#BookReview: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Reviewer: Mary

I received a review copy

Summary:

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it…

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s 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. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s 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 secret…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.

Review:

Most women would call the police after unexpectedly finding their husband dead at the bottom of the stairs. Not Tanya Dubois. She immediately flees the scene, changes her name and begins a new life on the run. As Tanya alters her appearance, places mysterious calls from burner phones, and exchanges cryptic emails with a man named Ryan, you soon learn two things: her life is much more complicated than her dead husband, and this isn’t “Tanya’s” first experience changing her identity.

But this time is different. Tanya is wanted as the prime suspect in her husband’s mysterious fall. She can’t spend too long in one place, or familiarize herself with too many people. She does, however, encounter a spunky and resourceful bartender nicknamed “Blue,” who Tanya (now going by the name Amelia) confides in. Blue is on the run as well and decides to take Tanya in as they scan obituaries and crash funerals in search for new identities. Eventually, they decide to masquerade as each other — triggering the start of a crazy journey of secret clues, new characters and scandalous pasts.

This might start off as typical on-the-run mystery, but you soon discover this is not your ordinary story. Tanya has changed her original identity for a traumatic reason—one that is hinted throughout the entire book. You’ll catch glimpses of her past as you witness this strong and relentless character start over several times and deceive just about every person she meets.

Scandal rooted in murder, ex-lovers, and deep, dark secrets will keep you turning each page in anticipation. As Tanya’s “passenger,” you’re in for a wild and bumpy ride.

 4 stars