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5 comments about Joseph's Kidnapping: Extortion in Canton.

1. ACE and the boys are at it again! I don't want to give away the surprise (gotta read it yourself!!). Once again, Randy Rawls spins a wonderful Texas tale that includes my two favorite characters, Striker and Sweeper. Ace and the boys have a ball getting to the bottom of the latest mystery. Recommend it for all.



2. If you liked Randy Rawls previous book, you'll love this one.
   Joseph's Kidnapping has more unexpected twists and turns than a sack full of snakes. It's a good mystery with enough clues to make you fell you're working side by side with Dallas private investigator, Ace Edwards.
   Two inept kidnappers with a single-minded greed have grabbed Joseph and are demanding a ransom from rancher Chip Jamison. Chip calls his old college friend Ace to solve the case.
   In the small East Texas town of Canton, Ace is misled, threatened, lied to and loved by a parade of characters including an eccentric rancher, his man-eating sister, a tough female lawyer who hate everything in pants and files lawsuits faster than she talks, quirky servantys and two cats that seem to have the answers.
   You can smell and feel the pinewoods in Rawls' words. Like all his books, this is an easy, satisfying read that exposes the hidden lives in small Texas towns. It's filled with humor and fun.
   Readers looking for an exciting mystery writer with a twisted sense of humor will love Randy Rawls.



3. We're back in another quaint Texas town with my special PI, Ace Edwards. Helping to solve the mystery are my two favorite cats, Sweeper and Striker. The three take us on a roller coaster ride well worth the admission price. Just who is Joseph? You'll have to read the book to find out. And while you're reading you'll be bequiled with humor and characters. Buy Joseph's Kidnapping. You'll be richer for the experience.




4. 
   When private investigator Ace Edwards is roused by the shrill of his phone in the dead of the night, he's not thrilled to hear the voice of an old college buddy on the other end. But his buddy sounds desperate and Edwards is in no position to turn down a paying job. He's also admittedly a little intrigued, and how could he not be? The buddy wants Edwards to save his ...-- literally.

   With that premise, author Randy Rawls spins Edwards on a caper bigger than the Texas landscape on which the story is placed. It's no small adventure, and at times the cowboy P.I. feels a little out of place on the sprawling ranch where he bunks while trying to separate the good guys from the bad guys. But he brings his trusty companions with him -- two cats -- and in short order develops yet another friend, this one with long legs, a husky voice, and amorous intentions as vexing as they are attractive. Her name is Wanda, and between the push-me, pull-me relationship she offers and the increasing complexities of a kidnapping that evolves into murder, Edwards has his hands full.

   Not to worry. Even if Edwards doesn't always know what he's doing, his creator surely does. Rawls skillfully paints his characters in affectionate and humorous terms that makes them as comfortable as family. Put another way: You'll want to take them home with you. By the time you've finished the story, you'll also want to eat. In Rawls' world, meals are the size of Montana, which in context of Texas probably makes sense.

   As for the college buddy...? Rawls might just fool you with that one. Let him. The point isn't to outwit the private eye. It's to enjoy the ride with him.

   "Joseph's Kidnapping" is Rawls' second Ace Edwards mystery. It's a well-crafted story penned by a writer who clearly knows how to tweak the ordinary into something refreshingly new. Buy it, read, then pester Rawls for a third. He could become addictive.




5. Seems like 3AM is the start of the workday for Ace Edwards. Not the time of day, or night, he would choose, but it seems to be the time of the morning when his phone rings with the frantic calls for his PI services. And just like before, when Jake Adams' house burned down, again the phone rings at 3 AM disturbing the sleep of Ace, and his two partners, Striker and Sweeper. Not only that, but also this time it also interrupted Jakes rendezvous with Terri, the love of his life, whom now can only appear in his dreams.

   Oh well...that is to be expected when you become the "super cop from Dallas". The hero who solved the murder case that no one else could.

   This time it wasn't a house that had burned down, nor was it even a murder, yet. But to the caller, Chip Jamison, one of Ace's college football buddies, it was every bit as important. Joseph has been kidnapped, and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom. If they aren't paid immediately they are going to harm, or worse yet, kill Joseph. And since Ace is so good at his job, Chip knows that he can rescue Joseph. Besides Jake was the one who told Chip about Ace to begin with. What better recommendation could there be!

   Ace needs the money; there is no getting around that. When Chip tells him that he will pay enough money to pay off all of his outstanding bills, and set him up for a while, how can Ace turn the guy down. So off to Canton, Ace goes. Just one problem, in the entire wangling and dealing Ace forgot to find out just who in the world Joseph is.

   As Ace arrives at Chip's sprawling ranch he is immediately impressed with the size and grandeur of the place. He is at also both intrigued, and amused, at the way the servants, Frank and Annie, are dressed and act. However, he soon comes to discover many other strange things in Canton. Among these things is the fact that Wanda, Chip's sister has set her eyes on him and isn't going to let go. Of course one look at Wanda and Ace isn't in any hurry to get away anyway.

