Walk Away

In Hawken’s competent if predicable sequel to 2015’s The Night Charter, former combat medic, martial arts expert, and all-around badass Camaro Espinoza is maintaining a quiet under-the-radar existence in Miami, where she runs a small charter fishing boat. Then she receives a coded distress message from her sister, Annabel, who has escaped a complicated past and now lives under an assumed name in Carmel, Calif. Annabel’s boyfriend, Jacob Collier, has become increasingly violent and abusive, and she has begun to fear for her life. Camaro races across country to her sister’s aid. In Carmel, she learns that Lukas Collier, Jake’s brother, has recently jumped bail and is wanted for murder. An ex-Marine combat vet, Lukas is also a stone psychopath and soon sets his sights on Annabel and Camaro. Hawken is a talented writer and knows how to construct a fine page-turner, but this outing doesn’t quite match the depth and soul of his borderland novels (Missing, etc.). Agent: Oli Munson, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Jan.)