REVIEW: GIRL ON THE RUN, BY DARYL WOOD GERBER

 

 

From the beginning moments of Girl on the Run, we are drawn into a world of fantasy, secrets, and ultimate betrayal.

Standing in the midst of a beautiful Happily Ever Ball, Chessa Paxton, our event planner, has the normal fears about how a party will come off, but something else is tugging at her, something that hints that it is only a matter of time until the worst might occur. Chessa’s fears about her husband Zach are soon realized, and the blurry, eerie feeling that takes over her will be just the tip of the iceberg.

Did someone drug Chessa’s drink? What is the big secret Zach is keeping, and how did Chessa find out that something might be wrong? Who are the frightening characters behind the masks at the ball, and who among them will bring about the ultimate mayhem? Waking up to her dead husband, and learning of a mass murder in a nearby meadow, Chessa slips from the house, eluding the police, and heads out to uncover the truth and to find out who framed her. She knows she is innocent…or is she?

Some of the truths Chessa will discover go back to her childhood when her father was betrayed, and just when we thought we knew all of the secrets, we learn there are more. A “master of disguise,” Chessa cleverly changes up her look while trying to stay ahead of the killer or killers.

The cast of characters is large, including Chessa’s stepfather, a senator named Jeremiah Wolfe, and an evangelical type minister named Davey Diggs. The primary detective in charge is Marcus Newman, with his sidekick Keegan, and we also see early on that, while he believes Chessa could be guilty, certain facts don’t line up with that conclusion, so he is keeping an open mind.

Alternate narrators keep us intrigued as we try to figure out the whodunit as well as the motives behind it all. This suspenseful story that kept me engaged throughout was set in one of my favorite places, Lake Tahoe, so I felt I could have been there with the characters. 4.5 stars.

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