AND THEN THERE WAS ONE

A psychiatrist and a former Yankee catcher are devastated when two of their triplet daughters are kidnapped.           

People always turn to look at the Monroe girls, whether because of their good looks—a charming blend of their petite African-American mother and their strapping white father—or because identical triplets are so rare. But someone who’s looked at them with more than just curiosity snatches Alex and Sammie from a movie theater while their sister Jackie watches a different flick with their older cousin Danielle. FBI Special Agent Tony Streeter is hell-bent on finding out just who has the girls. Is it Katie Munroe’s old flame, Keith Franklin, making a desperate bid to get her back? Sexual predator Maxwell Cutty, who wants to keep forensic psychiatrist Katie from testifying against him in court? Cliff Hunter, who blames Scott for ruining his major league career? Someone with a grudge against biracial couples? Or an anonymous middle-aged woman who may have been spotted at the mall with Alex and Sammie? As Streeter and his FBI colleague Ellen Camry hit a series of dead ends, the Monroes decompensate, slipping pain meds into each other’s drinks to help themselves cope. Even the six-figure reward offered by Scott’s sister, songstress Monica Monroe, doesn’t seem to be enough to flush out a kidnapper whose motive isn’t clear.

Instead of weaving together threads, Gussin (Twisted Justice, 2007, etc.) crams together plot chunks in this convoluted, stagnant thriller.