Narrated by David Thorpe.
Released 1st March 2021 by Isis Audio.
From the cover:
Kramer and Carver are back…Madeline Kramer has finally got her life back on track at top City law firm Sullivan, Blake, Monroe. But when two armed, masked men burst into a conference room one lunchtime, kidnapping a trainee and a partner, Maddy’s life is plunged into disarray once more—particularly when charismatic DCI Jake Carver, who caught a heartless killer when they last met and with whom Maddy shared a mutual chemistry, is called to the scene.
Things become more complicated when a disturbing video reveals two more trainees have been taken. What initially appears as a random kidnapping for mercenary gain soon evolves into something far more complex, the horrifying events of thirty years ago motivating the abductors and having colossal implications for those in the present...
Against a backdrop of sleaze, sex, lies and murder in The Abduction, Maddy and Carver must work together to unravel the truth, and ensure that no crimes—past or present—are left unpunished.
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I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to meeting up with Maddy Kramer and DCI Carver once again in their second crime thriller, The Abduction, after thoroughly enjoying their first gripping crime story, The Scribe (review here).
Lawyer, Maddy Kramer is finally back on an even keel after her traumatic experiences in The Scribe and is working for another top City legal firm, where she has been concentrating on getting ahead in her career. She has neither seen, nor heard from, DCI Carver since the Scribe case was closed, but she often thinks about him, and the chemistry that existed between them.
But Maddy is not destined for the quiet life just yet, as masked raiders burst into a boring lunchtime meeting at her new firm and abduct a young trainee and one of the partners. Events are further complicated when it appears that two more of the firm's young trainees have also been abducted... and the senior partner has been sent an incriminating video and some rather personal demands in terms of the ransom required.
Maddy is set reeling by this turn of events, but she is also more than a little interested in finding out what is going on here. And then, who should walk back into her life once more? Well, DCI Carver, of course.... and the attraction between them is as strong as ever.
Kramer and Carver are back together, and along with Carver's new team and the ever faithful Drake, this time they are after a gang of kidnappers who appear to be on rather an unusual crusade. Can they get to the bottom of this twisty case? Can Kramer and Carver ignore the attraction that lies between them? That's for me to know, and you to find out - although I will say that some interesting things happen between Kramer and Carver, which made me very happy indeed, and I absolutely loved the feisty new team members.
A.A. Chaudhuri sets out quite a different crime adventure for Kramer and Carver this time around, but it is every bit as engaging and twisty as their first, and I was very pleased to hear the dulcet tones of David Thorpe once again as the narrator, because he is so good at bringing all the characters alive - not an easy task when there is such an air of romantic suspense between two of them, which could easily come off as cringey, but instead you can positively feel the passionate sparks fly.
From the outset, there is something a bit off about the nature of the kidnapping and the motives of the abductors, and this is what makes The Abduction such a delight - for our villains are not your normal gangland thugs out for a bit of filthy lucre, and the best of intentions lie at the heart of their carefully plotted scheme. Of course, as the old adage goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and things do not go quite as smoothly as they were hoping with Kramer and Carver on their tail.
One of the things I most enjoy about A.A. Chaudhuri's books is that she likes to play with a few nice little mind games, carefully leading you along with enticing little titbits that have you thinking you know exactly what is going on, when the truth is actually far more complex. Although the hints and clues are there to follow, there are always a few delectable surprises that blindside you.
At the heart of this thrilling tale, there are some very thought provoking themes involving sexual assault and the legacy of unresolved trauma that will pull you in more than one direction. This gave the whole story an intriguing depth and complexity, and sometimes had me questioning quite how I wanted the story to unfurl. Sins of the past, guilt by association, and doing the right thing weigh heavily on many of the characters in this book, and the way things play out will have you asking some searching questions about whether it is ever right to take matters into your own hands in the pursuit of justice, however admirable your objective.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive... but not too tangled it seems for our perfect partnership of Kramer and Carver! I adored everything about this one - the relationships, the nicely crafted plot, the revelations, the moral dilemmas... and I cannot wait to find out what happens next!
The Abduction is available to buy now from your favourite book/audio retailer, or from Amazon UK here.
Thank you to A.A Chaudhuri and Isis Audio for providing me with a copy of this audio book in return for an honest review, and to the lovely Danielle at The Reading Closet for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
A.A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer. Born and raised on the south coast, she now lives in Surrey with her family.
Once a highly ranked British junior tennis player, she toured the women’s professional satellite circuit as a teenager, and achieved a world ranking of 650. After returning to full-time education, she gained three As in A-Level History, English Literature and Theology, a BA Honours 2:1 in History at University College London, and a commendation in both the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the London College of Law.
She trained as a solicitor at City firm Norton Rose, before going on to practise as a commercial litigator at two other City firms, Kendall Freeman and Travers Smith. She left law in 2008 to pursue her passion for writing. She also passed the NCTJ fast-track newspaper journalism course in 2010, in respect of which she was awarded The Oxford University Press Public Affairs Award for the most outstanding public affairs central government paper.
The Scribe and The Abduction were published by Lume Books (formerly Endeavour Media) in July and December 2019. Both books have hit the bestsellers lists in the UK, Australia and Canada, with bestseller tags in Australia and Canada. They will also be published as audio books by Isis Audio in January and March 2021, read by David Thorpe. She currently has four other standalone crime novels in the pipeline.
Evidence published in May 2020, and written many articles and short stories for The Crime Writers’
Association.
About the narrator:
He has appeared in numerous plays in rep and on tour, most recently as The Fool in a production of King Lear directed by Jonathan Miller. Twice a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, he has been heard in over a hundred radio plays and narrated over 400 audiobooks.
David has also conceived and performed in two one-man shows: Confessions of a Toytown Revolutionary and This Way Up!.
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