   JOSEPH'S KIDNAPPING is absolutely fantastic. The story is full of fast suspense, humor, and reads smoothly without a confusing plot. All told from Jake's point of view. You soon come to the last pages and don't even realize that you have been reading all that time. JOSEPH'S KIDNAPPING as with all of Rusty Rawls books, play like a movie in your head. One that you don't want to miss any of, thus you just sit glued to the pages until that last sentence.

   JOSEPH'S KIDNAPPING keeps your attention with action, adventure, love, lust and murder, all wrapped in a huge package of the wittiest humor you can imagine. One minute you will be sitting on the edge of your chair as Ace finds himself facing danger, and the next wiping tears of laughter from your eyes as Ace is trying to rid his home of a very unwelcome visitor. Ace's "partners" are just the topping on the cake. Labeled as "Attack Cat's" these two certainly live up to their name, however it is usually Ace who gets attacked.

   JOSEPH'S KIDNAPPING is Mr.Rawls' second Ace Edwards mystery and I totally recommend it to everyone. It is a story you do not want to miss, by an author that completely draws you in and grabs your attention so fiercely you will only want more. Mr. Rawls is around to stay for a very long time, and I don't plan to miss one word that he writes. Buy it, read, it. And then sit back and wait patiently for another adventure with Ace, and his two partners Striker and Sweeper to receive another 3 AM call, so you can again go on that adventure with the three of them. I am. Randy Rawls has become addictive. And I don't want to be cured of the addiction.

No comments about World events spur kidnap ins. sales. (California & The Western States): An article from: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management.

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1 comments about Sokaiya: Extortion, Protection, and the Japanese Corporation (East Gate Books).

1. Provides a look at Japan's seedy relationship with corporate extortion and the surprising symbiosis that exists. Also very readable and easy to read, organized well.

No comments about Moss denies battery claim; Patriots star back in spotlight; calls woman's allegation 'extortion'.(Sports): An article from: Winnipeg Free Press.

No comments about James Norris and the decline of boxing.

5 comments about Outsmart (Wessex Papers).

1. instead it was better. Usually i don't just go to a bookstore and buy books on a whim, but i remebered reading an excert of it in the back of another book i loved (# 7 in the fingerprint series) and i bought all 3 at one time. They are hillarious. personally my favorite characters are Hobson and Makensie. Ones going through and identity an race crisis while the other is thought to be oblivious to everything but is on the right track before anyone else. Noah, Sunday and Fred and Allison will grow on you to and evetually you'll wish these people actually existed and you knew them. Any teen with an odd sense of humor would love the whit and irony that Daniel Parker uses in all three of her book.



2. After just witnessing what they believed was a murder, Fred and Sunday are on the run, taking refuge in Sunday's summer house. What comes to them as a great surprise is that someone else has been hiding there too, Noah Percy. It turns out Noah is afraid of confronting his parents after recently getting expelled for having sex with a teacher, and getting caught on tape too. What Noah doesn't know is that it is all a conspiracy called "Operation Time Capsule". As Fred, Sunday, and Noah work together they begin to put the pieces together and everything pretty much comes to light. Unfortnately two more surprises are on their way. One: Allison shows up at the summerhouse too. It turns out after Allison found out Sunday was missing she started looking for her and figured Sunday had to be at the summerhouse. Two: The murderer shows up too and threatnes them to give him $200,000 dollars or else. Deperate the four teens go back to school and devise a plan with the help of Mackenzie and Hobson to catch the thieves with their own game.

   I first got interested in these books after reading the excerpt in Payback: Fingerprints #7, another series I love. I must say this series was no disappointment. Though it had some weird humor it was still satisfying to read. You wish all the characters are real, even Allison! My favorite character has got to be Noah, though Mackenzie is a close second. I recommend everyone to read this trilogy as Daniel Parker's way of writing is perfect in a weird way. Her irony works right with this type of story. A must-read!




3. I loved all the books.I was so happy about how at the end Sunday could never decide what her and Fred were. And then the very last page said they both went to Georgetown i was so happy i think i almost cried seriously you must read this whole series



4. Well ill make this short. I loved it! I wanted to be in it. I wished it was real. Please read it if you havent. Im having problems reading other books because this trilogy just cant escape my mind. Please Daniel Parker make another wessex papers. Or something!



5. This book is very facinating. There are two kids in college and they have plans on what they are going to do while they are there. Their not good plans except for one or two. Not many kids go by the rules at Wessex College. Most of them get caught with breaking the rules and some get expelled.
   What I liked most about this book was it always made me wonder what was going to happen next. This book is very interesting and exciting. What I didnt about this was it was confusing at some ponts. Sometimes it would skip around and I couldn't really tell what was happening at some points.
   My favorite character was Sunday. the reason she is my favorite character is because she seems like some one that would listen to what people have to say, and she would be fun to hang out with. It's a great book but I really couldn't relate to it.
   If I could tell people about the book, I would tell them just a little about it, and how good it is. I would also tell them that they should read it. One question I have abot this book is what was the purpose for Noah to sleep with his teacher, Mrs. Burkes? It makes people think twice on something wrong they are going to do.

No comments about BLACKMAIL: An entry from Thomson Gale's <i>West's Encyclopedia of American Law</i>.