Thursday 30 November 2023

The Abduction - Gordon Korman - Kidnapped Book 1

The Abduction
Kidnapped Book 1
Gordon Korman
ISBN 9780439847773
eISBN 9780545632676
ASIN B00CFT6M9C


When I picked this up to read as the next Korman book to read I was unaware it was related to a different series. So in a way starting this is a bit of a spoiler for me. This series continues sometime shortly after the On the Run Series. The book s in that series are:

The Fugitive Factor 
Now You See Them, Now You Don't 
The Stowaway Solution 
Public Enemies 
Hunting the Hunter 

And the volumes in this series are:

The Abduction
The Search
The Rescue

Mid last year, in the summer of 2022, Korman published his 100th book. Yes you read that correctly, his hundredth book. My introduction to Korman’s works was the 39 Clues back in 2009. Since then I have read over 30 of his books. Barely a drop in the buck, but with each one I read I am entertained and often challenged. My son often reads these books to me or with me. And now my youngest daughter has started reading them. I have been jumping around on different series and from his oldest works to his newest. There are so many great read in Korman’s canon. 

My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together a few years ago, when he was given one as an end of year gift by his teacher. She gave the whole class the same Scholastic edition and wrote a note to each student in their copy of the book. Prior to that I had a read a few of his contributions to the 39 Clues series and had enjoyed them. My son and I have mostly been reading his more recent titles. I have set the goal of reading all of Korman’s books. 

The description of this volume is:

“It's every brother's worst fear: As Aiden and his sister, Meg, are walking home from school one day, a van pulls over and Meg is kidnapped. There's no way for Aiden to stop it from happening. He's the only witness to his sister's disappearance.”

Another description is:

“It's every brother's worst fear: As Aiden and his sister Meg are walking home from school one day, a van pulls over and Meg is kidnapped. There's no way for Aiden to stop it from happening. He's the only witness to his sister's disappearance. Why has Meg been kidnapped? Is it for ransom? As a vendetta against Meg and Aiden's parents? Or is there an even bigger conspiracy at work?

While Meg fends off her kidnappers and plans an escape, Aiden must team up with the FBI to try to find her--tracking down clues only a brother could recognize.”

Unlike many of Korman’s books the chapters do not have titles. The Falconers have just got their lives back. The parents released from prison and all charges cleared. The organization responsible believed to have been captured. And The kids are back at school trying to figure out how to go back to their old life after a crazy year and epic adventure to clear their parents name. And then just as things are settling down there is a kidnapping attempt. Adrian got away but they got his younger sister. 

Like the series this continues from this story is a darker than many of Korman’s offerings. It has a great pace. The characters are masterfully written. You will find yourself pulled into the story and deeply invested, especially if you have read the preceding series, or as in my case, only some of it. It is a story young readers will latch onto and be desperate to know what happens next! It is another excellent read from Korman’s skilful pen!

Books by Gordon Korman:
MacDonald Hall Series:
The Wizzle War (1982)
         (formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)
          (aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
The Jokes on Us (1995)
          (formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)

Bugs Potter Series:

Jeremy Bloom Series:
The D−Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1992)
The Last-Place Sports Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1996)

Monday Night Football Series:
The Quarterback Exchange (1997)
Running Back Conversion (1997)
Super Bowl Switch (1997)
Heavy Artillery (1997)
Ultimate Scoring Machine (1998)
NFL Rules! Bloopers, Pranks, Upsets, and Touchdowns (1998)

Masterminds Series:
Masterminds (2015)

Slapshots Series:
The Stars From Mars (1999)
All-Mars All-Stars/The Dream Team (1999)
The Face-off Phony (2000)
Cup Crazy (2000)
Ouch I got slapped (2023)
4-in-1 Slapshots: The Complete Collection (2008)

Nose Pickers Series:
Nose Pickers from Outer Space! (1999)
Planet of the Nose Pickers (2000)
Your Mummy Is a Nose Picker (2000)
Invasion of the Nose Pickers (2001)
4-in-1 The Ultimate Nose-Picker Collection (2006)

Island Series:
Shipwreck (2001)
Survival (2001)
Escape (2001)
3-in-1 Island Trilogy Collection (2006)

Son of the Mob Series:
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle (2004)

Everest Series:
The Contest (2002)
The Climb (2002)
The Summit (2002)
Everest Trilogy Box Set (2002)

Dive Series:
The Discovery (2003)
The Deep (2003)
The Danger (2003)

On the Run Series:
Now You See Them, Now You Don't (2005)
The Stowaway Solution (2005)
Public Enemies (2005)
Hunting the Hunter (2006)

Kidnapped Series:
The Search (2006)
The Rescue (2006)

Swindle Series:
Swindle (2008)
Zoobreak (2009)
Framed (2010)
Showoff (2012)
Hideout (2013)
Jackpot (2014)
Unleashed (2015)
Jingle (2016)

Titanic Series:
Unsinkable (2011)
Collision Course (2011)
S.O.S (2011)

The 39 Clues Series:
Vespers Rising (2011)
The Medusa Plot (2011)
Flashpoint (2014)

Hypnotists Series:
The Hypnotists (2013)
Memory Maze (2014)
The Dragonfly Effect (2015)

Ungifted Series:
Ungifted (2012)
Supergifted (2018)

Slacker Series:
Slacker (2016)
Level 13 (2019)
...

Non Series Books:
Son of Interflux (1986)
Radio 5th Grade (1989)
Losing Joe's Place (1990)
The Twinkie Squad (1992)
The Toilet Paper Tigers (1993)
Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road (1994)
The Chicken Doesn't Skate (1996)
No More Dead Dogs (2000)
Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America (2003)
Jake, Reinvented (2003)
Born To Rock (2006)
Schooled (2007)
Pop (2009)
Slacker (2016)
Restart (2017)
Notorious (2019)
War Stories (2020)
Game On (contains The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and The Toilet Paper Tigers (2021)
Unplugged (2021)
Linked (2021)
The Fort (2022)

On The Run Series by Gordon Korman







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