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When you pick up an Iris Johansen novel you are never sure where she will take you, but you can be certain that it will be a deliciously exciting journey with exceptional traveling companions. ON THE RUN is proof positive that whether she is writing about forensic sculpting, cadaver dogs, arson investigators or horse whisperers, Johansen has done her homework and is able to transport the reader directly into the center of their adventures.
Grace Archer, a former covert government agent, is living quietly on a horse farm in Tallanville, Alabama, with her daughter Frankie, and Charlie, the farm's octogenarian owner. She has worked hard to put her violent past behind her and raise Frankie to be a well-rounded child despite the eight-year-old's prodigy tendencies. Yet there are many unfinished pieces of business that lurk in the background, poised to disrupt and threaten not only her peaceful existence but her very life. As a single parent (Frankie's father being one of the unfinished pieces of business) Grace is fiercely protective and remains vigilant to anything that might harm her daughter. Then, late one night, a phone call comes that sends Grace and Frankie running from the very nightmare that Grace has secretly dreaded for the past eight years.
Paul Marvot has put a price of eight million dollars on Grace and Frankie, difficult for any bounty hunter to resist. He is heartless, single-minded, and will let nothing stand in his way. It was his treachery that drove Grace into hiding eight years ago and now he is determined to have her under his control.
What would seem like an impossible series of events in the hands of a less skilled writer is seamlessly integrated by this master storyteller. Elements from Grace's past, people whom she loved and hated, locations and memories all build to converge in the middle of the Sahara desert, where a ruthless enemy will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
As we have come to expect from Johansen, her characters are larger than life. They can go for days without food or sleep and still have enough brain power and energy to kick the stuffing out of the bad guys when the time is right. Of course, there is also a love story for the romantics among us who enjoy a little hanky-panky with our suspense and mayhem. ON THE RUN is another great read by Iris Johansen that satisfies on every level.
--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding, a substance abuse counselor in Phoenix, AZ who wanted to be Brenda Starr before life intervened. She reviews for www.faithfulreader.com and www.womenonwriting.com. To contact Maggie, e-mail Magster2@cox.net.
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