The Passenger Book Review

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

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Blurb:

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?

Review by Brittany:

I requested a free copy of this book on NetGalley for review purposes because the blurb sounded interesting, and I recognized this author's name.

I really enjoyed this book. Lutz begins by throwing the reader into the action of the moment, which is actually about halfway through the story. The main character is Tanya, except she's actually not. Tanya is an identity she picked up along the way, as is her way of life, and she continues to do so throughout the book. The author wrote about identity exchanges with knowledge, making it seem realistic and keeping it interesting. There were also times when Tanya was forced to be a squatter, thanks to her unconventional way of life, and the author made those parts believable as well.

Blue was an interesting character to me because she was a minor character who played a huge role in moving the story along. Although there aren't necessarily any good guys in this book (except maybe Domenic), Blue seemed to me to be the most sinister. She was manipulative and sneaky, always leaving out just enough of the truth to keep the main character off balance.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but it still worked. After all the running and all of the high-tension experiences the main character has, the ending sort of wraps up neatly, which was a nice contrast to the rest of the story.

Overall, I really liked this book. I haven't read anything else by Lutz, but I can see why she's such a big name in the mystery genre. I definitely recommend this one to fans of the thriller, suspense, and mystery genres.