SOLVED. Adventure, Read mid-80s (?) in paperback [s]

[Barbara]

This was a book I borrowed from the library, I believe in the 1980s. I think it was an adult book, perhaps just a little too advanced for me, so maybe early to mid-80s.

It was definitely a paperback, and I did not get the impression that it was new, it may have been a bit worn in when I read it. I remember it being green, but I could be completely wrong.

Here is what I remember of the plot: A woman is kidnapped (perhaps accidentally, or because of some unfortunate series of events) by a man on the run from someone maybe with a government agency(?). I think she thought he was dangerous. I remember they ended up traveling by boat down a river, and at one point they have sex, maybe in a cave. When they leave the river, they end up at a motel, in government(?) custody, although the man still seems to be free to move around. I remember him going in and out of the room the woman was in.

It probably took place in the United States.

It was more of an adventure than a romance; the focus was on the characters being on the run. The romance was organic to the story, but this was not a Harlequin or Silhouette type of story. It was thicker than that, so probably 250-300 pages.

There was a paragraph or page toward the end of the book, where the word file was used to refer to both a package of papers the government agency kept describing a person, and a tool that could cut through a screen. I had a hard time because of the word being used in two different ways too closely to each other.

[Kajehas]

Willing Hostage by Marlys Millhiser?

I don't remember the file issue, though.

[Barbara]

Thanks Kajehas, I'll have to check this out. I'll be back with an update as soon as I can get my hands on a copy!

[Kris]

Kajehas' suggestion of Willing Hostage looks promising.

The words "file" and "cave" appear a couple of times, based on a quick search using Amazon's Look Inside - http://www.amazon.com/Willing-Hostage...

Reviewers on Amazon say, "It is a non-stop action thriller taking place in the wilds of Colorado. It involves oil shale mining, government sale of public lands, stolen oil company documents, a case of mistaken identity, kidnapping, vicious/torturous murder, dangerous pursuit by goons, CIA and the FBI operatives over rugged mountain tops and on a raging river, self-doubt, self-loathing, romance with a murderer, and a strange fat cat named Goodyear who manages to steal the show."
"Leah, a self-loathing heroine, is on the run from herself and life in general. Glade, a mysterious man who also appears to be on the run, mistakes her for an assassin. And Goodyear, an overweight cat apparently lost in the mountains, joins the two for an unlikely partnership as they try to evade their multiple pursuers by car, boat and on foot."

[Barbara]

The last sentence of chapter 26, page 168 in the library hardcover I have her, reads, "He was alone and he carried Leah's nail file in his hand." It just seems out of place, especially considering a couple pages before the talk about "files" had to do with dossier's, not nail care.

This was the book I was looking for; I can't believe I forgot about the cat!

Thank you!

[Kris]

Now I'm curious about that cat... +1 TBR list :)