Or the Girl Dies (The Escape Series #1)

SUSPENSE/THRILLER:  Natalie, a teenager in her last year of high school, is smart, capable and preparing for college. She is assigned to write a project that’s worth half her grade, and important to her entrance for college. Unfortunately, she is partnered with one of the worst losers at the school — Victor, a drug dealer with a secret life. Natalie was hoping to get paired up with the good looking athlete, the one who drives a Lexus and whom she has liked since her freshmen year. Natalie, who can’t find Victor (or if she does he’s asleep at his desk), finds herself writing the paper on her own, and with each sentence she writes she becomes more angry at him. She becomes so angry that she jumps in her car in search of Victor’s home, and when she arrives there, the thrill and adventure of the story begins.

Rachel Rust has written a fast paced, first-rate adventure story! The characters are likable, well-rounded, and pull the reader in immediately. The structure of the novel is done well and the readers will root for Natalie and Victor in their struggles. The strength that the characters demonstrate keeps one glued to their seat right until the end. There is only one slight problem, and that is that women always seem to get themselves into dangerous situations that men need to save them from. Other than that, the tension in the story is palpable, and has just enough romance that keeps the heat on and the reader turning pages just to see what happens next. Author Rachel Rust has engineered a great plot twist — one that readers won’t see coming, and have them clamoring for the next book in the series!

L. Kane