Kwong 1 Avery Kwong Mrs.

Utchen English 10 5 January 2012 The Mystery of the Tahoe Hijack In the book, Tahoe Hijack, Todd Borg uses both suspense and mystery to fool the reader into believing in the obvious but leaves them speechless in the end. The characters develop, driving them closer and closer to the truth. And when the truth finally hits them, it might be too late. Owen McKenna, the main character, lives in Tahoe and works as a private investigator. As an ex-cop, he knows all of the rules, but breaks them to get to the bottom of his case. Street Casey, his scientist girlfriend, and Spot, his trusty Great Dane, help Owen along his dangerous journey. And with the help of his other comrades, he is able to crack the mystery and finish the job. Lake Tahoe, a beautiful and majestic expansion of water gleaming beneath the mountains that surrounds it. People come from all around to take a peaceful boat ride across its waters. But it also happens to be the place where a terrible boat hijacking occurs. Lives are at stake, and the hijacker is on the edge. The hijacker exclaims, The hostage has no chance and will be dead twenty-five or thirty stories down, about the depth where the last of the sun gives way to blackness! Do you understand? THIS IS A HIJACKING! CUT YOUR POWR IMMEDIATELY, OR I PULL THE CORD! (16). He only has only one demand bring him Owen McKenna. When Owen appears on the scene, the hijacker tells him he knows who murdered a lady named Grace Sun, a closed

Kwong 2 case that Owen was working on three years ago. Grace Sun was said to possess a journal that contains information about a hidden gold treasure, and everyone was out to retrieve it. The hijacker said that a man named Thomas Watson killed Grace Sun, but all of a sudden, the hijacker tripped on his shoelace and fell to the bottom of Lake Tahoe. Owen had reason to believe that Thomas Watson killed Grace, so he got him into custody and made him confess. But Watson denied he killed Grace Sun, and Owen believed him. The search for the killer was still on, and Owen didnt have many leads to go off on. The hijacker was dead and Watson was innocent. So Owen decided to pay a visit to Graces daughter, Arianna Sun, who changed her name to Anna Quinn. A man had attacked Anna after Graces murder, wanting the journal. The man who attacked Anna had similar deadly abilities and skills that the hijacker had, making him the believable hijacker. Since the hijacker was at the bottom of Lake Tahoe, Anna felt safe to come out of hiding. But she was wrong. The hijacker ended up being the owner of the Tahoe Dreamscape, the very boat he hijacked. He had been hiding undercover as the owner named Ford Georges. As Nick was escaping, Owen called out, It was an impressive strategy, Nick. Hijacking your own boat as Nick the Knife while your new identity as Ford Georges gave you a cover. The hijacking fooled me (324). His real name is Nick OConnell, a dangerous master of knives who works for the Red Blood Patriots, a secret militia with evil intents of ridding the world of the current government and replacing it with their own. Nick OConnell was the one who framed Watson, killed the leader of the Red Bloods, and staged the hijacking and his own death. An extremely elaborate plan for just one journal that made men kill for. Owen, with the help of everybody, discovered Nicks intentions at the very last

Kwong 3 moment and destroyed his ultimate plan and saved Anna from his grasps. In the end, Owen and Anna found the gold and Anna was free from her worries. Case closed, mission accomplished. The mystery of this book was intense. It lasted until the very moment the mystery was revealed and I was completely surprised when I was told the truth. The suspense was definitely worth the conclusion, and the book along, with the various settings of Tahoe, helped drive the plot along. Overall, this mystery book was astounding and left me dumbfounded, trying to understand what had just happened.