Books › Escape Clause
Escape Clause
500 pages
A gripping thriller that balances the high-stakes hunt for stolen zoo animals with the messy complications of a crowded home life.
What it feels like
This thriller delivers pure reading pleasure by weaving together two distinct but equally turbulent storms. On one side, the mood is tense and danger-laced, driven by a high-stakes investigation into the dark, violent world of animal exploitation and illegal trade. On the other, the atmosphere shifts into a domestically complicated, slightly wry exploration of tangled relationships and unexpected houseguests. The pacing remains brisk throughout, pulling the reader through escalating threats from violent adversaries while grounding the suspense in the protagonist's messy personal life. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave engaging, fast-paced investigations that do not shy away from gritty realities, yet still find time for the awkward, relatable friction of everyday romance and family dynamics.
- Mood
- danger-laced
- tense
- domestically complicated
- Tone
- suspenseful
- engaging
- tense
- wry
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- animal exploitation · navigating domestic complications · high-stakes investigation · intersecting personal and professional lives
- The writing
- Accessible and engaging, delivering pure reading pleasure through a blend of thriller pacing and character-driven drama.
- The arc
- Moves from the initial intrigue of a bizarre theft into escalating danger, balanced by increasingly tangled domestic complications.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love fast-paced thrillers that balance violent, high-stakes investigations with messy, relatable personal lives.
Content notes
- animal exploitation
- violence
- illegal wildlife trade
About the book
"Whenever you hear the sky rumble, that usually means a storm. In Virgil Flowers' case, make that two. The exceptional new thriller from the writer whose books are "pure reading pleasure" (Booklist) The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they've been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others -- as Virgil is about to find out. Then there's the homefront. Virgil's relationship with his girlfriend Frankie has been getting kind of serious, but when Frankie's sister Sparkle moves in for the summer, the situation gets a lot more complicated. For one thing, her research into migrant workers is about to bring her up against some very violent people who emphatically do not want to be researched. For another... she thinks virgil's kind of cute.
Description from Open Library.
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