Billion-Dollar Ransom

by James Patterson

First published 2025

Five people vanish in a coordinated strike. Two children disappear from their private school bus. A film producer and movie star get snatched from their resort hideaway. A wife gets taken right off Beverly Hills streets. The kidnappers demand one billion dollars in cash, gold, jewels, and cryptocurrency. They have planned every detail. The billionaire father gathers the ransom money. He wants his family returned safely. Special Agent Nicky Gordon stands in the way. She refuses to hand over even one dollar to the criminals. Gordon believes paying ransoms only encourages more kidnappings. The billionaire believes his family will die without payment. Time runs out as Gordon hunts the kidnappers while the victims wait in captivity. The case tests whether justice matters more than innocent lives.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action

Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful

Tropes: high-stakes, race-against-time

Setting: Beverly Hills, United States

Period: 21st-century

365 pages · Kindle Edition · Little, Brown and Company

Content warnings: kidnapping

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