Customer Reviews

Run For Your Life

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have never taken the time to write a reveiw before; however, I believe this book deserves to be commented on. It was written with a style and thoroughness which makes it exceptional. I have read Ms. Kane's "Coin" books, and while they were enjoyable, I believe that her newest book has placed her among the ranks of Iris Johansen for writing superb romance/suspense novels. I look forward to her next novel in the same genre.

I picked up this book to see just how the author would "weave in the exciting profession of competitive intelligence," as mentioned in the acknowledgments. It turns out, the author does a minimal job of describing the profession or using it to motivate the character Zach's behavior.

This book has all the basic ingredients - reunited lovers, a mysterious disappearance, an autocratic, disapproving father, etc. - but the whole thing falls flat and drags on far too long. Because of heroine Victoria's sister's disappearance, Victoria and her formerly spurned lover Zach are driven to discover the connection between an elite secret medical facility and a world wide drug syndicate. The few details they do manage to uncover become more and more ludicrous as the story unfolds. You also have to pretend the bad guys are so arrogant and busy with their evil money making schemes, they won't recognize the lovers when they infiltrate the clinic, even though they've been following Victoria from the beginning.

The characters are unidimensional and pretty unappealing, good and bad guys alike, so there's not much emotional impact when a chief suspect turns out worthy of redemption, and a seemingly innocuous sub-character zooms into focus at the end.

The author does have a nice touch with the sex scenes. Other than that, there are many more engaging reads out there in this genre.

From the title of the book and the other reviews I read, I was expecting a fast-paced thrill a minute story. Sad to say, I was disappointed. The plot of the story was fairly interesting and it kept me guessing as to what was going on at the Hope Institute. However, the only thrilling thing were the love scenes. I also felt that the characters were rather cliched.

I picked up RUN FOR YOUR LIFE expecting it to be a thriller/romance with nonstop action. But it was about a hospital and illegal activities, and no way were the main characters running for their life. I never really got into the romance between the hero and heroine.
All in all, it was not a bad book, just I thought it was a little too long. I felt it could have wrapped up faster than it did.

Taking her usual two-mile run through Central Park one morning, attorney Victoria Kensington is shocked when she discovers her younger sister Audrey. Wearing a yellow hospital gown and mumbling about danger, Audrey collapses at Victoria's feet. After running for help, Victoria is even more alarmed when she returns to find Audrey nowhere in sight.

Victoria's father is very controlling when it comes to Audrey, so Victoria only goes to see him after she tries to locate Audrey with the help of the police. He tells Victoria that Audrey is still in Italy and that the woman she ran into could not have been her. Realizing that her father will be no help, Victoria takes matters into her own hands. Despite threats against her own life, Victoria decides to find Audrey on her own.

As her search takes her deeper and deeper into unknown territory, Victoria is stunned when Zachary Hamilton shows up on her doorstep. Why has he suddenly re-entered her life after four years? Having traveled the world investigating a drug ring, Zach tells Victoria that his investigation might be tied into the whereabouts of her sister. Deciding to help each other, Victoria and Zach start working together to find the truth and Audrey. As the truth is revealed, Victoria realizes that unraveling all the lies could ruin many lives, including those of her own family -- starting with her father.

Andrea Kane's first contemporary suspense will grab you from the first explosive scene and keep you rooted to your chair until you get to the extraordinary conclusion. A thrilling tale of deceit and secrecy, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE will have you suspecting everyone you meet in the book as you pull for Victoria and Zach to get back together while catching the villains. Plus, Kane still manages to shock the reader at the end.

The day Victoria Kensington found her sister, Audrey, unconcious in Central Park, she realized that something more was going on than she originally thought. With a whispered word to Victoria, Audrey blacks out leaving Victoria no option but to go for help. When she returns, Audrey is gone. Victoria's only course of action is to go to her father, who always knows where Audrey is. When she gets the run around from him, she starts questioning his motives for keeping the truth from her. In her family, it was always Victoria that ran interferance for her mother and sister against her father. Soon Victoria realizes that there is more going on than she ever expected, especially when the only man she's loved has come back to Manhattan to find the same answers that Victoria is looking for.

What is the Hope Institute?

