Appointment in Mordora

De: David T. Wolf

Narrado por: Gregg Martin Fraley

Welcome to Mordora. It's a dark place with secrets so powerful they trigger a double abduction and a murder. And so toxic that revealing the truth would be worse than the crimes themselves. It's a convoluted tale of murder, twisted love, simmering hate, a screwed-up abduction, and a cop who falls in love with the mom of the abducted boy, only to realize that revealing the person behind the kidnapping would destroy her. It begins with a murder that isn't a murder. Soon a double abduction brings the police into the case.

To Police Detective Jacob Zaag, it feels wrong from the start. Why would someone kidnap a developmentally disabled teenager and his adult sitter? A random grab? A sex crime? As the investigation proceeds, Zaag deeply empathizes with Andrea, the boys single mom, 30, so damaged by her parents rejection. Zaag, emotionally vulnerable after a painful divorce, falls in love with her. Surprising revelations send Zaag into the murky depths of her past and uncover a thicket of possible suspects and motives. When the truth finally emerges, its so toxic he fears simple justice will destroy the woman he loves. But who says justice has to be simple?

©2022 David T. Wolf (P)2024 David T. Wolf

Nail-biting crime fiction

Separated succinctly into eleven parts, author David T. Wolf plots, executes, and unravels a kidnapping gone awry in the most entertaining way, that only he is capable of. Remarkably narrated, Gregg Fraley brings Wolf’s words to life.

“Appointment in Mordora” begins with a pistachio eating stake out. Hired to kidnap a single mom and her developmentally disabled son, the kidnappers can’t quite get it right. Occelating between the kidnappers and the detective on the case, Zaag is in a race against the clock to bring a fourteen-year-old and his babysitter home safely.

As the case heats up Zaag finds himself falling for Andrea Schilling, but can he keep his feelings out of the case long enough to remain objective? And yet, as news outlets begin to uncover motives Zaag himself missed, he’s forced to confront Andrea’s past. Suspect or victim, innocent or somehow involved, nothing is quite as it seems.

Wolf introduces some difficult realities into this read. Combining wealth and power, with innocence and independence, “Appointment in Mordora” is an exceptionally twisting tale. With fates ever changing, the parties involved ever shifting, and Zaag trying to save them before it’s too late. Wolf has certainly outdone himself.

Weaving snippets of babysitter, Devie Norse’s, imaginative escape with her actual reality of captivity was brilliantly creative as readers gain a glimpse inside her head. From befriending her kidnappers to caring for Gabriel throughout it all we truly see firsthand the tactics and hope she maintains. Meanwhile the ever-evolving landscape for her and Gabriel’s rescue is playing out for her on the TV as Zaag and Andrea concurrently live it.

Cumulating with a final appointment in Mordora, Wolf’s crime fiction is a nail-biting race to the finish. Will all parties cooperate? Will Andrea succumb to outside forces? Will Zaag ever get his happily ever after? Tune in to Wolf’s unrivaled writing to find out.