As featured in

International Express 27/05/20

Child recovery agent Darren Franklin has given a gripping insight into the murky world of parental abductions.

Daily Express 21/4/20

Well written narrative delving into the details of rescuing children involved in parental abduction. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get into this story, but once I got to the point where the author detailed a specific rescue I found myself curious and turning pages as fast as I could.

NetGalley, Brenda Yeager

‘True stories are always the greatest adventures. The Hostage Rescuer crackles with energy, intrigue and jeopardy, fuelled throughout by the powerful raw emotion of a parent robbed of their child.’

Damien Lewis – Sunday Times Best Selling Author

Franklin is a security expert who rescues abducted kids, and here he tells in dramatic detail how he goes about his work.
He describes how he was Diane’s last hope of getting her son back. Theo had been taken by his dad and prising the boy from his grasp was not easy.
Franklin and his team face hostile locals and double-crossing cops before making their escape. A thrilling, gut-churning true story.

5 Stars

Natasha Harding – The Sun.

It is written well and the stories are intriguing enough that you don't put the book away and follow until the end.

NetGalley, Denai Piscopo

I found this to be an excellent story with lots of tension along the way about a hostage kidnap situation that builds during surveillance. The author travels from Australia to the staging site in Greece early with the kidnap victim’s mother Diane, to scope things out and see if things will be possible at all or not. They become friends from the extra time spent together, and it’s difficult not to like her and feel for her difficult position It’s kind of bizarre that there are businesses like these available, but they have been made necessary unfortunately, and do have a decent rate of success, at least the good ones do.

The story is well written and stays suspenseful as you wait with Darren, the mother Diane, and the two others who show up to help try to get her son Theo back too. It’s right down to the wire as to whether they will have a chance to get him back, or will they be caught by the father’s family, who are all over the place, looking for anything out of the ordinary, to alert everyone to close ranks and get the boy safely inside until the danger passes. A very interesting look at the inside of a hostage rescue case, and many of stresses and concerns on both sides of it that you may not have realized before.

NetGalley, Valerie Shampine