Audie Palmer had never learned how to swim.As a boy when he went fishing with his father on Lake Conroe he was told that being a strong swimmer was dangerous because it gave a person a false sense of security. Most folks drowned because they struck out for short thinking they could save themselves, while those who survived were found clinging to the wreckage.
Description:
The opening pages of Michael Robotham's Life or Death follow Audie Palmer as he escapes from his prison cell where he has been serving 10 years for a robbery where four people died. When we first meet him, outside the prison walls and on the run, he faces a three-mile lake between him and relative safety, a daunting obstacle for someone who cannot swim.
The strange thing is the timing. His escape occurs the night before he is scheduled to be released from prison, his sentence completed. Why would anyone risk escape/recapture and the possibility of serving an additional 20 years in jail only hours before becoming a free man? The reason behind this last-minute escape is the mystery that drives Palmer and the gripping narrative of Life or Death
We soon learn there was $7 million from that armored truck robbery that was never found. Is Palmer going somewhere to reclaim the money? Certainly there are many people who believe so and their efforts to locate him and the money (and then separate him from said money) are thorough and chilling. But he manages to elude each one of them to continue on his unknown quest.
This is high quality thriller writing at its very best. We root for Palmer to escape his pursuers and obtain his goal, but really can we sympathize with someone involved in a robbery where people died? And does he deserve to recover and claim any money that was stolen? What role did he play in the theft/killing? Maybe things are not exactly what they seem to be, and that is the delicious irony behind his drive and the rational motivating his many pursuers.
To say more would be to reveal too much. Suffice to say, it is a fantastic page-turner with good and bad characters plotting, running, pursuing, and eluding. Palmer continually reflects on his past and what lead him to his current position on the run, but author Robotham takes his sweet time in revealing details that would explain both the reason for his last-minute escape and his future plans (besides avoiding re-capture and possible death by his pursuers). Mostly, we admire Palmer because he is a survivor, a man of mystery, and seemingly a good person.
The strange thing is the timing. His escape occurs the night before he is scheduled to be released from prison, his sentence completed. Why would anyone risk escape/recapture and the possibility of serving an additional 20 years in jail only hours before becoming a free man? The reason behind this last-minute escape is the mystery that drives Palmer and the gripping narrative of Life or Death
We soon learn there was $7 million from that armored truck robbery that was never found. Is Palmer going somewhere to reclaim the money? Certainly there are many people who believe so and their efforts to locate him and the money (and then separate him from said money) are thorough and chilling. But he manages to elude each one of them to continue on his unknown quest.
This is high quality thriller writing at its very best. We root for Palmer to escape his pursuers and obtain his goal, but really can we sympathize with someone involved in a robbery where people died? And does he deserve to recover and claim any money that was stolen? What role did he play in the theft/killing? Maybe things are not exactly what they seem to be, and that is the delicious irony behind his drive and the rational motivating his many pursuers.
To say more would be to reveal too much. Suffice to say, it is a fantastic page-turner with good and bad characters plotting, running, pursuing, and eluding. Palmer continually reflects on his past and what lead him to his current position on the run, but author Robotham takes his sweet time in revealing details that would explain both the reason for his last-minute escape and his future plans (besides avoiding re-capture and possible death by his pursuers). Mostly, we admire Palmer because he is a survivor, a man of mystery, and seemingly a good person.
My father didn't believe in God but he said there were six angels -- Misery, Despair, Disappointment, Hopelessness, Cruelty, and Death. 'You'll meet every one of them eventually,' he told me, 'but hopefully not in pairs.' Audie Palmer met his angels in pairs. He met them in threes. He met them every day...[but] he endured.Highly recommended for plot, character, and writing style. Pick it up and you won't be disappointed on any level.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Hayes, Terry. I Am Pilgrim
A member of a high level intelligence (very secret, of course) has to identify, find, and stop a terrorist who plans to bring down the entire United State of America. The best thriller I have ever read.. (previously reviewed here)
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