How to write

Grace Brice is a star on the soccer field, even though she’s only ten years old (and a girl).  Her father, John,  is about to become a billionaire when his fledging company goes private and her mom just won another big case.  They’re on top of the world, until the worst thing imaginable happens. Grace is abducted. The FBI and small town police force are eager to solve the case, so when a local man and sexual offender is arrested, the case is closed with Grace presumed dead.  Her war-hero grandfather isn’t giving up so easily.   

One of the abductors had a distinctive tattoo.  Ben Brice, Gracie’s grandfather, has the same tattoo; a mark of honor for  green berets who fought in Vietnam.  Only Ben didn’t feel any honor when his commander massacred a village.  He is still haunted by the images of the dead, driven to seclusion  and alcoholism.  The war cost him everything; his son, his wife, his life, but he is unwilling to sacrifice Grace.  Ben knows that his former commander is behind Grace’s kidnapping and it is up to him to bring her home.

The race to save Grace takes Ben and John across the country to Idaho, to the compound of militant extremists.  Ben also returns to Vietnam reliving the horrific past in flashbacks. 

When I started reading The Abduction by sophomore writer Mark Gimenez,  I didn’t know what to expect.  What I got was a stew of stories, blended together in a complex concoction of coincidence (or providence) which was not altogether unsavory.  However, every great chef knows to blend a few fine ingredients and to stop before any flavor overpowers another.  Gimenez has not quite mastered this finesse, heaping in subplots and characters until none are distinguishable.