I'm not sure why, but I didn't have high expectations for this book. I thought it would be a struggle to get through, but honestly--and I know this is a cliche--it was a struggle to put it down!
The basic premise is that a recently widowed woman, Michelle, is vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when she decides to be spontaneous and give in to a sudden urge, which results in her sharing a bed with a man she barely knows. Before she even has time to regret it, masked strangers burst into the room and attack her companion. He's not seriously injured but he does end up with her cell phone by mistake. Within the next 48 hours our unlucky heroine finds herself arrested on trumped up drug charges, followed by police, bugged by a mysterious American, and without her phone and her passport. She does get the phone back but the rest only gets more complicated from there.
Getaway is the sort of novel you take with you on vacation. It's light, genuinely engaging, full of intrigue (but not too difficult to follow, even if you were on your third margarita while sunbathing on the beach). It makes me wish I were lying in the sun reading it...though probably not in Mexico.
The one thing that did bother me about Getaway was...
Hit the jump for more--
The one thing that did bother me about Getaway was the timeline of characters' ages. It obviously takes place in modern times because the author references Facebook and iPhones. But several of the characters repeatedly refer to American military training and experience in Vietnam, which would have to mean the Vietnam War (what kind of American military presence has there been in Vietnam since the war?), which ended in 1975, so those characters would probably be in their 60's (or late 50's at the youngest). The main character, Michelle, refers to at least one of those characters as "about my age" so is she in her 60's? At one point she goes to a night club with a girl young enough to complain about being "grounded" by her dad, yet Michelle never comments, "Gee, I'm old enough to be this girl's grandmother or old mom." So how old are these people??
I have a sneaking suspicion that the real answer is that Getaway was written in 1990 and sat on a shelf for two decades and then was dusted off and "updated" with a few minor edits. But it's still a fun read so I'd recommend it for beach reading (but again, maybe not in Mexico!).
UPDATE: The author emailed me about some of my questions (very cool!). You can read what she said here. Thanks, Lisa Brackmann!
Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley.com. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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