US president Devore's son Kyle and a bus-load of his classmates from DC's elite high-school, mostly kids of diplomats and tycoons, are kidnapped on a trip with teacher Nash and only parent chaperon Francis Gibson, divorced and despised father of spoiled-rotten Beth Anne. Last-minute standing-in Secret Service newbie agent Marcus Finley escapes with shivering unfit child genius Anton Roth, the only major fault in the professional kidnappers team's elaborate plans. Mastermind is Francis, a field duty-rejected CIA analyst, who had his cahoots cut off a finger member to establish a heroic alibi.
—KGF Vissers