A spine-tingling debut about the ultimate game of cat-and-mouse in reverse as a teen struggles to retain hope—and her sanity—while on the run from a cunning and determined killer.
Ruth Carver has always competed like her life depends on it. Ambitious. Tough. Maybe even mean. It’s no wonder people call her Ruthless.
When she wakes up with a concussion in the bed of a moving pickup trick, she realizes she has been entered into a contest she can’t afford to lose.
At a remote, rotting cabin deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ruth’s blindfold comes off and she comes face-to-face with her captor. A man who believes his mission is to punish bad girls like Ruth. A man who has done this six times before.
The other girls were never heard from again, but Ruth won’t go down easy. She escapes into the wilderness, but her hunter is close at her heels. That’s when the real battle begins. That’s when Ruth must decide just how far she’ll go in order to survive.
Back home, they called her Ruthless. They had no idea just how right they were.
Wow. I'm messed up right now. This book drew me in and spit me back out. I liked Ruth. Yeah she could be thoughtless and a bit of a bitch but she also owned it and was motivated in part by her love for her family. I could relate to that. I liked her friendship with Caleb and I liked the back and forth between Ruth and Wolfman. For a thriller, it was also surprisingly funny. Ruth kept up a snarky sarcastic and inane commentary that had me amused. But then I'm dark and twisted like that.
I do wish she was a little more ruthless and had of killed him or severely injured him when she had the chance. Honestly, I would've killed him ten times over. Plus when he had the handcuffs - why didn't she use them instead of the shoelaces?
On reflection it was a little tedious the amount of times she escaped and then he found her but I didn't particularly take much notice while reading - I was too fully engrossed.
But for the most part I found the story riveting - Ruth is a strong heroine who for the most part makes strong, smart decisions even when confronted by extremely difficult circumstances. Her faith in herself and her family and her pure will to survive is amazing. Yeah, she's not perfect but she also recognises her flaws and that balance drives the story perfectly.
I will say the ending was extremely abrupt. I would've liked it to be a bit longer and flesh out what happened when she got to safety - what her interactions with her family would be like, what happens to Wolfman, does she sue the Logans, her interviews with the police, etc. - and reactions of the other girls families and discussion of how Wolfman came to target her. I actually think there could easily be (and I would love to read) a sequel of some sort. There is easily enough left over material and Ruth is such a captivating heroine.
