The Perfect Plan

Bestseller Reardon (The Real Michael Swann) shifts between past and present in this gripping psychological thriller about two brothers, Liam and Drew Brennan, who concoct an outrageous kidnapping plot. As a boy, Drew taught younger brother Liam how to tie his shoes, as shown in the sunny prologue. The tone darkens in the main story line, in which the adult Liam kidnaps Lauren Branch, a staffer for Drew’s Delaware gubernatorial campaign. Sections devoted to Liam’s recollections of their childhood and adolescence gradually reveal their mother’s descent into alcoholism and their father’s cruelty, expressed both physically and emotionally. The intention of the kidnapping plot, as conceived by Drew, was to allow him to rescue Lauren, thus becoming a hero and propelling him to an electoral victory, but Liam has his own variation in mind and a partner that Drew knows nothing about. Liam, despite being a broken man, is still capable of surprising everyone. Through this complicated protagonist, Reardon takes readers on a memorable excursion into a struggling soul. Agent: Stephanie Rostan, Levine Greenberg Literary. (June)