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Blood Highway
A gripping, surprising, and sexy thriller with a big, pounding heart, Blood Highway takes a seventeen-year-old girl on a brutal journey into adulthood on a road trip that threatens to kill her before she reaches the end.
Rainy Cain, a tough, troubled high school senior, desperately wants to escape the confines of her life in Minneapolis. When her increasingly unstable mother suddenly commits suicide, Rainy thinks she has found her chance. Instead, her father, Sam—who she had always believed died before she was born—escapes from prison and abducts her, taking her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of millions of dollars that he believes her mother had kept from a botched robbery years earlier. On their heels the whole way is a young Minneapolis detective intent on bringing Rainy safely home. It is an odyssey that will test Rainy’s considerable instincts about sanity and madness, and keep readers turning pages till the twisty end.
Rainy Cain, a tough, troubled high school senior, desperately wants to escape the confines of her life in Minneapolis. When her increasingly unstable mother suddenly commits suicide, Rainy thinks she has found her chance. Instead, her father, Sam—who she had always believed died before she was born—escapes from prison and abducts her, taking her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of millions of dollars that he believes her mother had kept from a botched robbery years earlier. On their heels the whole way is a young Minneapolis detective intent on bringing Rainy safely home. It is an odyssey that will test Rainy’s considerable instincts about sanity and madness, and keep readers turning pages till the twisty end.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2018
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2109 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 18, 2018
this book is… a lot.
if you’re not sure whether that is a positive or negative assessment, join the club, because i’m not sure, either, but i am sure that the statement is 100% factual.
i was so excited when i first heard about this. wohlsdorf’s debut, Security, was a helluva fun book - great premise, great twists, great atmosphere, great energy. it was like nothing i had ever read before, and i have read many books.
this one is called BLOOD HIGHWAY, which is a title invoking headbanging adrenaline and splatter for all, and the synopsis is all kinds of my bread and butter:
and it’s not that the synopsis is lying, but it’s certainly tilting the book a bit so you’re seeing more of its back end. i mean, i read phrases like “a brutal journey into adulthood” and “a road trip that threatens to kill her” and i’m expecting a story whose resting state is “intense” and builds from there, but that is not the case here at all.
the “abduction” slash road trip doesn’t occur until nearly 150 pages in, just under the halfway mark, and the novel is frontloaded with a slow and emotionally complex unrolling of dramatic layers; mothers and suicide and grief, which is a shitty combo for me on my best day, worse when i’m all juiced up for a dark crime action thriller.
i knew that her mother’s suicide was going to be an element of the story, obviously, but i thought it would happen early on, maybe even offscreen, and i figured it would just be the event that set the daddy-daughter road trip/crime spree in motion, with the bulk of the book arcing à la She Rides Shotgun/Blackbird/The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.
i was completely unprepared for how deeply this would dwell on the suicide's aftermath, focusing on guilt and grief and mental illness and emotional abuse. i actually stopped reading (twice) to double-check the synopsis to make sure i hadn’t imagined that there was going to be a BLOOD HIGHWAY in my future. even rainy seems caught off-guard by how much space is given over unto unpacking her emotional baggage:
You say to yourself, “She’ll do it, and then it will be over.” But then she does it, and the fallout keeps falling.
there’s a lot of slow gloom before we get to the action.
and then it’s one unpredictable story arc after another. nothing about this is a black-and-white thriller; every situation grates just slightly against expectation. all of the relationships in this book seem slightly distorted, edging close to uncomfortable.
rainy is a slippery one - she’s become a teenage con artist out of necessity, but her persona swings from tough n’ jaded to vulnerable n’ naive at the drop of a hat, and while i like her best when she’s got her swagger on, her insights are frequently too psychologically cumbersome to be coming out of a teenage girl’s brain:
still, there’s something appealing about the cinematic melodrama of that last line, and it highlights this performative quality she’s got to her, which rings true of a teenage girl still test-driving her persona:
i appreciate the ways in which this book refuses to play nice with type or genre. everything requires a qualification, like how it’s not technically an abduction because rainy goes along willingly, and her father gives her plenty of freedom, even allowing her to call her new cop friend from the road more than once, and although he’s been advertised as a stone-cold criminal, for most of the trip, he’s quite an affable gent.
which is one way of looking at it - affable might just be the giving of zero fucks until fucks need to be given. no need to exert one's will until the stakes demand it, after all.
Perhaps it was possible to be too at-home in the world. To see it as a show that’s just for you. Then there’s no ethics, no core. There’s only what you want.
there’s also a romance plot shoehorned into this that puts the “ick” in problematic(k).
”You were the best thing about the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
i was not on board with that development - i thought it was unnecessary and a bit more self-destructive than i would have expected from a character who’d already proven her knack for survival.
eventually, though, blood highway is for real. adrenaline is released. heads are banged. splatter occurs.
all in all, a scattery distribution of highs and lows.
although it shattered the enjoyment-expectations i’d formed by my love of her first novel and the narrative-expectations i'd formed by this book’s synopsis, i liked more of it than i didn’t like, and i'm keen to hear reactions from other readers on this one.
”How much slack do you have to cut yourself before you become a monster?”
3.5 stars rounded up.
come to my blog!
if you’re not sure whether that is a positive or negative assessment, join the club, because i’m not sure, either, but i am sure that the statement is 100% factual.
i was so excited when i first heard about this. wohlsdorf’s debut, Security, was a helluva fun book - great premise, great twists, great atmosphere, great energy. it was like nothing i had ever read before, and i have read many books.
this one is called BLOOD HIGHWAY, which is a title invoking headbanging adrenaline and splatter for all, and the synopsis is all kinds of my bread and butter:
A gripping, surprising, and sexy thriller with a big, pounding heart, Blood Highway takes a seventeen-year-old girl on a brutal journey into adulthood on a road trip that threatens to kill her before she reaches the end.
