According to Edge Adventures, the provider of this service, Autumn and her friends will experience, a simulated drug deal, escape from prison, and manhunt. Supposedly this caper will top anything the young people have seen on reality TV series.

The game starts out with great promise until Autumn and her friends are kidnapped. Since this scenario was not part of the original script, the abductees correctly assume that their captors are actual kidnappers. The game becomes a lot less amusing when they discover their captors don't really care if some of the group are injured, maimed or killed as long as they have at least one survivor to dangle in front of the wealthy parents.

At the same time forensic psychologist Jo Beckett and her partner Gabe Quintana are investigating the suspicious death of Phelps Wylie. Wylie was found in a abandoned mine in a remote area providing the starting point for Jo and Gabe's investigation. Coincidentally the mine is located in the same general area where the kidnappers have chosen to stash their hostages. The kidnappers, with their human cargo in tow, meet up with Jo and Gabe. It is not clear to Jo and Gabe what the others are up to, but they suspect their motives are less than honorable.

The basic plot concept for The Nightmare Thief is based on reality if Reuter news service can be believed. According to the wire service, a French company sells 'designer thrills." Clients can pick their own thrilling adventure and local authorities will be alerted so, for instance, a fake drug deal will not be interrupted. Obviously also, this is an invitation for all sorts of nefarious mischief.

By its very nature the plot of this novel demands that its audience be willing to suspend their disbelief. That being said, there are some nuts and bolts issues that require a bigger stretch of the imagination. At one point Autumn and one of her friends are trying to escape their kidnappers. They have acquired a horse taken from a ranch after their captors had killed the owner. Since neither girl has the foggiest idea how to ride a horse the scenes with the horse are way off the reality scale.

The novel is full with all sorts of things that trigger panic in many people. Heights, snakes, dark caves with unseen pits in the floors, as well as people who are not in the same universe with rationality are bound to raise even the most even tempered reader's blood pressure more than a little.

While the emphasis of the tale is on action, one cannot help but feel compassion for Autumn, the stereotypical poor little rich kid. She has everything she should want except the emotional support she craves. Even her friends seem more enamored by what she has than who she is.

Though the author does not describe in detail the talents of the "Red Rattler," a known sadist, one can imagine the excruciating pain and anxiety he causes some of his victims so those with tender stomachs may way to skip lightly over such passages. The author tends to end scenes with victims in precarious positions but leaves the details for each reader's imagination to fill in. This might not be a good book to read if you are home alone at night in a remote location.

--Andy Plonka