Review: Out of Control by Sarah Alderson

Out of Control by Sarah Alderson 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication date: May 22nd 2014
My rating: 3.5 stars 

When 17 year old Liva witnesses a brutal murder she’s taken into police custody for her own protection. But when the police station is attacked and bullets start flying it becomes clear that Liva is not just a witness, she’s a target. Together with a car thief called Jay, Liva manages to escape the massacre but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. When you live on the edge, there’s a long way to fall.

It seems like ages that I last devoured a full length novel by Sarah Alderson. Her novellas from her Lila series have since being keeping me occupied, but I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest thrilling release. 

Out of Control was definitely a lot different than what I was expecting it to be; it had a great mystery, lots of suspense and of course swoony characters. Liva finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Goldman’s who were meant to be looking after her ended up dead, Liva barely made it out and to the police station. What is meant to be a secure place, ends up being attacked to with police officers dead all over the place, a suspect who was bought in whilst Liva was sharing her story with a cop, ends up being the one who helps her to get out on the run from who knows what. Liva had a lot to deal with in a small amount of time, she’s only been in New York for a week, her dad is in Ghana and her mum in Oman, and she’s all alone and has a mad gunman for who knows what reason chasing her. And she has to trust some guy who she doesn’t know and who can be a criminal of all sorts. 

I liked how we were thrown into the mix of things right from the beginning, Liva had to rely on a guy she only just met and we were left guessing what was going on right until the very end. Despite things being very tense early on, Alderson was able to infuse some great light hearted scenes through Jay’s character (the supposed criminal Liva meets). Liva was quick to make judgements about his character, but he was forever thoughtful risking his and his family’s life to help protect Liva, but he also had a cheeky sense of humour too. He could easily lighten a dire situation with his cheeky comments and have your brain getting ahead of itself and thinking things that you wouldn’t have considered (I really found myself blushing on so many occasions). Liva and Jay also did end up making an incredible team together, with your life in danger and being thrown together with some random hot guy, could throw anyone off, but Liva and Jay slowly began to trust one another and form a brilliant relationship. 

Alderson had a lot going on in this book, but she was able to work it all well together. If you’re looking for a fast paced story, with a guy who will create all the swoons with his dimpled grin and a mystery that will keep you continually guessing, I recommend giving Out of Control a go!