Rainy Cain, a tough, troubled high school senior, desperately wants to escape the confines of her life in Minneapolis. When her increasingly unstable mother suddenly commits suicide, Rainy thinks she has found her chance. Instead, her father, Sam—who she had always believed died before she was born—escapes from prison and abducts her, taking her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of millions of dollars that he believes her mother had kept from a botched robbery years earlier. On their heels the whole way is a young Minneapolis detective intent on bringing Rainy safely home. It is an odyssey that will test Rainy’s considerable instincts about sanity and madness, and keep readers turning pages till the twisty end.
and it’s not that the synopsis is lying, but it’s certainly tilting the book a bit so you’re seeing more of its back end. i mean, i read phrases like “a brutal journey into adulthood” and “a road trip that threatens to kill her” and i’m expecting a story whose resting state is “intense” and builds from there, but that is not the case here at all.
the “abduction” slash road trip doesn’t occur until nearly 150 pages in, just under the halfway mark, and the novel is frontloaded with a slow and emotionally complex unrolling of dramatic layers; mothers and suicide and grief, which is a shitty combo for me on my best day, worse when i’m all juiced up for a dark crime action thriller.
i knew that her mother’s suicide was going to be an element of the story, obviously, but i thought it would happen early on, maybe even offscreen, and i figured it would just be the event that set the daddy-daughter road trip/crime spree in motion, with the bulk of the book arcing à la She Rides Shotgun/Blackbird/The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.
i was completely unprepared for how deeply this would dwell on the suicide's aftermath, focusing on guilt and grief and mental illness and emotional abuse. i actually stopped reading (twice) to double-check the synopsis to make sure i hadn’t imagined that there was going to be a BLOOD HIGHWAY in my future. even rainy seems caught off-guard by how much space is given over unto unpacking her emotional baggage:
You say to yourself, “She’ll do it, and then it will be over.” But then she does it, and the fallout keeps falling.
there’s a lot of slow gloom before we get to the action.
and then it’s one unpredictable story arc after another. nothing about this is a black-and-white thriller; every situation grates just slightly against expectation. all of the relationships in this book seem slightly distorted, edging close to uncomfortable.
rainy is a slippery one - she’s become a teenage con artist out of necessity, but her persona swings from tough n’ jaded to vulnerable n’ naive at the drop of a hat, and while i like her best when she’s got her swagger on, her insights are frequently too psychologically cumbersome to be coming out of a teenage girl’s brain:
Don’t look back, they say. What you survive stays behind you, forget it, move on. But that never works. Pretending it does just keeps the damage sitting on your shoulder, until inevitably, you become your damage. It’s the type of realization you want to pass on to somebody. It’s the type of realization you get when all your somebodies are bodies.
still, there’s something appealing about the cinematic melodrama of that last line, and it highlights this performative quality she’s got to her, which rings true of a teenage girl still test-driving her persona:
”Look,” Blaine said. “People are mostly doing the best they can - “
“Don’t do that. Don’t platitude me. People are mostly doing the best they’re willing to do, not the best they can. A person’s actual best is pretty damn good, but it’s a lot of work. So most people find the maximum amount of work they’re willing to do and then they call that their best.” It came out in a rush. I’d never had that particular thought before. I loved it instantly, its mercilessness.
i appreciate the ways in which this book refuses to play nice with type or genre. everything requires a qualification, like how it’s not technically an abduction because rainy goes along willingly, and her father gives her plenty of freedom, even allowing her to call her new cop friend from the road more than once, and although he’s been advertised as a stone-cold criminal, for most of the trip, he’s quite an affable gent.
which is one way of looking at it - affable might just be the giving of zero fucks until fucks need to be given. no need to exert one's will until the stakes demand it, after all.
Perhaps it was possible to be too at-home in the world. To see it as a show that’s just for you. Then there’s no ethics, no core. There’s only what you want.
there’s also a romance plot shoehorned into this that puts the “ick” in problematic(k).
”You were the best thing about the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
i was not on board with that development - i thought it was unnecessary and a bit more self-destructive than i would have expected from a character who’d already proven her knack for survival.
eventually, though, blood highway is for real. adrenaline is released. heads are banged. splatter occurs.
all in all, a scattery distribution of highs and lows.
although it shattered the enjoyment-expectations i’d formed by my love of her first novel and the narrative-expectations i'd formed by this book’s synopsis, i liked more of it than i didn’t like, and i'm keen to hear reactions from other readers on this one.
”How much slack do you have to cut yourself before you become a monster?”
3.5 stars rounded up.
come to my blog!
August 12, 2018
Rainy Cain was more or less a normal teenage girl being raised by a single mother and dreaming of more to come until the day her world fell apart. Returning home Rainy immediately knew things were a bit off in the house but as she went to investigate she never expected to find her mother having committed suicide.
When calling for help Rainy finds herself with a young detective that helps her through the shock and loss of her mother. Shortly after though a man named Sam kidnaps Rainy away claiming to be her long lost father who Rainy had thought had died before she was gone. It turns out Sam has gotten out of prison and come for Rainy thinking she knows something her mother had been hiding from Sam.
Blood Highway by Gina Wohlsdorf is one of those thrillers that I’m just going to jump right in and get the content warning out of the way first. There’s a few triggers in this one obviously with starting out with a suicide but also along with the kidnapping we have more dark content in rape and murder with some content even making me cringe and that’s saying a lot.
Having read Security by Gina Wohlsdorf I had an idea of what to expect with the writing and that would be a fast paced over the top kind of read which is what I did find. There were some things in this one though that confused me a little and with some things being a bit much for my taste I didn’t quite love this one but it’s definitely one action packed read that some might love.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
When calling for help Rainy finds herself with a young detective that helps her through the shock and loss of her mother. Shortly after though a man named Sam kidnaps Rainy away claiming to be her long lost father who Rainy had thought had died before she was gone. It turns out Sam has gotten out of prison and come for Rainy thinking she knows something her mother had been hiding from Sam.
Blood Highway by Gina Wohlsdorf is one of those thrillers that I’m just going to jump right in and get the content warning out of the way first. There’s a few triggers in this one obviously with starting out with a suicide but also along with the kidnapping we have more dark content in rape and murder with some content even making me cringe and that’s saying a lot.
Having read Security by Gina Wohlsdorf I had an idea of what to expect with the writing and that would be a fast paced over the top kind of read which is what I did find. There were some things in this one though that confused me a little and with some things being a bit much for my taste I didn’t quite love this one but it’s definitely one action packed read that some might love.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
August 21, 2018
The title of Gina Wohlsdorf’s second novel “Blood Highway” is certainly an apt one. With a difficult home life, seventeen-year-old Rainy Cain has developed clever and necessary survival skills. (I’m curious how Wohlsdorf learned about these survival skills - not from personal experience I hope!) Rainy has never known her father, her mother is mentally ill, and when she dies Rainy believes she’s on her own. Then her father shows up after escaping from prison and kidnaps Rainy. Their cross-country odyssey is indeed a bloody one, with car crashes, murders, explosions, and robberies.
This is an intense and at times uncomfortable book to read, but Rainy is a compelling character and the thrilling pace never lets up.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This is an intense and at times uncomfortable book to read, but Rainy is a compelling character and the thrilling pace never lets up.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 22, 2018
?????? What the fuck WAS this book???? I have never been so baffled!!!! First of all, not horror. Thriller, but not horror. Then it's like five different books mashed up into one: a runway story; a crazy mom/child abuse story; a kidnapping/heist story; a fucking TRANSCONTINENTAL POLICE HUNT story????
WHY did it start with her running away and then promptly coming back??? What was the point of that digression AT ALL?? Just so we saw her dye her damn hair? Then it's like, a cool self-sufficient girl against all odds. But then she randomly FREAKS OUT at the cop and is like "FUCK FUCK FUCKITTY FUCK ARE YOU GONNA RAPE ME OR NOT" and he's like "WHOA where the fuck did THAT come from" and I'm like "WHOA exactly the same question!"
And then he's like "alright so your dad is a con" and then the dad shows up and truly doesn't seem dangerous at all (like truly, read back through all their interactions. Yeah, he's being stalkery, but there's no indication he's going to hurt her. Just maybe kidnap her y'know?) and she's like "I REMEMBERED WHAT THE COP SAID HE'D DONE" but um, your reader doesn't know what that is. Truly! Flip back through! We hear that he was in prison and the Feds are after him but truly there is no discussion for the reader to know why we should be afraid of him. AND THEN. OH GOD, AND THEN:
We're driving to the coast! And it's totally kosher for me to call my cop friend the whole way and let him know where we are. My dad who has "kidnapped" me (yeesh, can we even call it that, if she went along willingly and has every opportunity to escape???) actually takes me to phones to call Cop Buddy -- who, btw, has been chasing us in his personal Corvette, which I'm sure is totally fine according to cop protocol. And his getaway driver
IS SO HOT, I'MA FUCK HIM RN AND LOSE MY VCARD AND NOW WE'RE TOTALLY IN LOVE OMG SUCH LOVE WOW. LOVE LOVE MY LIFE HAS MEANING ILY BOO.
oh except my dad has been butt-raping you in prison for years. Cool cool cool coocoocool. And now I'ma keep running away from Cop Buddy who's trying to help me and also keep crawling through the desert all full of injuries from a huge car crash but it's cool, broken ribs never slowed anyone down. AND DOUBLE-TAP, YOU MORON, DID ZOMBIELAND TEACH YOU NOTHING?!
Like WHAT??!?!??!?!?!?!?! Where the FUCK did ANY of this COME from???!??!?!?!?!? This was the most disjointed, confusing, nonsensical, utterly baffling piece of shit book I've ever read. If you want to feel like you're having a stroke for 300 pages, just pick up "Blood Highway."
WHY did it start with her running away and then promptly coming back??? What was the point of that digression AT ALL?? Just so we saw her dye her damn hair? Then it's like, a cool self-sufficient girl against all odds. But then she randomly FREAKS OUT at the cop and is like "FUCK FUCK FUCKITTY FUCK ARE YOU GONNA RAPE ME OR NOT" and he's like "WHOA where the fuck did THAT come from" and I'm like "WHOA exactly the same question!"
And then he's like "alright so your dad is a con" and then the dad shows up and truly doesn't seem dangerous at all (like truly, read back through all their interactions. Yeah, he's being stalkery, but there's no indication he's going to hurt her. Just maybe kidnap her y'know?) and she's like "I REMEMBERED WHAT THE COP SAID HE'D DONE" but um, your reader doesn't know what that is. Truly! Flip back through! We hear that he was in prison and the Feds are after him but truly there is no discussion for the reader to know why we should be afraid of him. AND THEN. OH GOD, AND THEN:
We're driving to the coast! And it's totally kosher for me to call my cop friend the whole way and let him know where we are. My dad who has "kidnapped" me (yeesh, can we even call it that, if she went along willingly and has every opportunity to escape???) actually takes me to phones to call Cop Buddy -- who, btw, has been chasing us in his personal Corvette, which I'm sure is totally fine according to cop protocol. And his getaway driver
IS SO HOT, I'MA FUCK HIM RN AND LOSE MY VCARD AND NOW WE'RE TOTALLY IN LOVE OMG SUCH LOVE WOW. LOVE LOVE MY LIFE HAS MEANING ILY BOO.
oh except my dad has been butt-raping you in prison for years. Cool cool cool coocoocool. And now I'ma keep running away from Cop Buddy who's trying to help me and also keep crawling through the desert all full of injuries from a huge car crash but it's cool, broken ribs never slowed anyone down. AND DOUBLE-TAP, YOU MORON, DID ZOMBIELAND TEACH YOU NOTHING?!
Like WHAT??!?!??!?!?!?!?! Where the FUCK did ANY of this COME from???!??!?!?!?!? This was the most disjointed, confusing, nonsensical, utterly baffling piece of shit book I've ever read. If you want to feel like you're having a stroke for 300 pages, just pick up "Blood Highway."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2018
Unravels Into An Intense Thriller
I went into this novel knowing absolutely NOTHING, but excited because I really enjoyed Wohlsdorf’s first novel Security–which was basically a slasher film in a novel. This time around, Wohlsdorf has written a crime novel/thriller/coming-of-age. Rainy Cain, a seventeen-year-old girl, is already having a difficult life when her mom dies by suicide and a cop tries to help her out when the system to care for her is already overfilled. What she doesn’t know is that secrets kept from her will soon have her running for her life… I listened to the audiobook in one day on this one as I was really invested in Cain and, since I didn’t read the summary beforehand, I got to be pleasantly surprised that the story went in directions I didn’t even image when I began the book. And as much as I love a kickass girl/woman, I also really like the realistic scared/struggling/doing-their-best-not-to-faint-no-matter-how-tough-they-are girl/woman.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
I went into this novel knowing absolutely NOTHING, but excited because I really enjoyed Wohlsdorf’s first novel Security–which was basically a slasher film in a novel. This time around, Wohlsdorf has written a crime novel/thriller/coming-of-age. Rainy Cain, a seventeen-year-old girl, is already having a difficult life when her mom dies by suicide and a cop tries to help her out when the system to care for her is already overfilled. What she doesn’t know is that secrets kept from her will soon have her running for her life… I listened to the audiobook in one day on this one as I was really invested in Cain and, since I didn’t read the summary beforehand, I got to be pleasantly surprised that the story went in directions I didn’t even image when I began the book. And as much as I love a kickass girl/woman, I also really like the realistic scared/struggling/doing-their-best-not-to-faint-no-matter-how-tough-they-are girl/woman.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
September 15, 2018
*i was sent this book for free in exchange for an honest review*
I loved it. The only issue i had was in the beginning with the writing style, took too long to feel connected and a part of the story. Once i passed that sweet point every story has i fell and i fell hard.
