Cut & Run [Hardcover]

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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Pearson's Lou Boldt series brilliantly jumps between subtle interpersonal dynamics and high-voltage suspense, with the resulting shifts in narrative drive somehow never stripping the gears. In his stand-alone thrillers, however, there is hardly any gear shifting; the pedal crunches the metal from start to finish. So it is here, in a classic chase novel that pits a federal agent with the Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (FATV) against a psychotic, razor-wielding killer and his Mob bosses. When the Romero crime family abducts a computer genius and forces him to decrypt the government's witness-protection database, Roland Larson knows that Hope Stevens--prepared to testify against the family--is at risk. Larson's assignment is to find the computer nerd, but his real concern is Hope--their against-the-rules love affair while she was being relocated in the witness-protection plan ended badly, and he has been pining for her ever since. But will he find her before the Romero's henchman does? Throw in Hope's daughter--Is Larson the father?--and all the pieces are in place for a nerve-jangling locomotive ride that just keeps gaining speed. Pure action fans will prefer Pearson in his full-throttle, stand-alone mode--Parallel Lies (2001) and Hard Fall (1991) are other examples--but the wide range of his talent is better displayed in the Boldt novels, where the varying tempo and complex underpinning produce a more deeply satisfying brand of crime fiction. Bill Ott
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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

Ridley Pearson is the co-author of the bestselling Peter and the Starcatchers. His novels have sold over six million copies and have been translated into twenty languages. The bestselling author of fourteen novels, including The Body of David Hayes and The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, he is the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in detective fiction at Oxford University. He divides his time between Sun Valley, Idaho, and St. Louis, Missouri.

It doesn't get much better than having Dick Hill read a Ridley Pearson thriller. Hill, who can always be counted on for a solid performance, is downright exceptional in this one. Right from the start, Pearson sets a frenetic pace--and never lets it slow. A deputy U.S. Marshall, who is a half-step ahead of the Mob, tracks his former love who disappeared into the federal Witness Protection Program six years earlier. As the lawman encounters crisis after crisis, listeners are always on the edge. Additionally, Hill takes care to develop every nuance he can in the few ruminative sequences of this story. It sounds like he enjoyed this reading as much as the listener. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.