The Professionals * *, they are not. But it did not stop Pender, Sawyer, Mouse and Marie, 4 recent college graduates with little career prospect, from taking up a life of crime. For 2 years, they have been lucky. Quick, efficient, well-planned, low-ransom kidnapping has worked like a charm as they zigzagged the country. With "retirement" within grasp, they picked the wrong victim.

Now, they got the attention of the true professionals - veteran investigator Kirk Stevens, FBI agent Carla Windermere, and an organized-crime outfit looking for payback.

The "finger-burning page-turner, filled with twists, surprises, and memorably complex characters" is a debut novel for Canadian author Owen Laukkanen who will be at Nicola's Books, this evening to read and sign this first of a projected series.

An alumnus of the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing BFA program, Laukkanen spent three years in the world of professional poker, traveling to high-stakes tournaments across the globe as a writer for PokerListings.com. A commercial fisherman when he's not writing, Laukkanen divides his time between Vancouver and Prince Edward Island, Canada. (More Info.)

* * = Starred Reviews