Book Review: Runner by Patrick Lee

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from St. Martin's Press from NetGalley,for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

Synopsis: 
Sam Dryden, retired special forces, lives a quiet life in a small town on the coast of Southern California. While out on a run in the middle of the night, a young girl runs into him on the seaside boardwalk. Barefoot and terrified, she’s running from a group of heavily armed men with one clear goal—to kill the fleeing child. After Dryden helps her evade her pursuers, he learns that the eleven year old, for as long as she can remember, has been kept in a secret prison by forces within the government. But she doesn’t know much beyond her own name, Rachel. She only remembers the past two months of her life—and that she has a skill that makes her very dangerous to these men and the hidden men in charge.

Dryden, who lost his wife and young daughter in an accident five years ago, agrees to help her try to unravel her own past and make sense of it, to protect her from the people who are moving heaven and earth to find them both. Although Dryden is only one man, he’s a man with the extraordinary skills and experience—as a Ranger, a Delta, and five years doing off-the-book black ops with an elite team. But, as he slowly begins to discover, the highly trained paramilitary forces on their heels is the only part of the danger they must face. Will Rachel’s own unremembered past be the most deadly of them all?


Review:
This is meant to be book 1 in the new Sam Dryden series, and it is like riding the roller coast up to the top, and screaming down at 120 mph! This book isn't necessarily a thriller, a mystery, sci-fi or a traditional fiction. It's like all of that rolled up with a character that is so likable, that you want to keep reading to find out what will happen to him. It reminded me of a book written by Lee Child or James Patterson- that great of a 'can't stop turning the pages' read! I'm not giving away the ending about what will happen to Rachel and what her past is, but I will definitely be looking forward to Book 2!



About the Author:
PATRICK LEE lives in Michigan. He is the author of three previous novels: The Breach (a New York Times Bestseller), Ghost Country, and Deep Sky.