This book isnt crazy graphic or anything but it was disturbing and sad. I dont believe its for the weak of heart because occasionally some really messed up thing is told and low-key detailed and its well disturbing. But it really brought the characters full circle as horrible as they were.
I loved it. The only issue i had was in the beginning with the writing style, took too long to feel connected and a part of the story. Once i passed that sweet point every story has i fell and i fell hard.
This book isnt crazy graphic or anything but it was disturbing and sad. I dont believe its for the weak of heart because occasionally some really messed up thing is told and low-key detailed and its well disturbing. But it really brought the characters full circle as horrible as they were.
December 11, 2018
It's really unfortunate that this was marketed as a ~*terrifying thriller*~, because it's very good but very much not that genre - it felt much more like a coming-of-age literary novel about trauma and grief. (And also there's a BLOOD HIGHWAY, I... guess? idk about that title choice but it's certainly distinctive.)
September 15, 2018
Blood Highway abruptly starts with the main character dying her hair in a bus station restroom. It is a deep plunge into the character of Rainy Cain, and without preamble (or justification later), it felt harsh. It didn’t intrigue me like the tense, thriller hook it was meant to be.
Seventeen-year-old Rainy (AKA Kat) is as street smart as a spymaster. How she picked up her “Artful Dodger” skills is not revealed, but her survival skills are required as her mental ill mother is raising her and her father is imprisoned. The protagonist is willful and has pluck; the author gives this character crass and brash language and behaviors to depict not her commonness as much as her lack of a good family and upbringing.
In this grisly, dark read, a young detective who also lost his mother to suicide at a young age befriends Rainy. Naturally, the detective, Blaine, doesn’t follow protocol and turn her over to CPS, which leaves her susceptible to her escaped father’s evil plans. Rainy is taken on a far-fetched journey by her kidnapper-father and his sidekicks. The trail of violence that ensues begets the book title. The unlikely relationship that Rainy develops with one of her “captors” as well as her freedom to contact Blaine while being held against her will was too implausible.
I was in the mood for a “gripping sexy thriller”, so I had high hopes for Blood Highway. The premise hooked me and it is action-packed, but the story didn’t satisfy me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Algonquin Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. For more reading recommendations, visit Book Junkie Reviews at www.abookjunkiereviews.wordpress.com
#BloodHighway #NetGalley
Seventeen-year-old Rainy (AKA Kat) is as street smart as a spymaster. How she picked up her “Artful Dodger” skills is not revealed, but her survival skills are required as her mental ill mother is raising her and her father is imprisoned. The protagonist is willful and has pluck; the author gives this character crass and brash language and behaviors to depict not her commonness as much as her lack of a good family and upbringing.
In this grisly, dark read, a young detective who also lost his mother to suicide at a young age befriends Rainy. Naturally, the detective, Blaine, doesn’t follow protocol and turn her over to CPS, which leaves her susceptible to her escaped father’s evil plans. Rainy is taken on a far-fetched journey by her kidnapper-father and his sidekicks. The trail of violence that ensues begets the book title. The unlikely relationship that Rainy develops with one of her “captors” as well as her freedom to contact Blaine while being held against her will was too implausible.
I was in the mood for a “gripping sexy thriller”, so I had high hopes for Blood Highway. The premise hooked me and it is action-packed, but the story didn’t satisfy me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Algonquin Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. For more reading recommendations, visit Book Junkie Reviews at www.abookjunkiereviews.wordpress.com
#BloodHighway #NetGalley
September 24, 2020
Blood Highway didn't blow me away the way Security did, but it's still a hell of a book, and has that same readability that kept me glued to the page.
It's a different enough book that I was looking for similarities between the two - and what it really comes down to is intensity, I think. Security was straight in to the deep end, all action from the go, while this one took it's time in ramping up; once it hit that second half though, and the Highway part of the title came into play, it took it further than Security ever did. Some of it is distinctly uncomfortable; it's not the kind of thriller where the good balances the bad, though it's also not all bleak, pointless, suffering. It's all high stakes and high emotion, and occasionally the reflections are possibly a bit jarring coming from a teenage protagonist, but it's also sincere, and insightful.
Probably a vegemite book, but luckily one I liked. Definitely one I'd only recommend if I absolutely knew the person would like it.
It's a different enough book that I was looking for similarities between the two - and what it really comes down to is intensity, I think. Security was straight in to the deep end, all action from the go, while this one took it's time in ramping up; once it hit that second half though, and the Highway part of the title came into play, it took it further than Security ever did. Some of it is distinctly uncomfortable; it's not the kind of thriller where the good balances the bad, though it's also not all bleak, pointless, suffering. It's all high stakes and high emotion, and occasionally the reflections are possibly a bit jarring coming from a teenage protagonist, but it's also sincere, and insightful.
Probably a vegemite book, but luckily one I liked. Definitely one I'd only recommend if I absolutely knew the person would like it.
August 13, 2018
Rainy is forced onto Blood Highway in this unique kidnapping thriller.
Rainy has a tough life. Her mom is paranoid at best and legally insane at worst. Her father is completely missing from her life. To support herself, she pretends to be a server and bags delicious leftovers for herself. She snatches up unclaimed drinks from Starbucks and picks pockets for cash. She is also a senior in high school.
After finding her mother dead by suicide, Rainy meets policeman Blaine. Rainy and Blaine have a lot in common. When Rainy’s dad escapes from prison and takes her on a cross-country road trip, only Blaine can save Rainy from her father’s wrath.
Blood Highway is a propulsive thriller where the tension never lets up. Before beginning this compulsive read make sure you clear your calendar as you won’t want to stop until the surprising conclusion. 4 stars!
Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
Rainy has a tough life. Her mom is paranoid at best and legally insane at worst. Her father is completely missing from her life. To support herself, she pretends to be a server and bags delicious leftovers for herself. She snatches up unclaimed drinks from Starbucks and picks pockets for cash. She is also a senior in high school.
After finding her mother dead by suicide, Rainy meets policeman Blaine. Rainy and Blaine have a lot in common. When Rainy’s dad escapes from prison and takes her on a cross-country road trip, only Blaine can save Rainy from her father’s wrath.
Blood Highway is a propulsive thriller where the tension never lets up. Before beginning this compulsive read make sure you clear your calendar as you won’t want to stop until the surprising conclusion. 4 stars!
Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
August 4, 2018
I received this book as a giveaway. A very interesting story line. It's fast paced and keeps you engaged up to the end. I would have enjoyed a slightly different ending, but would still recommend this book.
