Andronte straps a bomb to Zeke, makes the tape and sends Georgia out with the responsibility of seeing to Mandy’s safety, ensuring Zeke’s safety. Apparently Mandy isn’t completely being kept against her will. Mandy has become involved with some drug dealers and the police aren’t all that interested in finding her for her father’s sake, but rather to arrest her and have her lead them to other dealers and drug lords.

With the help of some freelance videographers, Georgia begins to frantically search for the girl herself. She wends her way through the darker side of Chicago where she finds herself looking in a mental ward, finding more dead bodies than she is accustomed to (and she has found her share of many) all the while worrying that Zeke is running out of time.

Video Cowboys has some suspenseful moments, but it also has plenty of “wait a minute, that can’t be happening” moments as well. Georgia’s personality gets lost through the words typed IN CAPITAL LETTERS for emphasis and she often speaks so much in the vernacular as to sound not genuine. She has a fierce loyalty to Zeke and a colorful cast of friends to help her. The pace is quick, and it is often hard to believe she is able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time in such a large city. Tense scenes and a not entirely happy ending give some credence to the novel. It is a quick enough read, however, that if you don’t take too much time to analyze what is going on, (and ignore all the CAPITAL LETTERS) you can quickly get caught up in the storyline.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry