Girl on the Run by Carolyn Arnold

 Girl on the Run

Book Summary

Shivers tear through her, but she must be brave—for herself, for her future. She grips her coat tighter and steps into the night and the cold, pouring rain. Never to be seen again.

An ordinary Monday morning commute turns deadly when a gunman opens fire in the local train station. Detective Madison Knight rushes to the scene, but she’s too late for the victims. Two women were fatally wounded, including an expectant mother, and one is fighting for her life. But it’s the face of one of the dead that has Madison seeing a ghost from her past. She looks just like Madison’s college friend Courtney Middleton, who vanished over fifteen years ago. If it is her, where has she been all these years, and does her resurfacing have anything to do with the shooting?

Eyewitnesses say that a young woman triggered the incident, but both the shooter and the girl seem to have evaporated into thin air. Mounting evidence suggests they may be part of a drug-trafficking operation, the girl being one of their runners. But Madison’s not so sure the girl is the hardened criminal she appears to be.

As Madison races to track down the young woman, more people turn up murdered, and there’s still no sign of the girl. Is her body out there to find or is she on the run? If the latter, is it due to fear or guilt? Could it simply be that the shooting victims were caught in the crosshairs of organized crime? Madison’s not sure, but she can’t shake her niggling suspicion: what if it was something more than that?

My Thoughts

Girl on the Run by Carolyn Arnold is the eleventh novel in Detective Madison Knight Series.  I was not aware that this book was part of a series when I obtained it (I really need to start checking).  While I could read Girl on the Run, I believe I would have benefited from reading the first book in the series.  I believe it would have given me a different perspective on Detective Madison Knight.  I thought Girl on the Run contained good writing with developed characters.  I found the pacing to be mixed.  There were areas that were fast paced and others that were slow.  Detective Madison Knight is not a likeable character in this story.  I found her to be annoying and abrasive.  Madison is rude and dismissive.  I understand that she is dealing with her miscarriage, but that is no excuse for the way she treated people.  It seems Madison needs some time off and a good therapist.  I did not like the bickering between Madison and her partner, Terry.  She also kept punching him in the shoulder.  Terry told her repeatedly that she gets more flies with honey than with vinegar (she treated victim’s and their families as well suspects terribly).  If I was Terry, I would have asked for a new partner.  Madison is extremely confrontational.  She was focused on the crime to the exclusion of everything else.  I wonder if she believes anyone tells the truth.  Madison believes corruption is everywhere (it could be, but the repetitiveness got annoying).  The mystery was complex.  The crime ties back to previous books.  The explanations slowed down the pacing considerably (again, reading the previous books would have been beneficial).  Madison and her partner, Terry work hard to get the truth and find the guilty party.  The pace increased at the end with the story with their being a rapid conclusion.  I thought the story wrapped up a little too quickly.   There is a lot of repetitive details in the story especially surrounding the case.   Girl on the Run does contain violence and foul language.  While Girl on the Run was not a good fit for me, I suggest you read a sample to see if it suits you.  We all view books differently.  Girl on the Run has a complex crime with curious killings, an exasperated partner, Russian mobsters, corrupt cops, a manager who micromanages, and one dogged detective.

Girl on the Run is available from Amazon*.  You can find the other novels in the Detective Madison Knight series here.  Take a moment to check out Carolyn Arnold's other novels.  Thank you for visiting with me today.  I will return on Monday with The Bookseller's Promise by Beth Wiseman.  It is the first book in The Amish Bookstore Novels.  I hope that you have a very Happy Easter with plenty of sweet treats.  I am off to get the pork roast for our Easter dinner ready.  I want to let it marinate overnight (with my special mixture) plus I want to make bread to go with it (there will be roasted sweet potatoes too for my mother).  Take care, Happy Easter, and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader 

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