WHO TOOK TOBY RINALDI?

by Gregory Mcdonald ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1980

Mcdonald, known primarily for his cheeky paperback Fletch mysteries, here undertakes what appears to be a straightforward child-kidnap melodrama; but the Mcdonald wit and whimsy keep surfacing, so this turns out to be taut yet playful suspense that's rather more ""Ransom of Red Chief"" than The Man Who Knew Too Much. Toby Rinaldi is the eight-year-old son of the UN ambassador from a Mideast oil kingdom--and he disappears en route to join his American mother Christina in California for a long-awaited visit to ""Fantazyland."" Who took Toby? Well, the kidnap was initiated by an international alliance that wants to prevent papa Rinaldi from introducing a certain UN resolution; they've conspired with Rinaldi's own Chief of Intelligence, Augustus Turnbull (who is in fact Rinaldi's illegitimate half-brother and secretly hates him!); and they've hired a professional kidnapper. But since that kidnapper has died of a drug overdose, the actual kidnap has been done by the dead napper's buddy--Neanderthal-ish ex-con Spike Mullins. So Spike and Toby are driving around California while both the good guys and bad guys try to track them down. It's Toby's mom Christina, however, who has the determination and guts to wriggle out of Turnbull's clutches and trace Spike and Toby--to. . . Fantazyland, where persuasive little Toby (who's so much smarter than poor creepy Spike) has wanted to go all along. The final chapters, then, are slapsticky chases in and around the amusement park--with a nice gory impalement for villain Turnbull (and no punishment for gross but essentially harmless Spike). Dandy dialogue, choice supporting characters, engaging details, and that very odd couple at the center (though Toby is a little too precocious for comfort)--a basically warmhearted and awfully likable comedy-caper with just the thinnest overlay of terror.

Pub Date: July 11, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION