Getaway by Lisa Brackmann
Official Summary: “Michelle Mason tells herself she’s on vacation. A brief stay in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a chance to figure out her next move after the unexpected death of her banker husband, who’s left behind a scandal and a pile of debt. The trip was already paid for, and it beats crashing in her sister’s spare room. When a good-looking man named Daniel approaches her on the beach, the margaritas have kicked in and she decides: why not?
But the date doesn’t go as either of them planned. An assault on Daniel in her hotel room, switched cell phones and an encounter with a “friend” of Daniel’s named Gary gets Michelle enmeshed in a covert operation involving drug runners, goons, and venture capitalists. Michelle already knows she’s caught in a dangerous trap. But she quickly finds that running is not an option. If she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried in the town dump, with the rest of the trash. Now she needs to fight smart if she wants to survive her vacation.”
Getaway tells the story of an American woman whose trip to Mexico quickly veers off from her relaxing plans. While Michelle comes to Mexico to escape the stresses of the life that she left behind in L.A. where she is dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s death, she rapidly comes to realize that those problems are small compared to the ones that she finds on the beach in Puerto Vallarta. After an initial encounter with a man she meets on the beach ends in a violent robbery, Michelle quickly becomes tangled in a network of criminals and conspiracies that she never fully understands.
This book impressed me with the way that it managed to maintain intensity throughout. While the first couple of pages may make this seem like a book about a relaxing beach vacation, this proves to be deceptive almost immediately. Michelle is caught up in a web of mysterious expats and locals by the end of the first chapter and the book just keeps delivering more twists and turns to the very end, which even leaves the reader guessing. While many books are structured so that the reader knows more than the protagonist, in this case part of the impact of the story comes from the fact that the reader shares in Michelle’s confusion and therefore never knows what to expect next. While I ultimately felt that the plot may have left me uncertain about a few too many of its twists and turns, fans of thrillers that merge action and suspense will likely appreciate this book’s relentless pace and intriguing characters.
Check it out: Getaway will be available May 1st. If you can’t wait until then, you can check out the first chapter and more about the book on Lisa Brackmann’s website.
Read Alikes: If this sounds interesting, you might want to check out Lisa Brackmann’s first book, Rock Paper Tiger. For books by other authors, try Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger or The Expats by Chris Pavone.
Note: Review based on ARC from publisher.
