Thriller Thursday...a day late

Boy, if I keep going this way I'm going to be a day late for Christmas. Sheesh.
Anyway, the most recent thriller I finished is Running From the Devil by Jamie Freveletti. This book won a Barry Award at Bouchercon in October, and is the debut novel by Ms. Freveletti.  I loved it! From the back of the book:

        Emma Caldridge, a chemist for a cosmetics company, is en route from Miami    to Bogotá when her plane is hijacked and spins out of control into the mountains near the Venezuelan border. Thrown unhurt from the wreckage, she can do nothing but watch as guerillas take the others hostage.
      An endurance marathon runner, Emma silently trails the guerillas and their captives, using her athletic prowess and scientific knowledge to stay alive. Those skills become essential when she discovers an injured passenger, secret government agent Cameron Sumner, separated from the group. Together they follow the hostages, staying one step ahead by staying one step behind.
As news of the hijacking breaks in Washington, the Department of Defense turns to Edward Banner, former military and current CEO of a security consulting firm, for assistance. Banner sends a special task force to the crash site, intent on locating the survivors before it’s too late.
       But finding Emma and Sumner is only the beginning, as Banner starts to realize that Emma was on a personal mission when the plane went down. There is more to the talented biochemist and the circumstances surrounding the hijacking than anyone ever imagined.

What a kickass protagonist Emma Caldridge is! This was an absolute page-turner for me and kept me up at night reading. Most of the things Emma does are believable, with the understanding we are reading fiction here. There is no fem-jep, and Emma does not need a big strong man to come and save her. She does a lot of the saving herself.  The characters are a little predictable, and the bad guys are very bad and the good guys are very good, but that worked for me. I recommend this book very much.

There is a second book in the series, Running Dark, which I look forward to reading. I didn;t realize it was out, so it goes on my Christmas list.

See ya!