by Lisa Lutz
Hardcover, 304 pages
Simon & Schuster, March 1, 2006
4 stars
Tanya Dubois is on the run. After finding her husband, Frank, dead at the foot of the stairs in their home, she has a drink, packs a suitcase, dyes her hair, and drives into the night. After securing a new identity from a voice on the phone she moves from place to place, assuming and abandoning new identities along the way. Eventually her problems - and the problems her new identities come with - begin to catch up to her and she finds herself headed home to face her past.
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"You can never see anything clearly when you're running."
Holy smokes - this book is a page-turner! It was such a fun read, twisty and turny, with surprises along the way that didn't feel contrived or forced. I loved the balance between the action-packed suspense of her present with teases to a backstory through email (though the identity of the senders of these emails remains a mystery until the end). The book is broken up into sections based on the alias in use at that time, which I very much enjoyed. It helped frame Tanya's journey and experiences in a way that she herself must have felt a she shed identity after identity. I loved her voice, too. It was unique and raw and felt really honest, even as she lied through her teeth to everyone else.
Once we finally got some answers, though, the plot started to fall apart. It's hard to go into too much detail without spoiling the story, but there were times when the reason behind the actions of the characters either don't make sense or they're just not enough to justify their behavior. Also disappointing was the fact that, by the end of the book, I never felt as though I knew Tanya or understood her choices. Whether this is a result of her constantly changing identity or poor character development, I don't know, but I would have liked to have gotten a better idea of who she was as a character. A weird, romantic story-line was kind of tucked in here and there along the way that was completely unbelievable and nonsensical. As I was reading I found myself wondering what was wrong with this guy. I can't say more but, if you read it, you'll know what I mean. Thankfully, this was a small part of the overall story.
This book was a lot of fun with great pacing and a unique voice. I'd definitely give Lutz another chance. This was her first foray into suspense and I think it was an overall success.
My drink pairing for this book is a generous shot of whiskey - well or top shelf, whatever you're feeling like. Maybe change it up, try something new, in the spirit of Tanya Debois, our girl on the run.
Cheers,
Tanya
(Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
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