Elusive by Sara Rosett (On The Run #1)
Elusive is the first book in the On The Run mystery series by the author Sara Rosett. One day while browsing the free Kindle books section at Amazon, I came across the book, liked the description and downloaded it along with a couple of other freebies that are still on my TBR shelf.
The story centers around Zoe Hunter, a rather poor freelancer (proof reads travel books) who also walks neighbors’ dogs to earn a bit extra money. This doesn’t stop her from enjoying life as much as she can, being content with how things are at the moment.
She is divorced, however as the money is rather tight at the moment, she lets her ex husband Jack stay in the same house (in the upper apartment) and use her offices as long as he pays rent. The two of them hardly see each other, and even when they do, they’re usually at each others throats after a few words only.
One day Jack disappears along with the company money, which leads the police and FBI right to her front door. What’s worse, however, is that they’re pretty much accusing her of helping Jack steal a couple of millions before disappearing. Zoe, of course, has no idea of any such dealings, but realizes that things are far more serious than initially thought, when Jack’s partner is found dead in his office.
Being the impulsive person that she is (as opposed to the calming and almost boring personality of Jack), she can’t stay put in one place, but decides to investigate. Her amateur detective work takes her from Dallas and Last Vegas to Rome in Italy and back, while she learns that her life was pretty much a lie – Jack was definitely not the man she thought she married. But who was he and where is he – if he is alive at all?
There are quite a few twists and turns in the story and Zoe’s adventures are not without their danger. She is often running for her life, and things are definitely not as boring as she thought they would be.
The romance is also there, however it’s not prominent and it doesn’t take away from the suspense that runs throughout the book. Initially I thought I picked up a cozy, but this turned to be so much more: spy fiction, thriller and a satisfying mystery.
What I had a few problems with was the writing and the various grammar and spelling mistakes (I think the one that pretty much everyone noticed right away was condensation instead of condescension). For some reason I stumbled such mistakes several times, but this didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book too much. I did read it in two afternoons sitting on my balcony, drinking my coffee in July.
The book kept my interested while reading, and even though I was not as hooked as I was hoping I would be (for some reason I couldn’t feel a connection with the main characters), the many twists and turns more than compensated for anything else the book might be lacking in. For a free book (now as I check Amazon, it is still free for downloading to Kindle), it was a good story to read.
