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Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz



Blurb from Goodreads:
From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless. 
My Review:
 
Maybe it's just me but I have been seriously disappointed in "thrillers" lately.  I want something that puts me on the edge of my seat and doesn't let me figure out what is going on!  This one was fine, it wasn't too suspenseful but there were some thrilling moments.  The narrator, Tanya/Amelia, etc. etc. was supremely unlikable but that didn't ruin the story for me. The worst part of this book was the ending.  I wish I could give you a big old spoiler about it but basically the entire book is spent on the run until it's not.  I hated the ending and it was a big slap in the face after the rest of the book -- it seriously made me feel like reading the book was a waste of time.

I would still recommend this to anyone that likes thrillers, especially those with an unreliable female narrator (more about this phenomenon soon!).  The writing was good and it was definitely a fast read.  Although I didn't love either He Will Be My Ruin or The Girl on The Train (I know both got rave reviews), I would recommend this one if you liked either of those.  My recent favorite in this genre is still Swerve by Vicki Pettersson!  The Passenger comes out today March 1, 2016, and you can purchase HERE!  
I got a paper cut rushing to unzip the seal with my index finger.  A small dot of blood landed on my new birth certificate, Amelia Keen, born 3:32 a.m. on November 3, 1986, to George Arthur Keen and Marianne Louise Keen at Providence Hospital in Tacoma, Washington.  A Scorpio.  Powerful, magnetic, jealous, possessive, compulsive.  My mother used to read charts obsessively.  I never bought into it, mostly because I was a Pisces, which always sounded a lot like a jellyfish without the sting.  But looking back, maybe that's exactly what I was.   
Now I could change all of that.  Change everything about myself that I didn't like, starting with my hair.  I had become a blonde a long time ago when I realized that men look at you differently when you burn the color out of your hair.  I wondered how they'd look at me as a brunette.  Maybe they wouldn't look at me at a ll.  It would be nice to be invisible for awhile.

Comments

  1. Oh no! I'm sorry none of the thrillers you've been reading lately have been impressing you, Eva. Since you and I felt similarly about He Will Be My Ruin, I doubt this one will be for me. Plus, that unlikeable character and the plot's predictability just wouldn't do it for me.
    Great review, Eva!

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  2. It's not just you. I've been disappointed in some of the thrillers lately, too. I even DNF'd one. This one surprises me because it's so hyped and anticipated.

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  3. Sorry to hear this one was a bit of a let-down, Eva. I doubt it's for me, either. I loathe books with an unreliable narrator and one with my name would make it even worse! LOL

    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

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  4. I'm sorry this one wasn't for you. It wasn't for me either, I HATED it! I hope your next read is much better.

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one -- everyone else has loved this one so maybe I missed something

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  5. OH! I loved swerve too. It just had that scary setting and everything the MC did, I would have done as well. So it wasn't like she was doing stupid stuff to get into trouble. That was a great thriller. Great review here.

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  6. I read another review for this, but hey didn't really like it. I have been eyeing it on Overdrive, so I may cave and read it one day.

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  7. Huh. Ehhhh. Pass. I'd not heard of this book or author and it looks like that need not change. :D Fantastic post, Eva!

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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  8. This is up next for me. I will have to see what I think but that ending does not sound promising!!! Great review!!

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  9. I'm not a fan of an unreliable or unlikable narrator so I doubt this would work for me. I think I feel like I'm being lied to when I have an unreliable narrator and that I can't trust anything I'm reading. Not my cup of tea. I like to know where I stand. I started Girl on the Train and I couldn't finish it. I'd be pretty annoyed if I read a whole book and the ending made me feel like the whole read was a waste of time. Sorry to hear that! I hope you find a thriller puts you on edge.

    Have you read Into the Darkest Corner? I was on edge the whole time! Although, I guess the narrator might be considered a little unreliable? I think because she wasn't sure she wasn't imagining some of the things that were making her scared.

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    1. So excited to try this one Rachel! Thank you again!!

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    2. My pleasure! Fingers crossed that you actually like it now. No worries if not. :)

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  10. I agree, the thrillers I have read lately have all been a bit of a fizzle. This one was a page turner, but by the end, it just lost a bit so something. I really didn't like the MC by the end with all of her bad decisions.

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