Zach Hamilton has spent his life waiting for the day to bring the drug syndicate that killed his father to justice. Ever since that day that his father mistakenly stepped into the crossfire, Zach realized that the course of his life had changed. When he finds Victoria several years later, he finds more than a lover, he finds a soulmate. It has been four painful years since their parting, but Zach knows that he won't let her go this time around. The only question is, will they be alive to work out all their differences?

In my first Andrea Kane book, I was not dissapointed. Kane brought so much life into her charachters, that while to plot was far fetched, it was definetely believeable. While Victoria works on her issues about her obsession with independence, Zach comes to terms with the fact that he can't let his life be ruined by the people that killed his father. You also have Victoria's father who obviously loves his daughter, but doesn't show it in the best way possible.

Don't miss it!

Attorney Victoria Kensington is shocked to run into her sister Audrey in Central Park, considering she is supposedly living overseas.

Dressed in a hospital gown, and babbling about danger, Audrey, collapses, and as Victoria is seeking help, her sister disappears as quickly as she appeared.

After numerous dead-ends, Victoria's questioning will lead her to the Hope Institution, a mysterious medical clinic being investigated by her one time lover with FBI connections, Zachary Hamilton.

With no one to trust, Victoria and Zachary will work together to unravel the web of deceit that plagues Victoria's family.

"Run For Your Life" is a fast-paced novel, with enough twists to keep even the most jaded thriller reader on the edge of their seat.

Andrea Kane has written a thriller that deserves to be at the top of the bestseller list's, and place her name along side other "MUST READ" authors in the suspense genre.

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

What a disappointment!! Run for Your Life had such a promising premise - brilliant lawyer Victoria trips over her sick sister Audrey while jogging in Central Park, but when she returns with help, Audrey is gone! She and old flame Zach dig deep to discover if the exclusive Health Institute Audrey is being treated in, is actually a cover-up for a drug syndicate. This novel was full of wooden, 2 dimensional characters, stilted situations and false tension. Besides needing about 150 pages edited out ( as many others have mentioned) the editor was sleeping on the job so many other times: Victoria was described as having a sharp, analytical mind and half a page later Zach was described as having a sharp, analytical mind!! I got to page 250 and realized I was pretty much wasting my time with a story and characters I did not care about, so I skimmed through to the end just to see how it came out. No big surprises. So - read at your own risk. It's hard to get involved with a story when you really don't care about the characters and the plot.

I read some good reviews for this book, so I was amazed when I read it how awful it is. I have to wonder if the author has ever heard or been part of a conversation, the way these characters talk is ridiculous. Throughout the book they all speak every option there is. It's as though the author wants to assure the reader that she has thought of all the possibilities and so have her characters.

This book is 464 pages. If you cut down the conversations so every character doesn't speak every thought they've ever had, the book could easily have been under 400 pages and wouldn't have felt like 1,000.

Though sometimes it takes extreme discipline, attorney Victoria Kensington loves jogging the same path every day in Central Park. However, her idyllic runs turn frightening when her fearful sibling Audrey collapses at her feet. Before Audrey faints, she warns Victoria about danger and provides her with the numbers 5550400. Realizing she needs help fast, Victoria runs off to find assistance, but by the time she returns with a police officer, Audrey is gone.

A distressed Victoria turns to her father, powerful lawyer Walter, and asks whether Audrey has left her home in Florence, Italy. Walter insists her sister remains overseas, but Victoria concludes her father is lying to her. She begins to trace Audrey?s whereabouts, which leads Victoria to the upscale Hope Institute. The FBI and her former lover Zach Hamilton are conducting surveillance on the place. As Zach and Victoria work together to save her sister from a group that includes her father, they realize that their feelings for each other are still alive and growing stronger.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE is an exhilarating thriller that will provide talented author Andrea Kane a cross-genre audience. The taut story line is filled with action and a sense of foreboding as the intrepid Victoria refuses to stop her desperate search in spite of overwhelming odds. The obstinate Victoria will hook readers with her efforts even as they understand what drives her due to the secondary characters providing a glimpse into her personality. Even though he is a bit too perfect, Zach remains a marvelous, intelligent hero. With this novel, thriller fans will now realize what romantic suspense readers have known for years that the mark of Kane on a novel means entertaining, exciting literature.

Harriet Klausner