The Baby Game

by Randall B. Hicks

New attorney, Toby Dillon, takes little in life seriously, except his tennis game. He's a graduate of U.C.L.A. The only problem is his U.C.L.A stands for Uncle Charlie's Law Academy. Maybe that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0983942528
• ISBN13: 9780983942528
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Wordslinger Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

watch out Coben and Hiaason

I love discovering new authors. He really writes mystery/suspense well, but his humor was what made me love the book. He is a 'hoot'. I do enjoy suspense, but if you can add humor - WOW! In my book, he's got it all. Oops, one more thing, he knows adoption, and that's the basis of this book, although this is fiction. What people and criminals will do for a baby! I'm waiting for his new book, Baby Crimes, which comes out in 2007.

Adoption Can Be Murder

The Baby Game is one of those rare books where the improbable works seamlessly. The serious parts make the hairs on the back of your neck tingle and the funny parts are laugh out loud hilarious. An ex Peace Corps, assistant tennis pro, home schooled California attorney, who drives a Ford falcon convertible with a wooden cigar store Indian permanently wedged in the passenger seat sounds like the loser of a Dumb and Dumber contest, but Toby Dillon turns out to be believable, lovable, and competent, in roughly that order. The plot is deliciously twisty and at the halfway point, I still had no idea who the bad guys were. Although there is real jeopardy, there is still some question at that point as to whether a crime had even been committed. Well, actually Toby was well along the way to the five felonies he commits in the course of the book, but otherwise...All is well that ends well and the ending of The Baby Game - "And then I kissed her." The best way to describe it, The Baby Game is similar to Lawrence Sanders' McNally series, only a whole lot better.

Adoption can be murder.

Toby Dillon graduated law school one year ago. He resides in California, but his "office" is at his home. His "home" is currently in one of the condos ringing the golf course of the Coral Canyon Country Club. (Free perk due to his side job as their assistant tennis pro.) Toby is one of the rare lawyers that are actually out to help people, rather than to fatten his own wallet. His specialty is adoption. Brogan Barlow and Rita MacGilroy are famous movie stars. Toby and Brogan were geeks (friends) together in high school. So to Toby, Brogan and Rita were just great friends who wanted to adopt a baby. All seems to be going pretty much normal. But the birth mother gives birth without going to the hospital. No one thinks too much about it though, because the birth mother hands over the baby girl to the happy new parents. The birth mother has a time limit, during which she may change her mind about giving her baby up for adoption. One day after this date, Brogan and Rita are celebrating with Toby and some friends when a call comes in that will rock their foundation. In result to the call, the new parents and Toby rush to question the birth mother only to find her gone. Brogan and Toby begin to search for answers to some hard hitting questions. Problem is that the people they need to speak with either do not exist or are turning up dead. ***** I cannot tell more without giving away spoilers, which I refuse to do. The phone call is the turning point, where the reader finds out exactly WHAT the mystery is. However, if you want to figure out the "who" and "why" you will have to pay attention from the very first page. This may be Randall Hicks's first mystery novel, but he wrote about something he knows well, adoption. This gives the mystery a much greater depth and makes it all very realistic. While you find yourself putting together clues with the main characters, you will also find yourself very entertained. Much humor to lighten things up a bit. The result is a wonderful novel that you end up reading more than once. Excellent! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Exhilarating story line

In San Diego County, California, recent law school graduate attorney Toby Dillon opens his shingle out of his condo overlooking the Coral Canyon Country Club where he also serves as an assistant tennis instructor. Tony's legal practice deals with adoptions. Movie stars Brogan Barlow and Rita MacGilroy want to adopt so they turn to Toby, who was Brogan's high school pal when they were nerds. Toby arranges things with a single neighbor Sammy who became pregnant from a casual inseminator as the state would say. Toby takes Sammy to the hospital in his nightwear, but instead of her going inside with him, she vanishes with his car. Besides Toby's PJs embarrassment and concern for Sammy, things went great even though the biological mother gives birth outside a hospital. Toby's clients have a daughter to lovingly raise together until a day later a phone call nukes their world; With Tony they go to see the birth mom to obtain the truth, but she has vanished. Other follow-ups go nowhere as those they need to speak with are either dead or never existed in spite of the paper trail. THE BABY GAME is a fabulous tale that starts off as a simple family drama, but quickly turns into an exciting action-packed thriller. Once the call comes, the story line accelerates from a celebrating couple with their friends to a deep tense investigation in which nothing goes right. Randall Hicks insures his exhilarating story line seems realistic with the tidbits involving adoption so that the audience has a one sitting chilling investigative novel that feels as if it could happen. Harriet Klausner