The Professionals

Four friends, caught in a terrible job market, joke about turning to kidnapping to survive. And then, suddenly, it’s no joke. For two years, the strategy they devise works like a charm—until they kidnap the wrong man.

Now two groups are after them—the law, in the form of veteran state investigator Kirk Stevens and hotshot young FBI agent Carla Windermere, and an organized crime outfit looking for payback. As they crisscross the country in a series of increasingly explosive confrontations, each of them is ultimately forced to recognize the truth: The real professionals, cop or criminal, are those who are willing to sacrifice everything.

“Really terrific—characters that live and breathe, and chills aplenty.”--Lee Child

“Fasten your seat belts, Owen Laukkanen’s The Professionals is one heck of a wild ride.”--John Lescroart

“Ingenious.”--Jonathan Kellerman

“Smoothly written, with a slam-bang ending.”--John Sandford

“A coiling plot, insightful characters, and a tale fraught with dangers…top-notch.”--Steve Berry

“A high-octane, adrenaline- and gunpowder-fueled rocket ride.”--C. J. Box

 After graduation, Owen Laukkanen answered a Craigslist ad—and for the next three years, he was the tournament reporter for a poker website, traveling from the luxurious casinos of Monaco and Macau to the sketchiest card rooms of Atlantic City.