Walk Away by Sam Hawken

The tough ex-Army medic, Camaro, is back in Sam Hawken’s second book Walk Away, this time around protecting that which is most important to her: family.

Camaro hasn’t seen or spoken to her sister in years. There is a good reason for that, so when Annabel sent her a coded message asking for help, Camaro knew that the situation was serious.

After all, Annabel wouldn’t contact her just to do small talk.

So Camaro leaves the sunny Florida and heads West to California to come to her sister’s aid. And what she finds there is not pretty.

It seems that Annabel has gotten herself once again mixed up with the wrong guy. She has a knack for finding the abusive ones, and this one is no different.

Jake Collier is a low class criminal who is abusing and taking advantage of Camaro’s sister in a big way. Annabel has a lot of money and Jake has both his eyes on the prize.

The bigger problem, however, is that Jake has a much meaner brother, Lukas, an ex-marine of the truly dangerous type. And he has it in for Camaro right from the start, especially when Camaro could easily spoil the brothers’ evil plan of making lots and lots of money in an easy (and nasty) way.

Enter the scene a bounty hunter and the feds as well, and you can easily see the many different directions Camaro has to fend off while also trying to keep her sister and her niece safe.

Camaro is the female Jack Reacher. I often had him in mind when reading the book. She is tough, fears nothing and doesn’t mind getting way in over her hear if the situation calls for it. Saving her family is paramount and everything, including breaking the law every now and then, is secondary.

I enjoyed The Night Charter, the first book in the series a lot, but I loved Walk Away. I’ve got to know Camaro’s past a bit and learn what makes her tick. First I found her only tough, but now I could truly appreciate the depth and complexity of her character.

She loves her family, has a strong personal moral code and won’t let herself, or anyone she cares about, be bullied.

While I wouldn’t have had a problem reading this book as a standalone, I would recommend you pick up The Night Charter first. Each book brings a bit more of Camaro’s character to the surface, like a puzzle that is only complete when you put all pieces together.

I will have to hunt down the earlier novellas Full Throttle and Sweet Ride as well, to fill in the time until yet another Camaro book comes out hopefully next year.