Paying the Piper by Simon Wood

We've seen where the sins of the father lead.

I was in the mood for some dessert, so I looked at Amazon's discount thrillers and found Paying the Piper.  I find that crime thrillers are pretty hit and miss; it's really hard to tread the line between suspenseful and believable.  This one did a pretty good job, though, and even surprised me a few times.  Usually the plot falls apart with even a modicum of critical thinking, but I only thought about this one a little bit and didn't see the twists coming.

Paying the Piper picks up eight years after Scott Fleetwood, a reporter for a San Francisco newspaper, is partly responsible for bungling the apprehension of a serial kidnapper.  He was convinced he had made contact with the Piper and led the FBI on what turned out to be a wild goose chase after an impostor.  In retribution, the Piper killed the child he had 'napped.  Now his mistakes come crashing back on him when the Piper kidnaps Fleetwood's own sons.

Wood switches points of view, even letting us in on the Piper's movements and thoughts, which I thought would diminish the suspense of the book.  I should have given Wood more credit, though, as he used the technique to keep the reader off his trail, even as he drops clues all along.

Overall, a quick, fun read.  If you don't think too hard about it you'll enjoy some clever twists.