The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold by Cate Holahan

Thomas & Mercer, 2025

ISBN: 9781662529764

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy:  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

If you want to know how to turn an old plotline into something entirely new that no one has thought of, author Cate Holahan is clearly a good person to ask. Here, it’s the old ‘kidnap a rich couple’s kid for ransom’ shtick. The idea has been tweaked before, with the old Mel Gibson film Ransom coming to mind, where Mel offered the demanded ransom payment as a bounty on the kidnappers instead. Not only has Holahan come up with something much wilder (and written it very well, I might add) she also manages to use this country’s current obsession with artificial intelligence as part of the plot’s backbone. If you like mystery/thrillers, this is a must-get.

I’ll try to give the basics without spoiling it. Catherine and Brian Ingold fill in the rich couple role, Brian is kind of like the Elon Musk of AI– very driven, very wealthy… and, perhaps, a bit nutty. Their 19 year old daughter, Alice, is kidnapped. Here’s where it gets fun, and the plot rides off on a brand new track. The kidnappers make no ransom demands, but instead send riddles to solve, leading the family, the cops, and the FBI all over the country. The notes are made available to the public, as the kidnappers demand, and it turns the hunt for Alice into the craziest version of a nationwide scavenger hunt.

What makes this so great is that Holahan, with her plotting, is always two steps ahead of the reader, and she excels at going to unexpected places. Example: when the mystery of the kidnapping is solved, you would expect that to be the final climax of the book, right? Not even close– it’s only about the halfway point of the book! The story zips off on a new thread that still relates to the old one, but you’ll never see it coming. The twists and turns continue right to the end, Hitchcock himself would be proud of this one. The difference is, the pacing in this is much faster than the pacing ol’ Hitch used in his films.

The way the author uses the whole concept of A.I. in the book deserves mention also. As my fans (all two or three of them) know, I dislike tying in novels to current day events, the tendency of people to do that and try to make every book a statement really irks me. In this case, I’ll make an exception. The whole idea of A.I. and where it is taking us as a society is a big part of the idea behind the book, but, key point: it’s part of the plot. This isn’t a book written just to prove a point. Instead, through the actions and opinions of the characters in the book, the author asks some very good questions about where the whole thing is headed, and whether or not it is worth it. It’s a smart author that can get readers to think about these things, yet avoid preaching their own personal opinion, whatever that may be. Both the pro and con sides of the idea help define the actions of the book characters, and it may cause you to start asking questions yourself.

The bottom line is: don’t miss this one, just pony up the dough and get it. You won’t regret it. The only thing I would change is the cover art, it’s a clunker. After reading this, the real mystery to me is: how the hell have I not heard of this author before? I’m not making that mistake again! Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson