OUTRUN

In Bronson’s thriller, a family is thrust into danger when a mother’s covert past catches up with her.

Las Vegas mom Jessie Baltimore has a secret past: She used to fight bad guys for a shadowy organization called The Agency. As her teenage sons, Max and Sean, grow older, Jessie starts to question her purpose in life as her past begins to resurface. While his computer is being repaired, Max receives a mysterious flash drive containing a tranche of secret data. Soon enough, Jessie and her sons are being chased through the desert by a gang—led by the tough but haunted Papa, who is accompanied by Victor (his son), a man named Oscar, and a bumbling newbie, Charlie—in hot pursuit. They want to recover the drive and eliminate anyone who might have seen what’s on it. Jessie’s long-dormant training carries her family through car chases, long treks through the desert, and high-pressure shootouts. Memories of her old life rise to the surface, and her sons—terrified but fascinated—come to see their mother in a new light. Meanwhile, Papa’s boss, the powerful, mysterious Romeo, follows events from afar. Luckily, Jessie has backup from Jonathan, her former lover and partner at The Agency. His reappearance in Jessie’s life ignites old feelings and leads her to revisit (though not regret) her choice to leave her high-risk lifestyle and become a mother. The story is compelling—the wild, well-crafted action plot is enriched by family drama. Jessie’s pleasure at being immersed in the action again is intriguingly complicated by her need to keep her children safe; the storytelling is at its best when Jessie battles the tension between following her killer instincts and listening to “the roar of protective fury in her heart.” Max and Sean (who is on the spectrum) are believable teenage boys, and the ways in which they grow to appreciate their mother are unexpected and tender. Other than the hapless Charlie, the bad guys are less well drawn, and Romeo’s infrequent and vague presence drains the plot of some of its urgency. Still, readers looking for some brisk thrills with emotional weight will find this a satisfying ride.

A propulsive, bighearted thriller that celebrates fierce maternal love.