When Tanya discovers her husband, Frank, dead at the base of the stairs, she doesn't know if it was an accident or murder. With no alibi, she is sure the police will consider her the prime suspect. Tanya has no choice but to take Frank's truck and flee with what money she can access. On the run, she blackmails an old acquaintance to provide her a new identity and additional cash. Now she must remake herself into Amelia with new mannerisms and voice inflections. It's not the first time she's thrown away an old identity and assumed a new one. She just doesn't realize it won't be the last.

Tanya/Amelia's encounter with a bartender named Blue alters her life once more when they realize they are both running from their pasts. Tanya/Amelia takes on another new identity, Debra, and hits the road again. However, maintaining stories of her fabricated lives becomes more difficult, especially with Blue's interference. Tanya/Amelia/Debra finally realizes she has to go back and face her past as Nora Jo.

Told in first-person by Tanya/Amelia/Debra/Nora Jo, Lisa Lutz's THE PASSENGER is interspersed with thought-provoking emails linked to her original life. Running from past mistakes, she keeps getting into more problems with each new life she attempts to build. Wily plot twists and quick-paced narrative kept my interest as I eagerly anticipated the cause of her flight and the final resolution after ten years of running from the inevitable. Even though I felt the heroine/fugitive got off a bit too easily for all she had done in her many reincarnations, the conclusion still held several satisfying surprises.