The Baby Game (edition 2012)

Do not let the title fool you into thinking this story is what it is not. Nor ignore the title, it does play a major part. A surrogate mother in India is about to give birth to a baby girl, child of a young widow and her dead husband's frozen sperm, and another surrogate mother in India is carrying the soon-to-be-born boy of a recently divorced man and his ex-wife, tying many terrifying occurences together. A journey into political intrigue, scandal, past indiscretion, surrogate mothers, and hope for the childless, but not without completely unexpected complications. This book will take the reader to places of the mind and geographical places. Murder to hide potential scandal. High profile cases of deception bring on an overzealous frenzy of cover-ups. As often happens in life, the past can sometimes sneak up and bite you. In this story, it doesn't just bite you, it almost gets you killed.

This book will keep the reader hooked on all the surprises, about-turns, and other complexities. Virtually a who's who, how and why, and "what could possibly go wrong next." A little taste of life in India, wonderful caring people, two opposing Indian political groups fighting it out, no matter what "it" is, mix-ups, two single parents-to-be with more in common than they would believe.

This story is a hotbed of criminal activity, political conspiracy, terror and murder, With the arrival of two beautiful babies, though the outcome is unexpected, this rollercoaster ride through some kind of hell has bright, humorous bits, fear and happiness, all wrapped up together.

Some readers may feel the book is too hectic, too fragmented, but it isn't really. When you look at it from the diverse perspectives and see where it leads, it all makes some kind of crazy, almost plausible, sense. Co-written by James A. Thomas and Vidya Samson, the authors appeared to write this book seamlessly. I was taken completely by surprise with this entertaining story, mesmerized to the point that I didn't want to put it down. Absolutely fascinating! ( )

This is very fast paced, action packed, and thriller book! There are many issues covered in the book: adoption, surrogacy, global issues, and political crime. I typically don’t read action thrillers, however this was a book that had just enough of the relationship and character building that I enjoy. Getting to know each character, their beliefs and motivations regarding adoption, supporting adoption, and covering secrets, was rather intriguing. While there were times I thought the storyline was a bit far-fetched, I did find myself looking forward to my nightly reading to know what was going to happen next. If you enjoy a political, action thriller, that also deals with domestic issues of adoption, single parenting, and relationships, this book will certainly entertain you. ( )