ruined the book... How many movies have you seen that could have been cut down? The same applies here.
Pearson is a good writer and I hope his anal writing in PP is not carried over into future books.
I gave this one star based, not on other books, but on other Pearson books.
Rated by buyers -
This was my very first Ridley Pearson, and I am so thankful to my friend for suggesting him! It was everything I look for in a mystery. Clever plot, believable characters, building suspense, and a satisfying ending. This is one of the few mysteries that actually uses it's brains to catch the bad guy, instead of discovering him by accident. The evidence does its job here, and they use it in ingenious ways. A great book!
Rated by buyers 
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In New Orleans, there is a home for orphan boys. Where do they come from? There is a kidnapper who travels the cities along the West coast in search of prey; called the Pied Piler because he leaves his calling card, a pennywhistle flute, in the cribs of the babies he has taken. When the FBI enters the search for this criminal, Lou Boldt in Seattle decides to take matters in his own hands along with skilled accomplices John and Daphne.
Because the kidnapper seems to be receiving information from inside the task force, which enables him to keep one step ahead of apprehension, he knows what is going on. As a consequence, he takes the detective's baby girl as bait to get him off his trail. He was a master at snatching unattended babies (and some he targeted) and disappear as the traveled from city to city.
Things get complex as Lou tries to rescue his little girl. He'd taken his wife, a cancer victim, out to eat in an old train car, one of Seattle's fish-house restaurants with ambiance. When the Piper took his child that evening, he felt like "he had stolen his life." Tracing him from a low-rent district to a meth lab in Seattle, then on to Portland (where their old theater has a marquee like the Tennessee in Knoxville -- identical in design), where things gets fishy, and on to New Orleans.
This suspense story of deceit and betrayal will keep you alive with the spirit and determination of a father out to find his child alive. The Piper is tracked to the home for destitute orphans in New Orleans. There was an orphanage in Memphis, Tennessee, where the matron was selling children to childless couples. In the movie, 'The Island,' breeders were chosen to have full-term babies for adoption, then disposed of gloriously as she thought she had been chosen to move to the Island.
Ridley Pearson has written PROBABLE CAUSE, NEVER LOOK BACK, and BEYOND RECOGNITION. His characters are believable and true-to-life in that kind of world. He keeps the readers coming back for more in his continuing sagas of unsavory happenings in the underworld of Seattle.
Rated by buyers 
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Just to let you know, I heard this book on tape, rather than having read it. I will discuss specific issues about the book on tape aspect of it at the end.
This was a scary, sad thriller. Children are being abducted from their bedrooms across Seattle and, in reality, all across the country and Seattle's finest are out to stop the kidnappings. Obstacles in their path include very poor teamwork with the FBI and there's another kidnapping very close to home...but I won't spoil it for you by telling you who.
Good police work ensues and it is satisfying to go along with the police as they slowly amass their clues and get closer and closer. Once the reader finds out the truth, there's still quite a bit of work to do to wrap it all up - including a cross-country chase.
Its a good, good thriller and I would have given it 5 stars but I am reviewing the abridged book on tape and I have some complaints:
1. The reader does great dialogue but is poor at reading non-dialogue - everything sounds breathless and over-hyped. Very William Shatner-esque, if you catch my meaning.
2. The abridgement apparantly left out a part of the story concerning Idaho - it is barely referenced on the very first tape and then the suspect has an injury on the face due to an accident suffered in Idaho that everyone seems to know about.
3. The tape is strangely edited. For example, side one - tape one ends in the middle of a sentence. The sentence starts over again on side 2 but still...
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