Category Archives: Lisa Lutz

February 24, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz

Title: The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating:

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.

Owen Mann is charming, privileged, and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious, and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they begin forming a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible–Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen–and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

Years later, they’re still best friends when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds some light on long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

The Accomplice examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering if you ever truly knew the only person who truly knows you.

Review:

The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz is a captivating mystery that features an unlikely friendship.

In 2002, outgoing Owen Mann becomes friends with closed off Luna Grey. Their friendship does not seem like it will last past college, yet seventeen years later, they are still close friends.  In 2019, Luna is married to a doctor, Sam Burroughs, and she is friends with Owen’s wife, Irene. After stopping by one morning, Irene reveals unexpected information then heads out for her daily run. That evening, Owen and Luna get together for a drink, but neither has heard from Irene since that morning. The next day, Luna finds her lifeless body and her actions afterward make the two detectives assigned to the case a little suspicious of her and Owen.

Luna is self-contained and offers up little information about herself. She is shocked when Owen befriends her but they are soon thick as thieves. Their college years are a bit of a drunken blur with one very notable exception. In the aftermath, Owen and Luna are physically distant yet stay in touch. Owen continues drinking excessively and indulging in one-night stands. Luna moves in with friends and indulges in an under the radar romance with an unexpected person. Although their lives go in different directions, the one constant in their lives is their unbreakable friendship.

After Irene’s murder, Detectives Margot Burns and Noah Goldman look very closely at Owen and Luna. Owen’s answers to their questions are eyebrow raising and they cannot rule him out as a suspect. Luna is more forthcoming but Burns and Goldman find it difficult to believe the pair have never been romantically involved. Unable to find any proof that either Owen or Luna killed Irene, will they ever catch her killer?

The Accomplice is a brilliantly plotted mystery that is quite clever. Luna is more likable than Owen and they are each a little quirky. The various characters are hiding plenty of secrets that eventually come out. The story seamlessly moves back and forth in time and the pacing is brisk. With stunning revelations,  Lisa Lutz brings this engaging mystery to a very surprising conclusion.

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Filed under Ballantine Books, Contemporary, Lisa Lutz, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, The Accomplice

February 24, 2016 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Title: The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

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.

Review:

With plenty of secrets and startling twists and turns, The Passenger by Lisa Lutz is a riveting, suspense laden mystery.

After discovering the body of her husband, Tanya Dubois makes a life altering decision to flee due to her mysterious past. Following a seemingly fortuitous meeting with bartender “Blue”, Tanya is well on her way to forging a new life for herself in Wyoming when Blue’s past lands on her doorstep. Forced to change identities once again, Tanya quickly discovers that she is running out of options as she continues trying to outrun her past.

Initially, Tanya is not an easy character to like. She is little cold and comes across as rather opportunistic as she takes advantage of the people who cross her path. However, as more information about her past is revealed through a series of e-mails spanning several years, it is much easier to view her actions and reactions in a much more favorable light. Surprisingly, she has a pretty strong moral compass and she is greatly bothered when circumstances force her to compromise her principles. Tanya is also quite introspective and it does not take her long to begin to question the decisions she is making in order to survive.

On the other hand, Blue, who is also on the run, seemingly has no conscience. On the surface, her offer to help Tanya appears to be genuine but as Tanya soon discovers, her help comes with a pretty hefty price tag. Only time will tell whether their uneasy partnership will become Tanya’s downfall or ultimately, her salvation.

Well-written and compelling, The Passenger is an intriguing novel with an unusual premise that mystery lovers are sure to enjoy. Lead protagonist Tanya is flawed yet likable and as more of her backstory is revealed, she becomes a much more sympathetic character.  The overall storyline is interesting and Lisa Lutz brings the novel to a dramatic but surprisingly, uplifting, conclusion.

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Filed under Contemporary, Lisa Lutz, Mystery, Rated B, Review, Simon & Schuster Inc, The Passenger, Thriller