The Birthday Party

You know the propelling feeling you get when you start reading a book that you just can't put down? I had that feeling when I started reading "The Birthday Party" by Stanley Alpert.

I had read a review of the book in Newsweek and casually put it on my holds list at the library. Am I glad I did!

The book is about Stanley, who is an Assistant US District Attorney. He is 38 and single. He grew up in New York and lives in New York. He has good friends and a good family. But one night, on his way home, he is kidnapped blocks from his house by three young men and is thrown into their brand new Lexus. And it just happens to be the night before his birthday.

The first half of the book portrays how Stanley is held captive by his kidnappers and their friends/hookers. He is blindfolded with his own scarf and made to sit on a mattress on the floor while his new crew smokes a few blunts, has a snack, and has sex (ew!). Then they take turns holding him at gunpoint while they run up bills on his credit cards and withdraw money from his savings account.

The second half of the book takes place after Stanley is set free. He then illustrates how his captors and their accomplices are tried and prosecuted. (Don't worry, this isn't a spoiler, because once you pick up the book, you know Stanley lives through his ordeal and is freed, because he is the author.)

I read this book in two days. It is concise, chilling, sometimes funny and just as gripping as an episode of "Law & Order", but with all the detail and insight that only a book can provide.