Nowhere To Run by Nancy Bush

Book:  Nowhere To Run by Nancy Bush
To be Published July 31, 2012 by Kensington Publishing Corp.

Summary: Liv receives a package from her dead mother shortly after her twenty-fifth birthday.  Almost immediately, a gun man shoots up her place of employment while she is out to lunch.  She goes on the run, convinced that these two events are linked and determined to prove that someone is out to kill her.


Characters:  Liv comes off as crazy, but it is very clear that she is damaged, instead of insane.  I was a little disappointed, because I love when thrillers keep me in the dark about the main characters sanity but for the most part I was able to root for her and I enjoyed watching her battle her dark family history.  I was surprised that there were three other major points of view.  My favorite is Auggie.  He's the love interest and an undercover cop who falls for Liv (she has a SEVERE dislike for the police).  His point of view added a layer of tension that made the story even more enjoyable and I loved being inside his head.

The two other points of view didn't work as well for me.  Auggie's sister, September, is also a police officer working Liv's case.  On one hand, I enjoyed seeing what was going on with the case, but the most interesting part, for me, is the secondary case she starts working on, which turns out to be set up for the next book in the series instead of a related subplot.  I also didn't like September's partner, Gretchen.  Gretchen is a b**** with little regard for how she affects the people around her.  She acts just like the cop who traumatized Liv as a child and I spent most of the book waiting for Gretchen and Liv to meet.  I was more than disappointed that they didn't.

We also spend a little bit of time in the killer's head. Understanding the killer is usually something I love, but the switch from third person-past tense to first person-present tense really threw me off.  Mostly, it established the killer as someone mentally deranged and for me, that made it less scary.


Plot/Pacing:  The first few scenes of the book were slow for me, but once the massacre happens at Liv's workplace, the book takes off.  I would have liked to see more evidence and clues throughout the book.  Liv's proof never felt like more than rumor and speculation, which prevented the mystery from fully coming together for me.  The end felt very abrupt, but I'm invested enough in these characters that I want to read the next book.


Moments I Loved:  I loved the moments between Auggie and Liv.  Liv is so damaged and closed off that it was wonderful watching her learn how to trust again.

WTF Moments:  While the romance is my favorite part of the book, it also weirded me out a bit.  Auggie is an undercover cop, so his allowing things to get so far with Liv felt inappropriate.  I didn't understand why he didn't get in trouble when they got back to the station.  Are there not rules about relationships between police officers and witnesses?


Overall:  This book wasn't for me, because I have very specific tastes when it comes to thrillers (likeable villains and a hero who struggles to stay good).  However, I think it will be highly enjoyable to those who devour thrillers and like straight-forward characters.


Reading Challenges: This book counts toward the following challenges: NetGalley Knockdown, e-book challenge.  Track all my progress on my 2012 Challenges page.

Nowhere to Run gets a Fake Steph rating of...

**I received an e-galley of Nowhere To Run from the publisher through NetGalley.  I was in no way compensated for my review and all opinions expressed here are my own.  Feel free to check out my full FTC Disclaimer on my About This Blog page.**