Heather’s Bookshelf: Out to Get Me
Author: Jeffrey A. Cooper
Released: 10/20/23
Genre: Dark Crime Thriller
“LAPD’s Northeast Division police station was one and a half miles away. Toni pressed the accelerator to the floor, trying not to panic. She had good reason to panic. Looking in her rearview and side mirrors, Toni watched the Jeep correct its course at the gas station and blow through another red traffic light.
The Wrangler was after her again.”
“Out to Get Me” introduces Toni Williams. She’s a young woman who has recently realized her marriage is over and is planning on leaving her husband of only a couple of years. Unfortunately, her husband Sam’s business has gone under with the COVID pandemic in full force and she’s planning a meeting with a banker to try to get them out of it before she leaves him.
She leaves to meet the banker and soon ends up in a road range incident. Chased through the streets of Los Angeles, she calls her husband for help, but someone else answers his phone. Sam’s in real trouble and the man who has him is demanding the return of his money that Sam and his partners stole from him earlier that morning. Toni finds the money (all 5 million of it) and Sam’s gun in her trunk.
Planning to turn in the money and waiting on instructions, Toni calls on an old friend. Unfortunately, the road-rager is still chasing her and he has a penchant for violent. She seeks the help of Sam’s partners, but they have their own motivations…and their own problems.
Will Toni be able to shake the aggressive driver? Will she get her husband back in one piece? Or will everything end badly for Toni and Sam?
Trigger Warning: violence, robbery, murder, road rage, adult language
Overall, I was a little torn by this tale. The story is told mostly through the POV of the main protagonist, Toni. There are interspersed chapters from others that add some ancillary character development but really don’t push forward the plot. Toni as a protagonist is a good one. She’s stuck in a marriage that’s over and probably should have never happened. She’s strong, but prone to questionable decisions. There’s a twist in the middle of the story, that I found added to her character and made her a much more dynamic one. However, the twist itself didn’t make much sense to me as it countered some of her thoughts and actions in the first half of the book (I won’t give anything away with my review). Many of the other ancillary characters were well developed including Sam, Lincoln, and the man whose money was stolen. The pacing of this story was pretty even throughout with some high-paced scenes involving the road-rage incidents. However, the author has a tendency to repeat names quite a bit throughout a paragraph- starting each sentence with a name. For example, Toni did this…Toni did that. It’s a little distracting and did take away from the fluidity of the read. The ending of the tale wraps everything up nicely with no loose ends. It’s satisfying and a good finale for the story as it unfolded.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A quick-paced crime thriller highlighted by a well-developed protagonist. Unfortunately, writing style choices and a twist that didn’t quite work bring the enjoyment factor down a bit.
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Check out my interview with Jeffrey A. Cooper
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