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.

REVIEWED BY HARRIET KLAUSNER

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE REVIEWER, HARRIET KLAUSNER