The Pied Piper (1999)

by Ridley Pearson

Series: Lou Boldt (5)

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Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:A wave of babynappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper � named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims � claims his first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way. But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary � so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department. They form a sub rosa task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley. Combining strong characterizations with an impressive command of both policing and pacing, Ridley Pearson, author of Chain of Evidence and Beyond Recognition, delivers another sure winner in this outing for Lou Boldt." � Jane Adams.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

(1998) Police. This guy can write. Very good story that follows Lou Boldt try to solve a child kidnapping scheme that turns nasty when his infant daughter is also kidnapped by the same culprits. They blackmail him into sidetracking the investigation and he has to go rogue to solve the crime.

derailer | Jan 25, 2024 |

The Pied Piper. Ridley Pearson. 1998. (book 5 of 9 in Bolt and Matthews series). Babies are being kidnapped all along the west coast. A small plastic flute is left in when each baby is taken. When the kidnapper lands in Seattle, Bolt gets involved. He has to deal with the FBI as well as the fact that his wife is being treated for cancer. Bolt is a very human character. In spite of all the difficulties, Bolt and his team manage to catch the villain. I enjoyed this book, but it was way too long. Pearson could have halved the descriptions of how to set up surveillance, tap phones and computers, and mad chase scenes. I will probably read more in this series. (

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judithrs | Apr 26, 2023 |

This is the latest in the Lou Boldt series. This book is about children as victims which is a major plot factor recently and one that I find tiresome and cheap. And, this book has several really stupid errors as the plot revolves around computers which really annoys me. I wish novelist would either learn computers or just leave them out of their books until they do. Now having done that bitching , I have to say that even so, this book is great. I was sucked in from the first word. New born babies - home from the hospital only a few weeks are being snatched from their homes. And, Seattle is only the latest in the string of cities where this has happened. And then Lou Boldt's own youngest is snatched…. (

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susandennis | Jun 5, 2020 |

Three months isn't too long, is it? This was an excellent detective novel by a writer I had never read before. If you remember the story from the fairytale "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" you can probably guess that this book has to do with children being taken away from their parents. A series of kidnappings up the west coast of the US has defied the best efforts of the FBI and the local police authorities. Seattle Police Department prepared for the kidnapper to strike their city by setting up a task force consisting of their best detectives. When the first kidnapping in the city occurs John LaMoia corrals his former boss, Lou Boldt, from the side of his wife's hospital bed to go to the scene. Psychologist Daphne Matthews joins them to provide advice about the type of person who would commit the crime of kidnapping and also to help in questioning witnesses and suspects. LaMoia and Matthews do not have children but Boldt and his wife have a young son and an even younger daughter so this crime hits closer to home for him. Although the FBI is part of the task force there is not a lot of cooperation between the locals and the feds. Despite this, the SPD squad follow some interesting leads and seem to be getting closer to perpetrator. Then Boldt's daughter is kidnapped and he is told to stymie the investigation if he ever wants to see his daughter alive. To find out whether the father or the cop triumphs you must read the book.

I took this book with me when I went out of town on business and it definitely helped pass the hours but it probably resulted in me losing sleep. (

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gypsysmom | Aug 25, 2017 |

This is the first Ridley Pearson book I've read. I'm impressed. It was very well written. It developed well right from the beginning. The character development was excellent. I loved Lou Boldt. Towards the end the suspense built to the point that I couldn't put the book down. I will read more of his work. (

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bcrowl399 | Jun 24, 2013 |

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Belongs to Series

Lou Boldt (5)

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Bastei Lübbe Taschenbuch (14571)

Is contained in

Ridley Pearson Collection: Beyond Recognition, The Pied Piper, The First Victim (Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews Series) by Ridley Pearson

The Pied Piper / The First Victim / Parallel Lies by Ridley Pearson

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Canonical title

The Pied Piper

Original title

The Pied Piper

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Seattle, Washington, USA

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Epigraph

Dedication

For Paige and Marcelle (Will miracles never cease?)

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The train left the station headed for nowhere, its destination also its point of embarkation, its purpose not to transport its passengers, but to feed them.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Cussler, Clive

King, Stephen

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Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:A wave of babynappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper � named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims � claims his first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way.
But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary � so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department.
They form a sub rosa task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley. Combining strong characterizations with an impressive command of both policing and pacing, Ridley Pearson, author of Chain of Evidence and Beyond Recognition, delivers another sure winner in this outing for Lou Boldt." � Jane Adams.

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Who's that knocking at your door?
Do you always look?
Do you always know?

From best-selling suspense writer Ridley Pearson comes a heart-pounding story of deceit and betrayal featuring Seattle detective Lou Boldt and forensic pathologist Daphne Matthews, who must break the brilliantly conceived network of abductions that has shattered lives, terrorized communities, and threatened even Lou Boldt's own family.

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