July 27, 2018
This author has an unusual style. It was interesting while at the same time far fetched. This book was given to me by a friend and I am glad I read it.
September 14, 2018
Weird and violent and couldn't put it down! Moves quickly, liked the main characters. Plus the author is from Colorado!
January 8, 2019
I 100% read this because I read and loved Security. Even though it sounded like a completely different kind of book, I felt like I knew enough about this author's style to jump right in. I was confident that it would be a page-turner, and that it would do some things I wasn't expecting, and certainly wasn't prepared for. And it delivered.
Teenage Rainy is really resourceful and self-sufficient because she's been spending years living with a mentally-ill mother who doesn't acknowledge her existence, or at least when she does it's not as her daughter but as a terrifying invader. She's been managing by creating a mother-persona who works the night shift, forging signatures when necessary, and getting really skilled at stealing or conning a meal. But it's her mom's death that really kicks off this twisted road trip novel. It's hard to tell who to trust (if anyone), and sometimes even the good guys (or maybe "guys who seem good, or at least less bad?") feel dangerous. And not always in the obvious way.
This book doesn't let you get comfortable, either by lessening the pace or by bringing down the bar on some of the events of the plot. Lots of bad things happen, and lots of ambiguous things that feel ultimately bad happen. And Rainy is just trying to survive it all. It's a page-turner, but it's certainly not for everyone.
Teenage Rainy is really resourceful and self-sufficient because she's been spending years living with a mentally-ill mother who doesn't acknowledge her existence, or at least when she does it's not as her daughter but as a terrifying invader. She's been managing by creating a mother-persona who works the night shift, forging signatures when necessary, and getting really skilled at stealing or conning a meal. But it's her mom's death that really kicks off this twisted road trip novel. It's hard to tell who to trust (if anyone), and sometimes even the good guys (or maybe "guys who seem good, or at least less bad?") feel dangerous. And not always in the obvious way.
This book doesn't let you get comfortable, either by lessening the pace or by bringing down the bar on some of the events of the plot. Lots of bad things happen, and lots of ambiguous things that feel ultimately bad happen. And Rainy is just trying to survive it all. It's a page-turner, but it's certainly not for everyone.
November 7, 2018
Gina Wohlsdorf captured and secured my attention in 2016 with the publication of her debut novel, SECURITY. It’s an unsettling book, all the more so for its ability to play upon the reader’s often erroneous expectations and perceptions. BLOOD HIGHWAY, her sophomore effort, is (somewhat) more straightforward but no less surprising than its predecessor for entirely different reasons.
Rainy Cain is the book’s troubled but tough narrator, a 17-year-old high school senior with an advanced master’s degree in survival skills. Things jump around a bit timewise before Rainy settles into a very rough groove, made more so by the appearance of a ghost from a past she never had. The shade is named Sam, and he is the father Rainy has never known. Rainy has no knowledge of Sam, believing him to have been long dead. He actually has been in prison serving time for his participation in an armored car robbery that went very wrong.
Sam escapes and immediately kidnaps the daughter he has never known. Accompanied by a brooding, taciturn and very dangerous cohort known as “Johnny Blue,” Sam transports Rainy from slushy Minneapolis west to northern California. He is convinced that Rainy’s mother had stashed the proceeds from the ill-fated heist there and shared the location with Rainy.
Meanwhile, Blaine, a Minneapolis cop whose background is not dissimilar to Rainy’s, is in pursuit with the intent of bringing her home. He doggedly follows the vague trail the involuntary trio is leaving. It is Blaine who is just behind Rainy in the competition to determine who is BLOOD HIGHWAY’s most complex character. We don’t know a lot about Blaine, at least at first, but Wohlsdorf drops an occasional hidden breadcrumb or two throughout the narrative to give the reader a what and maybe a why behind Blaine’s deeper motivations for what he does. The question that haunts throughout a good deal of the book is how much or how little Rainy knows, and how she can leverage her knowledge --- or lack thereof --- to get her out of the situation alive (at the very least).
BLOOD HIGHWAY is a bit like a carnival funhouse. I’m thinking particularly of the room where the floorboards keep shifting as you walk through it. You might think while reading it that you have an idea as to what is going on. Everything then shifts, just a bit, not enough to knock you over but sufficient to keep you unbalanced or at least in anticipation of it. Rainy, as is demonstrated in the book’s early pages, is a survivor of long-standing. Wohlsdorf provides all sorts of urban survival tactics, such as restaurant table diving and shopping at department store lost-and-founds. The elders among us might not have the urge to do such things, but the temptation can be strong, though not enough to engage if such is not born of necessity.
While the soundtrack to the story’s interior might be Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, I kept hearing the spirit of Horses by Patti Smith playing in my head. The book as a whole seems at times to be a collaborative effort between Elmore Leonard and Joan Didion, which isn’t as impossible as you might think. BLOOD HIGHWAY may be more of a young adult novel than its predecessor, but it is intriguing as well as unsettling for both demographics. Check it out.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rainy Cain is the book’s troubled but tough narrator, a 17-year-old high school senior with an advanced master’s degree in survival skills. Things jump around a bit timewise before Rainy settles into a very rough groove, made more so by the appearance of a ghost from a past she never had. The shade is named Sam, and he is the father Rainy has never known. Rainy has no knowledge of Sam, believing him to have been long dead. He actually has been in prison serving time for his participation in an armored car robbery that went very wrong.
Sam escapes and immediately kidnaps the daughter he has never known. Accompanied by a brooding, taciturn and very dangerous cohort known as “Johnny Blue,” Sam transports Rainy from slushy Minneapolis west to northern California. He is convinced that Rainy’s mother had stashed the proceeds from the ill-fated heist there and shared the location with Rainy.
Meanwhile, Blaine, a Minneapolis cop whose background is not dissimilar to Rainy’s, is in pursuit with the intent of bringing her home. He doggedly follows the vague trail the involuntary trio is leaving. It is Blaine who is just behind Rainy in the competition to determine who is BLOOD HIGHWAY’s most complex character. We don’t know a lot about Blaine, at least at first, but Wohlsdorf drops an occasional hidden breadcrumb or two throughout the narrative to give the reader a what and maybe a why behind Blaine’s deeper motivations for what he does. The question that haunts throughout a good deal of the book is how much or how little Rainy knows, and how she can leverage her knowledge --- or lack thereof --- to get her out of the situation alive (at the very least).
