Cut and Run

Six years ago, US Marshall Roland Pearson fell in love with protected witness, Hope Stevens. Hope was to testify in the trial of the Romero crime family. When things became dangerous, Hope disappeared (hence the title CUT AND RUN) into a new life escaping both mob and the government. Now the master list of the protected witnesses is stolen and it is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Hope is again a target and when Hope's five-year old daughter is kidnapped, Roland vows to get her back alive and protect Hope at the same time. Pearson has written a first-rate thriller with engaging characters and a suspenseful plot. I had trouble putting this book down. It was very fast moving which made it fast reading because I always wanted to find out what happened next. I always enjoy Pearson's Lou Boldt series and hope he is featured in the next novel, but this was an excellent departure from the series.

After reading foo foo books for the past several weeks, I decided to get real. And this is one heck of a book to start with. Action packed; one chill and thrill after another. It has everything. Could barely put it down and lost a lot of sleep trying to stay up late to finish 'just one more chapter'. A first for me by this author. Hopefully, not the last.

FBI Witness Protection Agent Roland Larson has committed the unpardonable --- he has fallen in love with Hope Stevens, the whistle-blowing accountant under his safeguard. Hope holds vital information needed to convict members of the notorious Romero crime family in the only way that insures that her life is worth no more than the seconds it would take to remove it --- from her mind. Safehouses are proved to be anything but safe as a merciless and ruthless contract killer pursues Hope with relentless fervor, killing anyone who has come in contact with her. Finally, knowing the government cannot provide the security it has promised, and torn between her feelings for her protector and fear for her life, Hope vanishes. Larson is haunted by his failure to shield the woman he loves, and is haunted by her disappearance. Six years later, the computer expert who designed the triple-blinded Witness Protection computer program, which lists names, family members, pseudonyms and locations of every protected witness in the system, has been kidnapped. The Romero family is behind the kidnapping, and if the code is cracked the information will compromise thousands of witnesses, with Hope at the top of the list. Larson is called back on the case to help find the kidnapped programmer. In a darkened St. Louis Shakespearean theater, he is sure he hears her laughter, but he is not the only one who knows she is there. When he discovers that she is now the mother of a five-year-old daughter, he is torn between his personal feelings and his duty to the government. CUT AND RUN is a stand-alone novel that finds Ridley Pearson at the top of his game. As Larson follows the trail of the killer in pursuit of Hope and her daughter in a nationwide chase, we are caught up in one of the tautest cat-and-mouse thrillers in Pearson's vivid collection of novels. With his long-standing Lou Boldt detective fiction apparently on hold, we're happy to see this talented writer providing more thrills and great reading for his fans. --- Reviewed by Roz Shea

U.S. Marshall Roland Larson has guarded Hope Stevens for forty-one days waiting for her to be placed in the Witness Protection Program. She has information of the Romero crime family that can put them away for life. So far they have tried to kill her three times and although failed, they will keep on trying so it is imperative that she gets a new identity quickly so she can be alive to testify at their fraud and murder trials. Before she disappears, Hope asks Larson to go into the program so they can be together. The next day she is gone and nobody will tell Larson where she has been relocated to or the name she is now using. Six years later, Hope is out of the program and on her own with her five year old daughter Penny. The Romero family has gone underground and wants to locate her now because their brother Donny is due out of prison unless she comes forth to testify. They kidnap Penny to use as a bargaining chip but Larson has found Hope and he is determined to get Penny, no matter what the costs. Action, adventure, and romance are blended together to become one of the best books Ridley Pearson has ever written. The characters touch a chord in the readers' hearts especially Hope who wants daughter safe at all cost to herself. Larson wants Hope and Penny out of harm's way and with him while Penny has to be brave beyond her years to survive the kidnapping. The brilliant characterizations, the fast paced storyline and the romantic sizzle between two protagonists make CUT AND RUN a book to put on the keeper shelf. Harriet Klausner

It's not always easy to do the right thing. Would you testify if your testimony could get you killed? You might be willing if you could be given the safety of a new identity, the protection of a program like WITSEC. But what if the danger continued while under that protection? How many attempt on your life could you survive before you decided to cut and run? Ridley Pearson presents this scenario in his latest and perhaps best novel, Cut and Run. Six years after Hope Stevens disappears from even her government protectors her life again is in jeopardy. And so are the lives of everyone else ever protected by WITSEC when the newly computerized list of participants goes missing, along with the man that wrote the code for it's encryption. Although thousands are in danger Hope is the priority for Deputy Marshall Roland Larson. He had been her protector before she set out on her own, had even considered disappearing with her. But it was only after she'd gone that he'd realized she'd been the love of his life. The excitement never stops as Roland seeks Hope only to find she hasn't been hiding alone. Not only must he protect Hope and stop the distribution of the witness list but he must save the daughter he never knew he had. In addition to heart-thumping action Pearson's provided us with a well developed, unforgettable group of characters avid readers will want to see again. Readers of his Boldt/Matthews series will enjoy seeing a brief appearance by a familiar character while readers new to this author won't feel like they're missing a thing. Non-stop action accompanies the cross country travels in this exciting race against time. This highly emotional thriller is sure to keep you up well past your bedtime till you finally turn that final page.