Cut and Run (Hardcover)

by Ridley Pearson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
While Ridley Pearson's Lou Boldt series seems to have run out of steam lately, his new stand-alone thriller shows this perennial best-selling author at the top of his form. It begins with a taut prologue introducing federal marshal Roland Larson and his protected witrness, Hope Stevens, whose testimony will send the Romero crime family to jail if she ever makes it to court. When Hope walks away from the witness protection program, she takes Larson's heart with her; he hesitates just long enough to regret it; and spends the next six years searching for her. Then she surfaces again in connection with the disappearance of another protected witness, a computer expert who holds the safety of everyone in the program in the top secret software program he developed. Noone wants access to that program more than the Romero family, and Hope Stevens is the first and most important target of their wrath. As a member of the elite Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, Larson races the clock to find the man whose knowledge threatens the life of the woman he still loves…and the child he never knew he had. A heart-pounding thriller that's impossible to put down, this is Pearson's best to date. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Crime fiction king Pearson's (The Body of David Hayes) latest fast-paced thriller finds a smitten U.S. marshal and a vengeful killer chasing after the same elusive woman in witness protection. Hope Stevens, a technical consultant for the Justice Department, helped indict the deadly Romero white-collar crime family in a million-dollar fraud investigation. For six years, she's been in the witness protection program, waiting to testify. Now, the Romeros have infiltrated the program's participant list, and she's in grave danger. Roland Larson, a U.S. marshal in St. Louis who met Hope just before she was admitted to the program, still pines for her and is determined to find her. But close behind him is Paolo, a throat-slasher commissioned by Romero and a scarification fetishist, whittling his way through Hope's acquaintances to get to her. Accidental exposures keep Hope on the run as the vigilant Paolo and heart-heavy Roland grow increasingly desperate. Hope and Roland's heated reunion is marred by the kidnapping of Hope's previously well-concealed five-year-old daughter, Penny, a surprise to everyone, especially "new" father Roland. Separately, gutsy mother and daughter try to outsmart Paolo, then chase electronic messages to Florida and onward to the finale in Washington and Seattle, where protection program names are being auctioned off to mob goons. As seasoned heroes and a league of gangland villains lock horns for the busy wrapup, even fans accustomed to Pearson's heart-pounding pacing will find themselves short of breath. Agent, Al Zuckerman. 10-city author tour. (Apr.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (April 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786867264
• ISBN-13: 978-0786867264
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #640,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beast Pearson in years!, March 22, 2005

By	Joe Grundig "Analyst" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had been a big fan of Ridley Pearson and his Lou Boldt serries, Undercurrents being my favorite), but the last couple of Boldt books have really left me feeling flat. Maybe it was just time for the author to get away from this character as I think this is the best pearson thriller in awhile.

The book starts off with a Hope Stevens, a wintness in the Federal witness protection program, Walking away from the program prior to testifying against a brutal crime family. Federal Mashall Roland Larson who was in charge of protecting Hope, not only loses his witness, but also his heart. and this is just the prologe.

Roland spends the next years searching for Hope(aren't we all!). Then one day Hope's name surfaces in connection with the disappearance of another protected witness. This witness is a computer expert who has the key to all the data of the people in the witness protection program, including Hope. The Romero crime family wants this data and Hope Stevens is at the top of their list of people they would like to see stay gone.

Larson, as part of the Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, is in charge of trying to find the computer expert before the bad guys do. The life of the women he still loves hangs in the balance(along with another surprise!). the story takes off from here and is a pulse pounding race to the finish, with more then a few surprises along the way. This is Pearson's best book since Under Currents!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pathetic, May 26, 2006

By	Charles (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cut and Run (Mass Market Paperback)

The plot is mechanical and unoriginal. It has characters of no interest and it manipulates the reader shamelessly, even by the standards of the genre (sweet little girl kidnapped by killer whose MO is to slit people's throats with a straight razor). Did I mention that the killer beats up and rapes his victims before killing them, but can't bring himself to harm little girls?

But what really stands out is how badly Pearson writes: "He didn't speak any of this, didn't voice his concerns, but he clearly wore them on his face, for she grew pale, turning away from the wind and him along with it." And this gem: "A night-light came on unexpectedly. Blinding him. Markowitz's grandson, dressed in cowboy pajamas, cowered. But it was he who'd turned it on."

Don't bother with this piece of trash, for you'll regret it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 80% great !!!, April 12, 2005

By	John Florez (Scottsdale, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ridley Pearson scores an 80% winner with Cut and Run.

His setup of the abduction and pursuit is excellent. This well-conceived effort would rate 5 stars if he had monitored his plausibility ratio toward the end of the book.

Example:

(READ NO FURTHER TO AVOID "SPOILERS")

Watch for clichés and plausibility. Toward the end of the book, our previously smart heroine takes TWO implausible actions:

1. "Chatting" on-line with a professor whose computer is monitored by the Mob, thus risking her daughter's life. (Note: The Feds have traced the computer's location and are already sending a rescue team there.)

Note: The professor KNOWS his computer is being monitored (for keystrokes, as well) and had not (nor would he ever) jeopardize the life of HIS family by chatting on-line with our heroine.

2. (Gulp) At the abduction site: She leaves the police's protected custody to "jump aboard" a catering truck headed toward the Mafia boss' house - further jeopardizing her daughter's life. Why? Is there REALLY more drama with a female in jeopardy? IMHO, the daughter's fate is dramatic enough, in and of itself.

In spite of the above, I enjoyed this book and consider it one of Pearson's best.