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.
From the author of the New York Times bestselling
Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutzβs latest blistering
thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new
identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her
past: youβll want to buckle up for the ride!
In case you were wondering, I didnβt do it. I didnβt have
anything to do with Frankβs death. I donβt have an alibi,
so youβll have to take my word for it...
Forty-eight hours after leaving her husbandβs body at the
base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit
cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a
shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. Itβs not
the first time.
She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the
hunted look in a fugitiveβs eyes and offers her a place
to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia
accepts. An uneasy-and dangerous-alliance is born.
Itβs almost impossible to live off the grid today, but
Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the
ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from
city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark
secretβ¦can she outrun her past?
With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The
Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about
defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival.
One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.
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