The Escape by Lisa Harris is the first book in the US Marshals series.  The author makes no pretense about where this book and series are headed, but she does not give away all of the details.  This is a modern-day story following the lives of two US Marshals with challenges moving forward after various events in their past.

This is a book that had such a mix of thoughts that it was hard to decide whether to like it or dislike it.  Here are some examples. 

Two characters are in the wilderness with an escaped convict.  They plan to hunt him down before he can get too far. At the first opportunity they enter an old cabin and build a fire which they keep burning pretty much constantly based on the number of logs put on the fire.  Wow, can there be any way to think that will not attract the attention of the dangerous convict?

Another thing that just seems to be a bit too common of a mistake for people supposedly good at their jobs is every time the US Marshalls came close or think they are close to catching the criminal he somehow eludes them.  Yet every time they have a new plan to get him, they profess all these platitudes about how sure they are to get him.  Seems as though the author could have left out their overconfidence and put in some uncertainty given the number of times the guy eludes them.

Where does all of this leave the story?  In truth, the main characters are reasonably likeable.  They were somewhat interesting and there are some plots that will easily carry the series.  The best part about this book was that the characters were chasing someone and the bulk of the story was about the chase and not about danger at every turn or waiting for someone to pop out from behind a closet door and try to kill them. This is a book that you can read easily without fear of nail-biting scenes, but with the intrigue of whether or not each scheme to catch the guy is going to be a success or not.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Revell

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None 

Violence/Gore:  A character recalls her husband being shot and killed; injuries from a plane crash result in some fatalities and blood; several scenes in which characters pull guns on others, some shots are fired and there are injuries involving brief mentions of blood; several reports are made of people who have been murdered.

Sex/Nudity:  A character admits to having an affair; non-married characters embrace.

Mature Subject Matter:

Murder, death of a spouse, emotional trauma.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None