This is a kidnap story that I enjoyed enormously. More than that, the pace of the story is phenomenal. I had just finished reading Shamini Flint's Inspector Singh Investigates: a Bali conspiracy most foul (click here for my review of that book) and I was hit by a bolt at the speed at which Kernick had me reading this book, Target.

The story starts very simply, from the back cover: Rob Fallon goes out one night and ends up with his best friend's girlfriend ... Out of the blue, what might be a night of rumpy pumpy with an attractive young lady turns into a complete nightmare as the girl is kidnapped. Fallon is in the bathroom in the girl's flat when the kidnappers arrive and although he is found, he manages to escape.

Fallon escapes and hides and after a while he contacts the police. The story is incredible so the senior policeman on duty thinks it should be kept on the back burner as there are more important things to worry about. However, DS Tina Boyd thinks the story is worth persuing in spite of everything else.

The kidnapped girl's father says she's gone on holiday ... what's the problem.

When Fallon takes Boyd to the scene of the crime, everything's clean and tidy: either the kidnappers returned and cleaned up or a Mrs Mopp has been paid to clean up on their behalf.

Just over 490 pages later the story ends and you will be surprised at the path the story takes.

Eventually, events have moved on such that the underlying story reveal a real threat to the kidnapped girl, Boyd herself gets kidnapped and Fallon is found and attacked again and again. He leads a charmed life but why wouldn't he in a novel of almost 500 pages long?

There is a central plot and at least two underlying plots: perhaps the most important of which is introduced at the beginning of the book only to be forgotten and ignored until quite late on. You will spot this underlying plot early in the story because it is obvious!

As the various threads unravel and then are put back together again, you will find some surprises. This is a good story and I thought it was well put together. I didn't think at any stage, "As if!" as something unusual or apparently improbable happened.

Since there are several threads there are several endings and one of the surprises is that you will not anticipate how some of them end or should end.

Too much to give away if I carry on. Buy, read and enjoy this book if you like kidnapping stories and tales of derring do! It's a good one.

Duncan Williamson
5^th March 2010