Billion-Dollar Ransom

Five people vanish at the same moment, in different places. Two children are taken from a private school bus, a film producer and a movie star are seized at a secluded resort, and a wife is snatched from a Beverly Hills street. The kidnappers want a billion dollars, and the billionaire trying to bring his family home has the cash, gold, jewels and crypto ready to hand over.

Nicky Gordon, an FBI agent, has other ideas. She is stubborn, brilliant and determined not to pay a single dime, so she sets her nerve against a scheme designed to be perfect, with five lives depending on who blinks first. James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski write it as a glossy, fast-moving thriller for readers who like their suspense high-stakes and tightly wound.