From School Library Journal
Sam's mother disappears; his divorced father nervously announces that she suddenly decided to take a vacation, and a coded message arrives via mail from her friend Davis, a journalist who has also dropped from sight. When a pair of bumbling prowlers drop some clues within Sam's hearing, he and his friend Mo are off on the hunt. After a series of chases, captures, escapes, and confrontations, the story comes out. Local businessman Victor Witcham wants to build housing on land adjacent to an old nuclear waste storage facility by suppressing reports that it has been judged unsafe; he kidnapped Sam's mother when she uncovered the scheme. In a contrived climactic scene, Witcham panics, tries to make a getaway, and drowns in the attempt. Taylor tries to enlist sympathy for Witcham by giving him a tragic past, and despite occasional threats, there's little overt violence in the story, but the nuclear waste remains an abstract danger. There are few surprises in character (the bad guys are all officious, stupid, and/or physically disfigured), and the plot is fueled by convenient coincidences. A fair British thriller. --John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
