We Are Holding the President Hostage [Paperback]

Warren Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 2004

Aging Mafia Don Salvatore Padronelli is furious when fanatical Islamic terrorists capture his beloved daughter and grandson on a trip to Egypt. Fed up with ineffective diplomatic measures and a lack of governmental action, the Don and his loyal henchman cleverly insinuate themselves into the White House posing as waiters at a State dinner and take the President and his wife hostage. Now the Don calls the shots.

This classic confrontation between two men on utterly opposite sides of the law is laced with humor and illustrates how fierce paternal love can motivate even the most ruthless of gangsters into reckless acts of courage and bravery.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly two dozen Americans are already being held hostage in the Middle East when a young American woman and her son are abducted by a professional terrorist in a botched political kidnapping outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. President Paul Bernard's attempts to effect the release of the hostages have so far been thwarted when four men disguised as waiters snatch him and his wife from a state dinnner in the White House and hold them hostage in the President's quarters. The leader of the kidnappers is the head of the most powerful Mafia family in the U.S., and the new American woman hostage is his only daughter. The President will not be released until the woman and her child are safely recovered. The President brings in the ruthless, ambitious head of the CIA who pools resources with the Mafia don in a worldwide campaign to force the hand of the terrorist. Adler (Random Hearts delivers a gripping modern-day thriller about the ages-old dilemmas of vengeance and responsibility. (October
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

When an aborted Middle East kidnapping attempt on the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State results in the abduction of an innocent American mother and child, an amazing scenario unfolds. Maria and Joey Michaels are the only daughter and grandson of American mafioso Salvatore Padronelli, who will stop at nothing to free his family. With U.S. President Paul Bernard pledged not to deal with terrorists, Padronelli resorts to holding the President and First Lady hostage in return for his loved ones. The irregular collaboration between the CIA and the Mafia becomes a race against time as the Americans employ unconventional and ruthless measures to end international terrorism. A fast-paced, entertaining, and well-written novel recommended for most public libraries. Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Stonehouse Press (July 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931304610
• ISBN-13: 978-1931304610
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,608,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Warren Adler is a world-renowned novelist, short story writer and playwright. His 32 novels and story collections have been translated into more than 25 languages and two of his novels, The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, have been made into enormously popular movies, shown continually throughout the world.

Three short stories from his acclaimed collection, The Sunset Gang, have been adapted as a trilogy and shown repeatedly on the Public Television network.

Mr. Adler's blogs appear regularly in the Huffington Post and other sites throughout the world and his short stories appear in numerous anthologies.

Mr. Adler is a pioneer in electronic publishing. He was one of the first authors to acquire his complete backlist and to convert his entire library to digital publishing formats.

A product of the New York public school system, Mr. Adler graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and New York University, where he majored in English literature. In 2009, he was honored by being chosen "Alumni of the Year" at NYU's School of Arts and Science. He has taught novel writing at honors seminars at NYU.

After graduating from New York University with a degree in English literature, Mr. Adler worked for the New York Daily News before becoming Editor of the Queens Post, a prize winning weekly newspaper on Long Island. His column, "Pepper on the Side," became a staple of a number of newspapers in the country.

During the Korean War, after basic training, he was recruited by Armed Forces Press Service to serve in the Pentagon as the only Washington Correspondent for the service. His Washington by-line went all over the world and was published in every publication put out by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The mafia takes on the terrorists in dated novel., May 25, 2006

By 

Peter LaPrade (worcester ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We Are Holding the President Hostage (Paperback)

In Warren Adler's "We Are Holding the President Hostage", we see things are they were in the mid-80s: geopolitical games with the Soviet Union, the decline of the Mafioso, Lebanon a hotspot for terrorism(hostage taking). In Egypt, a terrorist trys to take a high ranking American official hostage, but the plan is botched and he kidnaps a bystanding American mother and her young child. Little did any know the chain of events that would set off, for the terrorist has the only daughter and grandchild of a powerful Don, who will stop at nothing to have her returned safely. The Don recruits a few loyal men to effect a bold plan: take the President hostage, and force him to go to the mattresses against the terrorists. Some interesting geopolitical manuevering is done, and very good climax. The cliches bring down the novel though, but it was interesting to see the Soviets save the day here.