Review of Kidnapping the Prince of Albany

[Mtibza eM]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kidnapping the Prince of Albany" by James Jay Dunn.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Kidnapping the Prince of Albany is a period crime drama novel that’s written by James Jay Dunn. Set in the late Prohibition era, this book is about a botched kidnapping that left a lot dead, some arrested. Although this book is long, it is all worth it. At the opening of the book, the author states that “this account is built on researched facts and visualized details by the grandson of T.W. Dunn – the Jury Foreman.”

In the first chapter, we are introduced to one character by the name of Percy “Angel Face” Geary. He is meeting with his friend and his partner in crime, John Oley. They are both trying to get a license to manufacture and sell alcohol, as it is clear that the prohibition is about to be over pretty soon, but because of their past multiple criminal records, the Alcohol Board declines their requests. Not knowing what to do next, John suggests something that shocks Geary. He suggests they kidnap someone rich and ask for ransom from their family. Not sure at first, they end up agreeing and putting their plan in motion.

In Chapter 2, John and Geary have assembled a crew that will assist in executing this mission. But to do so, they have expenses they have to take care of. Because they are all broke, they end up committing another crime. This time of bank robbery so that they can finance the other crime of kidnapping. There are mishaps during the robbery, but they manage to overcome them. The person they were planning to kidnap something happens to him that they have no choice but to choose another person to kidnap.

This person they are now planning to kidnap comes from a very powerful family in Albany. Is it wise for them to kidnap him? Why do they really need this ransom? Is there any other interior motive behind this kidnapping? How would a small crew like these get away with this, should they succeed in getting the money? Answers to these questions lie in between the covers of this book.

As I have said, this book is long, but it was worth it. What this book demanded from me was my undivided attention. The dialogue was gripping. It hooked me and made the action more enjoyable. The descriptions were so well written that I could see myself in the story. I never felt like I was outside looking in. The author made sure that the characters came to life, and this was demonstrated by the top-notch character development. These characters’ backgrounds were given in a clever and enjoyable way that, as a reader, I kind of knew what to expect from the particular character as I was now familiar with them and their personality. This made them relatable and engaging.

The book was filled with suspense, which made it even more enjoyable. I kept holding my breath, thinking that any moment, the hostage might escape, and I wouldn’t know what the kidnappers would do if that were to happen. I loved the fact that it wasn’t too epic. How the police were portrayed handling this investigation was so realistic.

I sometimes found myself feeling and rooting for the kidnappers, even though I understood that what they were doing was wrong. But because the author made sure that we first know them on their personal level before they can execute this, made it hard for me to treat them like the criminals they were. That one character I rooted for the most was Strewl. His personality made him lovable, so when he got cornered by the police, I felt bad.

This book was long, and this kind of made it monotonous now and again because there wasn’t much happening, except characters busy going around in circles. Another thing that made me irk was how the letters of requests were shown in the book. They were shown in a picture format, making it hard for me to read. With this, I think the author was trying to make it feel like I was there, reading the letters myself, but it was all unnecessarily irritating.

There were many errors. The author seemed to neglect to put the commas in between insubordinate and subordinate clauses. These errors made my reading experience uncomfortable.

Having said all that, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The other star is knocked off because of the errors. I could have knocked off another star on top of that because of it being monotonous here and there, but that would have been too harsh. The book doesn’t discriminate. People who are into crime thrillers should read it. Pictures at the end of the book made it more realistic than ever.

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Kidnapping the Prince of Albany
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[katerina_12]

The book does not look like a typical thriller. I was especially interested in the personality of the kidnappers, which deserves the sympathy of the reader. Thanks for such a detailed and unique review.

[John Karanja 1]

This book highlights the today's criminal activities around the world, but thanks for the security teams and the courts which deal with those criminals.
Thanks for the good review.