RUNNING SCARED

Fifteen years ago in Boston, Kate Summers made a bargain: she became the mother of a perfect, beautiful newborn baby and she promised she would never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone. No longer looking behind her, Kate has done exactly what she said she would and living happily her son, Jon, in a small town in Oregon.

But back in Boston, the past is beginning to stir and after being asked to investigate, Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town to strike up a friendship with her and Jon. Daegan has his own past to hide - one with shocking ties to hers. Someone is searching for Kate and her son and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him.

The one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever and yet she has no choice as the past and present catch up to explode - unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery with a fury powerful enough to kill.

Running Scared is a new release in the UK, but not in the US, having been initially titled Wishes and subsequently been re-written to become Running Scared in 2010. Now having her books distributed in the UK, there have been various review copies sent out and I am lucky enough to have read both this and the first in a series; Hot Blooded.  

Whilst the genre is romantic suspense, the story stands alone as a dark, enthralling and twisting tale of the depths families can plunge to, also including a small amount of the paranormal. Action packed from start to finish, I liked the way the two elements combined without one over whelming the other, but ultimately this is a thriller.

The plot is in depth, twisting and full of the type of tension any crime writer should have, with the romance being both relevant and part of the plot yet not impacting the main story. The characters felt real and although there were many within the ‘main cast’, they effortlessly blended without confusion.