BLOOD HIGHWAY is a bit like a carnival funhouse. I’m thinking particularly of the room where the floorboards keep shifting as you walk through it. You might think while reading it that you have an idea as to what is going on. Everything then shifts, just a bit, not enough to knock you over but sufficient to keep you unbalanced or at least in anticipation of it. Rainy, as is demonstrated in the book’s early pages, is a survivor of long-standing. Wohlsdorf provides all sorts of urban survival tactics, such as restaurant table diving and shopping at department store lost-and-founds. The elders among us might not have the urge to do such things, but the temptation can be strong, though not enough to engage if such is not born of necessity.
While the soundtrack to the story’s interior might be Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, I kept hearing the spirit of Horses by Patti Smith playing in my head. The book as a whole seems at times to be a collaborative effort between Elmore Leonard and Joan Didion, which isn’t as impossible as you might think. BLOOD HIGHWAY may be more of a young adult novel than its predecessor, but it is intriguing as well as unsettling for both demographics. Check it out.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
October 18, 2020
“Men love women who hate themselves. And most women do. We’re taught to from the age of nine or ten: you bleed, you’re weak, ick, ack, you’re disgusting. A great many women fight their self-hate, though, by hating other women more.”
Rainy Cain is just about the world’s most self-aware teenager, to the point that referring to her as a girl seems like an insult considering how much she’s packed into her seventeen years. In Gina Wolhsdorf’s BLOOD HIGHWAY, Rainy has a long list, beginning with her beginning as the product of bank robbers, one of which went to prison and one of which went crazy.
When Sam Cain breaks out of prison in pursuit of hidden robbery loot in the millions—money that Sam is convinced Rainy knows how to find—it’s time for Rainy to say goodbye to her fragile façade of a normal teenage life in Minnesota and hit the road. But not only does Sam want her, so does a creepily solicitous young cop, and it’s an open question as to who ultimately represents the bigger threat to Rainy.
Wohlsdorf knows how to keep the pages turning, not just with plot but with Rainy’s deliciously acidic (and accurate) observations about men: “My appearance had conferred its usual set of advantages and disadvantages: adult male meets adolescent girl with big lips and a lot of hair and is titillated, so he’ll be nice out of shame but he’ll also fight a flare of anger, sweetmeat he knows he won’t get to taste.”
That wild momentum sometimes cuts against the grain of the voice. Rainy drifts from her unreal reality to flights of fever dreaminess, and it takes a more careful read than the story encourages to be sure of what’s actually happened—and what’s happened only in Rainy’s overtaxed mind. That’s a small quibble, though about this unflinchingly violent and uncomfortably truthful novel.
I got onto the on-ramp of BLOOD HIGHWAY with a lot of hesitation. A previous Algonquin Books dip into crime-fiction waters, Tim Johnston’s DESCENT—a kidnapped-girl thriller mostly concerned with the inert, cigarette-smoking brooding of the manly men in her family—was one of the worst “literary” crime novels I’d ever read, pretentious, pandering and paternalistic in equal measure. I’m pleased to say that BLOOD HIGHWAY is much better, if only because it takes the seemingly radical step of letting a snatched girl tell her own story. I still can’t believe that such things still need to be specially noted in 2018.
Rainy Cain is just about the world’s most self-aware teenager, to the point that referring to her as a girl seems like an insult considering how much she’s packed into her seventeen years. In Gina Wolhsdorf’s BLOOD HIGHWAY, Rainy has a long list, beginning with her beginning as the product of bank robbers, one of which went to prison and one of which went crazy.
When Sam Cain breaks out of prison in pursuit of hidden robbery loot in the millions—money that Sam is convinced Rainy knows how to find—it’s time for Rainy to say goodbye to her fragile façade of a normal teenage life in Minnesota and hit the road. But not only does Sam want her, so does a creepily solicitous young cop, and it’s an open question as to who ultimately represents the bigger threat to Rainy.
Wohlsdorf knows how to keep the pages turning, not just with plot but with Rainy’s deliciously acidic (and accurate) observations about men: “My appearance had conferred its usual set of advantages and disadvantages: adult male meets adolescent girl with big lips and a lot of hair and is titillated, so he’ll be nice out of shame but he’ll also fight a flare of anger, sweetmeat he knows he won’t get to taste.”
That wild momentum sometimes cuts against the grain of the voice. Rainy drifts from her unreal reality to flights of fever dreaminess, and it takes a more careful read than the story encourages to be sure of what’s actually happened—and what’s happened only in Rainy’s overtaxed mind. That’s a small quibble, though about this unflinchingly violent and uncomfortably truthful novel.
I got onto the on-ramp of BLOOD HIGHWAY with a lot of hesitation. A previous Algonquin Books dip into crime-fiction waters, Tim Johnston’s DESCENT—a kidnapped-girl thriller mostly concerned with the inert, cigarette-smoking brooding of the manly men in her family—was one of the worst “literary” crime novels I’d ever read, pretentious, pandering and paternalistic in equal measure. I’m pleased to say that BLOOD HIGHWAY is much better, if only because it takes the seemingly radical step of letting a snatched girl tell her own story. I still can’t believe that such things still need to be specially noted in 2018.
September 13, 2018
**3.5 stars**
Originally Posted: Brandi Janee’s Bookshelf
ARC provided by Algonquin Books for honest review.
Typically I don't read a lot of thrillers so I never know what to expect when I start one. I was really intrigued after reading the synopsis and was excited to see how the story would play out. Unfortunately, Blood Highway had a bad case of giving away too much of the plot in the description. If so much of the story hadn't been revealed before I even started reading it could've had a stronger impact.
It took me a while to get into this story. The beginning was really confusing and I'm still not completely sure I understood what was going on. We are following 17 year old Rainy as she does her best to deal with the crappy life she's been dealt. It's not clearly stated but it's hinted that her mother might have some type of mental illness. It has gotten so bad it's like Rainey doesn't exist to her mother. She's forced to lie and steal to take care of herself.
I'm not sure if Rainy, or any of the other characters that appeared were meant to be likable. Each were well rounded but they had so many flaws it was hard to feel connected to any of them. I didn't exactly like Rainy but I admired her tenacity, especially when it came to her survival. Throughout the story Rainy made some bad decisions but every step of the way I hoped she would succeed. Also, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about Blaine but I quickly grew to like him. I've never felt so conflicted about a set of character but I was happy Rainy and Blaine were able to be there for each other.
Blood Highway was such a dark, twisted story. It took me a while to wrap my head around some of the things that happened. Some of what happened still makes me feel wrong and violated. There was so much build up throughout the majority of the story and I didn't like the way it ended so suddenly. It left me feeling really unsatisfied with the ending. This was an intriguing and sometimes unsettling story but there was too much that felt missing for me to enjoy it more.
