Praglide by Peter Anthony Kelley

For siblings Jim and Erica Winters, a summer vacation to London promises adventure and a bit of freedom from their overprotective mother. But once they arrive, they end up with more excitement than they bargained for. Their mother is kidnapped and her captors demand the one thing they can’t produce – their long-absent father.

Unable to trust the authorities, Jim and Erica set off in pursuit of their father, racing across Europe and fending off mysterious assailants. As the trail of clues dries up, help arrives in the form of a raven-haired beauty. Is she the answer to their prayers or a romantic distraction?
With the kidnapper’s deadline looming, the truth about their father’s shadowy past is revealed. In a last ditch effort to save their mother, Jim and Erica must climb high into the Swiss Alps where a perilous choice confronts them. Can they trust their father who has repeatedly betrayed them? (from goodreads.com)


With their mother kidnapped and their father in hiding these kids really have it rough. But with determination and a lot of twists to the plot that comes up, they are able to travel to different countries, outrunning the kidnappers themselves looking for the answers.
They first must find their father to find their mother. He seems to be the key on why she has been kidnapped. The kidnappers seem to think that their father has to do with some stolen crown jewels and they have taken their mother as a way to bring him out of hiding. The only real problem is, they haven't seen their father in months. They never know who they can trust to help them and rely heavily on each other.
The writing is very detailed and descriptive. There is always a sense of danger and intensity to find the answers before something more dangerous happens. It was done in adventurous way that I think younger teens will enjoy.


First Paragraph: Genevieve Winters was gone. Vanished! Jim and Erica raced through the gift shop and around the ticket windows, searching up and down long curving lines of sightseers, ignoring irritated cries about budging and queue jumping. Jim clutched his sister's hand and ran to the visitor's plaza. He examined every face, chasing after turned heads and hunched shoulders, whipping a hoodie of a startled skater boy. Nothing. Their mother was gone.