Review: Running Dark by Jamie Freveletti
Submitted by Doll Day on July 22, 2010 – 3:05 am2 Comments
by Jamie Freveletti
In Jamie Freveletti’s second book readers bare witness to more action/adventure in the life of her chemist heroine Emma Caldridge starting with an explosion.
Emma is running in a South African marathon and literally blown out of her sneakers by a car explosion near by. Before Emma can even make it to her feet a stranger injects her arm with a drug, then disappears. Emma comes to and recovers enough to finish the 55mile race in record time (yay Emma). With finishing her ultra-marathon in good time out of the way, Emma can now focus on the mystery at hand…finding out who is responsible for the car bomb and the mystery drug that was injected in her arm. But before she can get to the bottom of that mystery she is off to the Gulf of Aden on assignment from the security company, Darkview, to infiltrate a cruise ship and determine what chemicals may be hidden in its cargo. It’s a dangerous job for marathon running chemist. And with the handsome agent that assisted her when she was in Colombia (in Running From The Devil) on board the ship, there is a different type of chemistry for Emma than just what she was called in to deal with.
The story clips along at a steady pace and we are introduced to an array of characters including a Somali pirate, Khalil Mungabe; his boss, “The Vulture”; Richard Stark, CEO of the shady Price Pharmaceuticals; and Emma‘s love interest, Cameron Sumner, who is a private security agent aboard a cruise liner. But, even with an assorted blend of characters and plenty of action to boot I had to coax myself to continue reading. It just wasn’t an all consuming book for me and with it being a summer release I needed more character driven story lines to really capture 100% of my interest and this book was more plot driven. I like Freveletti’s writing style, but in my opinion Running Dark felt more formulaic and didn’t live up to it’s full potential.
I was really excited about this book with it’s gorgeous cover art plus talented author and I wanted to love it, but instead I just liked it. . .
Jamie Freveletti is a trial lawyer and a runner. The author of the international bestseller Running from the Devil, she lives with her family in Chicago, Illinois.
To learn more about Jamie Freveletti, please visit her website: http://www.jamiefreveletti.com/
Special thanks to Kaye publicity for suggesting “Running Dark” to PBD.
Emma Caldridge is on mile thirty-six of the fifty-five-mile Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa when a roadside car bomb explodes. Dazed and disoriented, she regains consciousness after the blast to find a man standing over her with a white plastic injector. She feels the prick of a needle and the rush of medication under her skin, but before she can make a sound, the man is gone. Shaken by the event and unsure of what substance was pumped into her, Emma calls the one person who can help her figure things out: Edward Banner of the security company Darkview. But Banner has his hands full with another emergency: Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden have attacked a cruise ship, and Darkview has been hired to assist with the rescue.
Day is a dreamer who has never met a stranger. She is fearless and will talk to anyone and read anything! She taught music and dance and was a singer/actress for years, performing on stages both nationally and overseas. Now married with children, she spends less time singing on stage and more time writing songs at home. But, family life has not completely slowed this chick down. She still loves an adventure and learning new things. She resides in Texas with her family, Great Dane (Sophie), Labradoodles (George & Cosmo) and Chihuahua (Juan Carlos).
Did you like the first book more?
Great review Day!
I do love mysteries that occur around the world….You get to visit! ;)
Thanks Noa! I did like the first better. The concept for the series is really interesting and the author definitely has the "right stuff" to make something out of this series. The travel aspect was fabulous and I loved that she chose less common locations. It just wasn't that *all consuming read* I'm always searching for. But, even with my favorite, Lee Child, there are books in his series I love, and ones I just like.