Trigger warnings for abduction, extreme violence, drug use, suicide, child neglect.
Originally Posted: Brandi Janee’s Bookshelf
ARC provided by Algonquin Books for honest review.
Typically I don't read a lot of thrillers so I never know what to expect when I start one. I was really intrigued after reading the synopsis and was excited to see how the story would play out. Unfortunately, Blood Highway had a bad case of giving away too much of the plot in the description. If so much of the story hadn't been revealed before I even started reading it could've had a stronger impact.
It took me a while to get into this story. The beginning was really confusing and I'm still not completely sure I understood what was going on. We are following 17 year old Rainy as she does her best to deal with the crappy life she's been dealt. It's not clearly stated but it's hinted that her mother might have some type of mental illness. It has gotten so bad it's like Rainey doesn't exist to her mother. She's forced to lie and steal to take care of herself.
I'm not sure if Rainy, or any of the other characters that appeared were meant to be likable. Each were well rounded but they had so many flaws it was hard to feel connected to any of them. I didn't exactly like Rainy but I admired her tenacity, especially when it came to her survival. Throughout the story Rainy made some bad decisions but every step of the way I hoped she would succeed. Also, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about Blaine but I quickly grew to like him. I've never felt so conflicted about a set of character but I was happy Rainy and Blaine were able to be there for each other.
Blood Highway was such a dark, twisted story. It took me a while to wrap my head around some of the things that happened. Some of what happened still makes me feel wrong and violated. There was so much build up throughout the majority of the story and I didn't like the way it ended so suddenly. It left me feeling really unsatisfied with the ending. This was an intriguing and sometimes unsettling story but there was too much that felt missing for me to enjoy it more.
Trigger warnings for abduction, extreme violence, drug use, suicide, child neglect.
September 4, 2018
My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A fast-paced multi-layered thriller.
Truth time. BLOOD HIGHWAY will not be for everyone. I have seen the reviews posted and I understand this unique layering of various suspense elements and grouping of characters will make some people scratch their heads. However, if you stick with it like I did, everything will come together in quite an explosive ending.
There were two things I enjoyed about this book. The first is Rainy. This broken girl has the tough exterior of someone who has had to take care of herself, but still manages to be naive in so many ways. She is thrown a lot in her short life, but nothing like what she will experience within this book. The second thing I was drawn to was the style of writing. The fast paced nature of the narrative and the non-stop action were entertaining.
Now, I do have to say one thing. There was a lot going on in this book. At times, I almost wished there was a bit more editing, because the bones of the story were there. The writing and the concept were there. I think some moments didn't need to be woven into an already complicated story. Where there were other areas I would have hoped could have been more filled out.
All in all this is an interesting book that I am happy I had the chance to read. I met a one-of-a-kind character in Rainy and was amazed at her ability to pivot in every situation.
Reviewer Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Highly Caffeinated Rating of… ☕ ☕ ☕ + 1/2
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Follow the Highly Caffeinated Victoria Colotta:
Website | Facebook | Twitter @vcolotta | Instagram | Goodreads
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Truth time. BLOOD HIGHWAY will not be for everyone. I have seen the reviews posted and I understand this unique layering of various suspense elements and grouping of characters will make some people scratch their heads. However, if you stick with it like I did, everything will come together in quite an explosive ending.
There were two things I enjoyed about this book. The first is Rainy. This broken girl has the tough exterior of someone who has had to take care of herself, but still manages to be naive in so many ways. She is thrown a lot in her short life, but nothing like what she will experience within this book. The second thing I was drawn to was the style of writing. The fast paced nature of the narrative and the non-stop action were entertaining.
Now, I do have to say one thing. There was a lot going on in this book. At times, I almost wished there was a bit more editing, because the bones of the story were there. The writing and the concept were there. I think some moments didn't need to be woven into an already complicated story. Where there were other areas I would have hoped could have been more filled out.
All in all this is an interesting book that I am happy I had the chance to read. I met a one-of-a-kind character in Rainy and was amazed at her ability to pivot in every situation.
Reviewer Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Highly Caffeinated Rating of… ☕ ☕ ☕ + 1/2
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Follow the Highly Caffeinated Victoria Colotta:
Website | Facebook | Twitter @vcolotta | Instagram | Goodreads
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
January 19, 2019
From the cover: A gripping, surprising, and sexy thriller with a big, pounding heart, Blood Highway takes a seventeen-year-old girl on a brutal journey into adulthood on a road trip that threatens to kill her before she reaches the end. Rainy Cain, a tough, troubled high school senior, desperately wants to escape the confines of her life in Minneapolis. When her increasingly unstable mother suddenly commits suicide, Rainy thinks she has found her chance. Instead, her father, Sam—who she had always believed died before she was born—escapes from prison and abducts her, taking her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of millions of dollars that he believes her mother had kept from a botched robbery years earlier. On their heels the whole way is a young Minneapolis detective intent on bringing Rainy safely home. It is an odyssey that will test Rainy’s considerable instincts about sanity and madness, and keep readers turning pages till the twisty end.
I received this book free from Goodreads Giveaway.
An interesting story line—it wasn’t what I was expecting to read. The writing style is fast paced with non-stop action. I liked the pace, but the first part of the book was a little slower in the sense that you (as the reader) had to get through Rainy’s life as it is, her mother’s suicide, detective that wants to help Rainy, etc. The pace did help me get to the ending of the book quickly. Rainy is quite the seventeen year old. She is very street smart-had to be since she has been taking care of herself for years. Her father is some strange guy who escapes prison and kidnaps her. The detective follows Rainy across country vowing to bring her back home safely. It is quite a ride of a story.
I received this book free from Goodreads Giveaway.
An interesting story line—it wasn’t what I was expecting to read. The writing style is fast paced with non-stop action. I liked the pace, but the first part of the book was a little slower in the sense that you (as the reader) had to get through Rainy’s life as it is, her mother’s suicide, detective that wants to help Rainy, etc. The pace did help me get to the ending of the book quickly. Rainy is quite the seventeen year old. She is very street smart-had to be since she has been taking care of herself for years. Her father is some strange guy who escapes prison and kidnaps her. The detective follows Rainy across country vowing to bring her back home safely. It is quite a ride of a story.
