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DESPERATE MEASURES
by Jo Bannister
Minotaur, December 2015
321 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 1250075661


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Jo Bannister left her readers hanging in her last book, when Gabriel Ash was finally able to make contact online with his missing wife after four long years. With the help of the owner of one of the largest arms companies in the UK, Ash has learned that she remains alive after being held hostage by Somali pirates for so long. Have his children survived as well? Ash can only hope.

Bannister's newest book, DESPERATE MEASURES, takes readers along on that emotional ride with Ash, covering both his happiness at the possibility of his family's return alive to the UK and to him. However, what the pirates request in turn is the ultimate sacrifice. Not even his close friend, the young police officer Hazel Best, can stand in the way of his madness or sacrifice.

Best has additional worries besides helping Ash reunite with his family. A young street kid comes to her after he has "found" a laptop. She quickly turns it in, but soon discovers that she had missed a big clue as to why the laptop found its way to her--its contents were a real concern. As she tries to backtrack to atone for her mistake, new issues surface.

Among those are her relationship with the young boy who turned in the computer. Can she help steer him away from a life of crime? Can she give him a chance for happiness and success, or will he become another disheartening statistic in the logbook of criminal history?

Bannister's latest novel seems to turn family loyalty on its head with this mystery. As with the best mysteries, this one is unpredictable, until all the clues to the outcome become obvious. It also opens the doors to new possibilities for both Gabriel Ash and Hazel Best who, both battered by life, may come out the better in the long run.

§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, December 2015

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