The Plantation » (Original)

Chris Kuzneski attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he played football, wrote for three newspapers, and passed most of his classes. After graduating with a degree in writing and a master’s in teaching, he taught English for five years and was honored in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers®. He currently lives in the Tampa Bay area and received rave reviews for his first novel, The Plantation.

The first to disappear is a ski instructor, out for a morning jog in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Hours later, a pregnant woman is abducted from a crowded hospital and smuggled past security without a hitch. Two places, two incidents, a single motive.

And so it begins. . . .

One by one, in cities across America, people of all ages are being taken from their homes, their cars, their lives. But these aren't random kidnappings. They're crimes of passion, planned and researched several months in advance, then executed with a singular objective in mind.

Revenge.

Ariane Walker is one of the victims, dragged from her apartment with no obvious signs of a struggle. The cops said there is little they can do for her. There isn't enough evidence to go on. Not enough time has passed. But that isn't good enough for Jonathon Payne. He loves Ariane and isn't about to sit around while her trail runs cold.

Using the skills that he learned in the MANIACs, a special branch of the U.S. military, Payne and his best friend, David Jones, give chase, trekking to New Orleans on little more than a whim, hoping that Payne's gut instinct pays off. It does. With the help of several locals, the duo slowly begin to uncover the mystery of Walker's abduction and the shocking truth behind Louisiana's best-kept secret: The Plantation.

Publishers Weekly

Kuzneski's novel is swiftly paced but so sophomoric and offensive it makes Birth of a Nation look like a plea for racial understanding. An army of militant black men kidnap the white descendants of slave owners and transport them to a secret island compound. There, the girls and women are beaten and raped and the men sadistically tortured before being shipped to Africa to serve as slaves to black families. But the militants make a big mistake and kidnap Jon Payne's love. He and his best bud, David Jones (one of only two token heroic black characters), were part of a bloodthirsty “elite military fighting team.” They enlist their teammates for a take-no-prisoners attack on the island. Though this nonsense doesn't deserve a first-class rendition, that's what it gets from Dick Hill, who delivers it with enough enthusiasm and performance skill to make the irresponsible material seem thrilling enough to be almost acceptable. A Berkley paperback. (July)