September 28, 2018
This is Gina Wohlsdorf’s second novel. After reading her first novel, Security, I was ecstatic when the publishing company contacted me and asked me to review this one. Before starting, I had extremely high expectations for this book because I felt that her first novel was so original and so memorable. I couldn’t put it down and it kept me on the edge of my seat. This novel was good, not as good as her first though. At one point while reading this one, I was wondering if Rainy was hearing voices..... which could have been a really neat twist, but that wasn’t the case. That was kind of a disappointment because I was expecting a little bit more. Wohlsdorf is a great writer though. She truly has a gift at creating a unique experience for her readers because her writing feels like something you’d WATCH on the big screen especially the climax. Her description and dark figurative language felt like I was watching your typical horror flick where the antagonist just won’t die! Overall I’d give the book four stars!
August 19, 2018
3.5 stars.
I loved this fast paced, interesting book. The protagonist was a strong, willful, spunky 17 year old girl named Rainey. She learns way too early how unfair life can be, and she adapts in the best way that she can.
Throughout the book, we are introduced to many unique and unforgettable characters. I thought the plot was creative and it kept my full attention. My two complaints are that I think the synopsis gives away too much of the book and that the ending is kind of odd. I’m sure a lot of people will love it if you’re into metaphors and open interpretations. I would recommend this book for sure though; it’s a great length, you’ll fly through it and it will keep your attention. I would definitely read more from this author!
*Thank you to Algonquin for this free copy in exchange for an honest review!
I loved this fast paced, interesting book. The protagonist was a strong, willful, spunky 17 year old girl named Rainey. She learns way too early how unfair life can be, and she adapts in the best way that she can.
Throughout the book, we are introduced to many unique and unforgettable characters. I thought the plot was creative and it kept my full attention. My two complaints are that I think the synopsis gives away too much of the book and that the ending is kind of odd. I’m sure a lot of people will love it if you’re into metaphors and open interpretations. I would recommend this book for sure though; it’s a great length, you’ll fly through it and it will keep your attention. I would definitely read more from this author!
*Thank you to Algonquin for this free copy in exchange for an honest review!
October 22, 2018
I was lucky to win this book through Goodreads and for that I thank you! This was my first time reading this author and I look for the day I read her first novel. I love thrillers, and this one is fast paced at times and has lots or twists and turns that are a bit confusing at first. I am not one to rehash the whole story and this one was almost too detailed in it’s preview. There are 2 likeable characters, Rainy the young girl in the story and Blaine the cop who gets her case. The rest of the characters are more not so at all.
The story is indeed a thriller that is fast moving in most parts and makes you want to keep on reading it. I would and will recommend this novel and have passed it one for my sister to read and she will pass it on after she’s done. If the beginning confuses you, keep reading as the characters will become clearer and their intent will too.
The story is indeed a thriller that is fast moving in most parts and makes you want to keep on reading it. I would and will recommend this novel and have passed it one for my sister to read and she will pass it on after she’s done. If the beginning confuses you, keep reading as the characters will become clearer and their intent will too.
April 22, 2019
Blood Highway is an intense thriller that truly excels as a character study. By throwing the main character, Rainy Cain, into a series of brutal physical and psychological turmoils, Wohlsdorf lets the reader fully grasp this complex and troubled teenager from just about every angle. The main part of the story follows her abduction and the cat and mouse struggle between her and her abductor. This generates lots of adrenaline action moments that makes this a quick and enjoyable read. Some elements of the story kept it from being fully cohesive and its not as strong a novel as Wohldorf’s first (Security), but these are small complaints in a book I highly recommended.
July 1, 2019
I only read this book because I loved loved loved Security. The writing style was kinda similar in the book, but I didn’t love it as much. I liked that the main character didn’t always make the “right” decision. I did like Blaine though - so the plot with Johnny was kinda weird to me. I liked the twists this story had - as it went back and contradicted itself so blatantly that it was honestly impressive. Overall I liked it, the sex sense were to graphic for me, but I honk that’s just personal.
October 5, 2019
Seventeen-year-old Rainy Cain learned at an early age how to look out for herself. Survival is the name of the game she's been living for years and she's nearly perfected her play. Then she comes home to find her mother dead. And her father, who she thought was dead, has escaped from prison and is after her, sure she knows where the money from a long-ago robbery is hidden.
If I could, I would give 3.5 stars -- The first half of the book was a solid 4 stars, then ... Some characters made choices that I felt didn't quite fit. Still was a thrilling, attention-grabbing read.
If I could, I would give 3.5 stars -- The first half of the book was a solid 4 stars, then ... Some characters made choices that I felt didn't quite fit. Still was a thrilling, attention-grabbing read.
August 20, 2022
The font size was very nice. While Wohlsdorf gave Rainy a good and intriguing voice that was about all that was given to the book. The friends at the beginning felt more like filler and there was a giant “Galahad” deus ex machina that showed up when Rainy was running out of things to say.
This is a real disappointment as SECURITY was such a welcome narrative experiment. Wohlsdorf will hopefully challenge herself with more opportunities like that or the final chapter of this book, rather than having Johnnie Blue show up and simply explain what’s what to the reader.
This is a real disappointment as SECURITY was such a welcome narrative experiment. Wohlsdorf will hopefully challenge herself with more opportunities like that or the final chapter of this book, rather than having Johnnie Blue show up and simply explain what’s what to the reader.
November 18, 2018
Nice action story once it gets going. The first 3rd of the story sets up the main character and toward the end of that section introduces us to the "dead" father who has recently escaped prison and comes looking for his daughter not because he misses her but because of what she may know about some missing money.
I would have rated this a 4.5 but a love affair in the midst of all this action was a bit unrealistic in my mind.
I would have rated this a 4.5 but a love affair in the midst of all this action was a bit unrealistic in my mind.
October 25, 2019
Look if you wanna read a book where The Rock rescues you, yr desperate teenage 1st person naravatar, interspersed with having that olive complecked thickneck "nerd" from on Veronica Mars, making a whole life around you, for a gross ass reason, and maybe yr dad is current Don Johnson, well, Ms Gina Wohlsdorf is great at casting.
February 10, 2020
Rainy is one of my favorites because she is the strongest female character I have read up till now. I loved everything about this thriller. Wohlsdorf should be on everyone’s radar. I plan on buying anything she writes because she is that good. This book drew me in, and I never wanted to put it down. I recommend this to anyone who loves a fast-pace thriller.
October 17, 2020
3.5 stars
This was a good start to my creepy October reads and kept me intrigued through the entire book. However, it wasn't nearly as engaging as Security, so that was a bit disappointing. Still, I'd love to read more from this author.
This was a good start to my creepy October reads and kept me intrigued through the entire book. However, it wasn't nearly as engaging as Security, so that was a bit disappointing. Still, I'd love to read more from this author.
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