Synopses & Reviews
"A dead-serious thriller (with a funny bone)" (The New York Times Book Review), from the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, comes the story of a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past.
Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband's body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It's not the first time.
She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive's eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.
It's almost impossible to live off the grid in the twenty-first century, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret. From heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, we are left to wonder...can she possibly outrun her past?
The Passenger's white-knuckled plot and unforeseeable twists make one thing for certain: the ride will leave you breathless. "When the answers finally come, they are juicy, complex, and unexpected. The satisfying conclusion will leave readers rethinking everything and immediately turning back to the first page to start again. Psychological suspense lovers will tear through this thriller" (Library Journal, Starred Review).
Review
"If your idea of fun involves a dark, twisty noir about a woman on the lam stealing cars, dying her hair in seedy motel rooms, and constantly changing her name Lisa Lutz's The Passenger is the book you need. Lutz's turn at the road novel raises all kinds of vexing questions about who we are and who we belong to as her heroine tries to evade her shadowy past." LitHub.com
Review
"Lutz's pacing is excellent, and the interior monologue captures what it would be like not to have a name or, even worse, a valid ID. Lutz provides some great suggestions for going on the lam (a lot of hair dye and car switching is involved), but at its core, this is a novel about identity: a slippery notion which depends upon both how the world sees us and how we see ourselves." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Binge-worthy fare, especially for those drawn to strong female protagonists." Booklist (Starred Review)
About the Author
Lisa Lutz is the author of the New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award- and Macavity Award-nominated, and Alex Award-winning Spellman Files series, as well as the novels How to Start a Fire, The Passenger, and The Swallows. She lives and works in upstate New York.