The Professionals

Owen Laukkanen

It's always fun to discover a writer and then get to blast through her or his back catalog. Somehow, I heard about thriller writer Owen Laukkanen and was sufficiently intrigued to order his debut, "The Professionals." Launch a new campaign to read ALL of his books at top speed! In "The Professionals," four college pals, unemployable by virtue of their degrees during the Recession, turn into serial kidnappers. Their small-time template works beautifully — until they accidentally grab a man whose wife's family is mob-connected. In the middle of this are FBI agent Carla Wendermere and Minnesota state cop Kirk Stevens. The plot is non-stop energy and very clever, and the characters are beautifully envivioned.