(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Why would a man escape from prison the day before he's due to be released?
Audie Palmer has spent a decade in prison for an armed robbery in which four people died, including two of the gang. Seven million dollars has never been recovered and everybody believes that Audie knows where the money is.
For ten years he has been beaten, stabbed, throttled and threatened almost daily by prison guards, inmates and criminal gangs, who all want to answer this same question, but suddenly Audie vanishes, the day before he's due to be released.
Everybody wants to find Audie, but he's not running. Instead he's trying to save a life...and not just his own.

The first line of the blurb is really all you need to get started on this cracking novel by Australian author, Michael Robotham:

"Why would a man escape from prison the day before he's due to be released?"

From there we follow the life of Audie Palmer and his journey to his ultimate goal - which he only knows, and we, as readers, are just towed along behind, feeling every jolt and bump along the way. And there are many of those - some of the characters and situations Audie finds himself confronting are, well, confronting. The author doesn't tip-toe around "bad guys" - he portrays them perfectly. The historical storyline flowed really well (although I do wish authors would add time stamps or something - there were a few times that I was halfway through a chapter before realising we had gone back in time again...)

There were a few moments, especially during the middle third of the book, that I felt it did slow down a bit (although, I guess if the pace had kept up, it would have only been a 150-page book!) and I felt my focus begin to fade a little. Not really the fault of the author - but once you set a pace, it is usually near-impossible to sustain it throughout the whole book and, when it does eventually slow down for a breather, I get distracted...

Anyway, an easily recommended thriller novel from one of Australia's best...


Paul
ARH