Getaway by Zoje Stage

 

Getaway

by Zoje Stage

Getaway follows three hikers on a seven day trip into the Grand Canyon. Sisters Beck and Imogen and their friend Tilda get together for a bonding hike into the canyon, leaving the world and their cell phones behind. At first everything goes according to plan and the friends enjoy the beauty and exercise of their surroundings, with some daunting hurdles for some.

Beck, the older sister, is a doctor and a lesbian with a wife and child on the way. Imogen, the younger sister, is an author who tends to hide from the world because of a rape she endured years before. Tilda, a Mexican-descent social media maven, is the ex-girlfriend of Imogen's rapist. The two have tensions for that reason, as well as the fact that Tilda has been given a six-figure book deal, much to Imogen's surprise and envy. Unbeknownst to them, Beck has orchestrated the outing as a way to bring everything out in the open and resolve the issues between Imogen and Tilda.

Only a day or two into their trip, they wake to find some of their food has been stolen. Unnerved, they try to shake it off as a one-time occurrence, but a day or so later they come back to camp to find supplies missing. And they know who did it since Imogen spotted the person's location when he lit a cigarette in the dark across from their site the previous night. They confront him, only to find themselves pursued and caught by this man named Gale, an ex-con who is being hunted by the police for a parole violation and for killing a cop who stopped him as he was driving to Nevada to see his daughter. Now he is on the run and, since the girls have what he needs and have seen him, he decides to keep them as hostages with no clear plan of what he will do with them.

Imogen has to find the strength and courage she has been lacking since her rape in order to save herself, Beck, and Tilda before Gale decides on his own selfish motives.

I loved this book! Imogen's character was so great, full of self-doubt, but clever and insightful in her attempts to understand Gale and to win his trust. The contrast between her and her sister and Tilda was very well done. Nothing in the story was extraneous. The tension between Imogen and Tilda really helped to add tension to the story and acted as a foil for the trio in coming together to get out of their predicament. Gale was an interesting character as well. I didn't expect him to treat them as humans and with somewhat gentlemanly respect most of the time. It was interesting to see him struggle himself with his own humanity, ultimately succumbing to his own selfishness. The pace was perfect and the suspense kept me wanting to keep reading.

Getaway is a 5-star thriller!