ARC Review: Girl on the Run by Abigail Johnson

Girl on the Run

Author: Abigail Johnson
Series: Underlined Paperbacks
Publication: Underlined (October 6, 2020)

Description: A fast-paced original paperback thriller about a girl who discovers that her mother might not be who she says she is . . . and now someone is hunting them both.

Katelyn wants the best for her widowed mom. Surprising her with an online dating profile seems like a good idea.

It isn't. Katelyn's mom hasn't just been acting overprotective all these years--she's been hiding something. And now that anyone can find them online , Katelyn is in a desperate race against time to uncover the secrets of the past--not only her mom's, but also her own.

As Katelyn's world unravels , she begins to trust the guy who brought this nightmare to her door and to doubt the one person she never thought she would. Because her mom has been hiding for a reason: she's been waiting.

Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.

My Thoughts: This was an excellent thriller that I just had to read in one sitting. It was too exciting to put down!

Katelyn is almost used to the idea that her mom is paranoid and absolutely convinced that something bad will happen to her daughter. She is also very strict about knowing where Katelyn is all the time and also keeping her off social media. Her mom has moved her frequently throughout her life. Anytime something particularly worries her, they pack up and move. 

Katelyn is hoping that this time they'll be able to stay in one place long enough for her to graduate from high school. But, when Katelyn sets up an online dating profile for her mother, her mother panics and forces them to leave in a hurry.

Good thing they do because someone is after them. They steal cars and wind up in an isolated motel. Her mom tells Katelyn to stay there while she goes on some mysterious errand but, while she's gone, someone breaks into the motel room and Katelyn barely escapes through the bathroom window.

Circling back around, she discovers a young man in the trunk of the car the room invader arrived in and the two of them go on the run together. Malcolm Pike is a college junior and computer hacker who was hired to find Katelyn's mother which he did almost as soon as the picture with the online profile was posted.

Katelyn is surprised to learn that her mother has been on the run after being accused of killing a rich young man. The man's mother has hired detectives and bounty hunters to track her down. Katelyn can't believe that her mother would ever do something like that and convinces Malcolm that they need to investigate more.

The investigation leads to all sorts of secrets about her life and all sorts of danger as the bounty hunter gets close to catching them many times. 

This is action-packed and would be sure to grab the attention of any YA reader. 

Favorite Quote:

She leans one hand on my bed so she can take off her heels. "Can we just agree now that trying to date after thirty-five is evil and I can give it up?"

"If something is hard, quit right away. Got it."

Mom flops back ans starts the contortionist act required to free herself from her Spanx. "What if I just got like a dozen cats instead?"

"Mom."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.