I finished reading Anne Laughlin’s new book just a few minutes ago. I was lucky enough to get a review copy and very much looked forward to getting into the book. I read Ms. Laughlin’s Veritas and loved her voice and her quirky characters but she told me that Runaway was different from her previous book. She didn’t lie.

Runaway is told in the third person from the perspectives of two characters, Jan and Maddy. At 16, Jan ran away from the militia that her father commanded in Northern Idaho. Twenty years later, she’s a hardened private investigator in Chicago who keeps everyone at a distance. Maddy, a privileged 16-year-old from a rich Chicago suburb, runs away to find an Ayn Rand style utopia. Maddy’s parents hire the company Jan works for to find her. Meanwhile, the company is sold to a British firm and in comes Catherine, a former MI6 agent who will be handling the turnover, and there are instant sparks between her and Jan.

Ok, now you’ve got the general idea of the book. The story probably goes much like you think it will. It did for me. I don’t think there was anything at all that surprised me about the plot or the characters. What also didn’t surprise me was that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. While this was a much darker, more serious tale than Veritas, the author’s voice came through clearly and there were a few points where I chuckled. Anne Laughlin is one of those authors that I just enjoy reading. It was also nice to read about places that I was familiar with, like Chicago and Idaho.

There are some plot points that I’d like to talk about more but I don’t want to give anything away. Oh, and I like the way she handled the ending. I won’t say more about it. I’d love to, but I won’t.

All in all, I very much enjoyed my time reading Runaway and I recommend it to anyone who likes a little action. In the thriller sense.

Runaway by Anne Laughlin