Cut and Run - Hardcover

Pearson, Ridley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786867264 ISBN 13: 9780786867264

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

A spellbinding thriller pitting a U.S. federal marshal against the mob's most resourceful killer--in a race to save the woman he loves

Six years ago, witness protection marshal Roland Larson did the unthinkable: He fell in love with a protected witness, Hope Stevens, whose testimony was to put away prominent members of the Romero crime family. When Hope's plan to "cut and run" is interrupted by both the government and the mob, she disappears into a new identity, taking with her not only her testimony but also a secret never shared with Larson.

Larson, who has been looking for her ever since, is put back on her trail when the Romeros intercept the master WITSEC list from the Justice Department and Hope is believed to be among the first protected witnesses targeted for execution.

In a series of terrifying encounters, Larson matches wits with a brutally ingenious killer whose sole target is Hope Stevens. For Larson, the stakes couldn't be higher--he must find Hope in order to protect her and simultaneously prevent the mob from auctioning off the master witness protection list--an act that will put seven thousand innocent, and not-so-innocent, lives in jeopardy.

Taut and edge-of-the-seat compelling, Cut and Run is a unique thriller that skillfully blends romance and suspense--Ridley Pearson at his heart-pounding best.

About this title

About the Author

Ridley Pearson is the award-winning co-author, along with Dave Barry, of Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, Peter and the Sword of Mercy, Escape From the Carnivale, Cave of the Dark Wind, Blood Tide, and Science Fair. In addition to Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Kingdom Keepers: Disney in Shadow, and Kingdom Keepers: Power Play, he is also the author of the young adult thrillers Steel Trapp: The Challenge and Steel Trapp: The Academy. He has written more than twenty best-selling crime novels, including Killer View and Killer Weekend. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.

Reviews

Crime fiction king Pearson's (The Body of David Hayes) latest fast-paced thriller finds a smitten U.S. marshal and a vengeful killer chasing after the same elusive woman in witness protection. Hope Stevens, a technical consultant for the Justice Department, helped indict the deadly Romero white-collar crime family in a million-dollar fraud investigation. For six years, she's been in the witness protection program, waiting to testify. Now, the Romeros have infiltrated the program's participant list, and she's in grave danger. Roland Larson, a U.S. marshal in St. Louis who met Hope just before she was admitted to the program, still pines for her and is determined to find her. But close behind him is Paolo, a throat-slasher commissioned by Romero and a scarification fetishist, whittling his way through Hope's acquaintances to get to her. Accidental exposures keep Hope on the run as the vigilant Paolo and heart-heavy Roland grow increasingly desperate. Hope and Roland's heated reunion is marred by the kidnapping of Hope's previously well-concealed five-year-old daughter, Penny, a surprise to everyone, especially "new" father Roland. Separately, gutsy mother and daughter try to outsmart Paolo, then chase electronic messages to Florida and onward to the finale in Washington and Seattle, where protection program names are being auctioned off to mob goons. As seasoned heroes and a league of gangland villains lock horns for the busy wrapup, even fans accustomed to Pearson's heart-pounding pacing will find themselves short of breath. Agent, Al Zuckerman. 10-city author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pearson's Lou Boldt series brilliantly jumps between subtle interpersonal dynamics and high-voltage suspense, with the resulting shifts in narrative drive somehow never stripping the gears. In his stand-alone thrillers, however, there is hardly any gear shifting; the pedal crunches the metal from start to finish. So it is here, in a classic chase novel that pits a federal agent with the Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (FATV) against a psychotic, razor-wielding killer and his Mob bosses. When the Romero crime family abducts a computer genius and forces him to decrypt the government's witness-protection database, Roland Larson knows that Hope Stevens--prepared to testify against the family--is at risk. Larson's assignment is to find the computer nerd, but his real concern is Hope--their against-the-rules love affair while she was being relocated in the witness-protection plan ended badly, and he has been pining for her ever since. But will he find her before the Romero's henchman does? Throw in Hope's daughter--Is Larson the father?--and all the pieces are in place for a nerve-jangling locomotive ride that just keeps gaining speed. Pure action fans will prefer Pearson in his full-throttle, stand-alone mode--Parallel Lies (2001) and Hard Fall (1991) are other examples--but the wide range of his talent is better displayed in the Boldt novels, where the varying tempo and complex underpinning produce a more deeply satisfying brand of crime fiction. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786867264
• ISBN 13: 9780786867264
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384