GETAWAY by Zoje Stage – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Getaway by Zoje Stage
Published by Mulholland Books on August 17 2021
Genres: Adult, Thriller
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A suspenseful thriller set in the Grand Canyon, Getaway is equal parts tension and solid character development.

This is my second book by Zoje Stage, and she’s become a “must read” author for me. Getaway was not quite what I expected—and that’s OK. I enjoy the fact that Stage always seems to surprise me. Even though I had a few issues with the story and characters, which I’ll go into more below, I’m so glad I read this, and I will always look forward to anything Stage publishes.

The story revolves around three women who used to be best friends. Beck and Imogen are sisters, and Tilda became close to them in college, but something that happened to Imogen back then—which she refers to as “The Thing”—drove a wedge between her and Tilda, and they haven’t been on speaking terms since. It’s Beck’s idea for the three of them to go on a backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon together, partially as a way for Tilda and Imogen to reconnect and rekindle their friendship.

Beck and Imogen are expert backpackers, having made many such trips to the Grand Canyon growing up, but Tilda doesn’t even own hiking boots, let alone have any experience with hardcore hiking. Still, she doesn’t want to appear weak to her friends and agrees to go on the trip. At first, everything goes smoothly. Imogen is thrilled to be hiking again, after a couple of past traumas left her hesitant to venture out of her house. Tilda is adjusting to carrying a heavy backpack and seems to be enjoying herself. And Beck is in her element, leading the other girls over rough terrain and dangerous overhangs. But when some of their food is stolen—something that just doesn’t happen among the backpacking crowd—and later, their camp is ransacked and critical camping supplies go missing, the girls realize that someone might be following them. What started as relaxing getaway has suddenly turned dangerous.

This is a very hard review to write without spoiling anything, because there are so many things I want to talk about! But I’ll do my best to keep things vague. First, this is both a thriller and an intimate character study, and I thought Stage did a great job balancing those two things. The tension is of the slow burn variety, and I can honestly say there were a few sections that were so stressful that I had to put the book down. The story takes place deep within the Grand Canyon, and although I’ve never been there myself, Stage mentions in her author notes that the story was inspired by an event that happened to her as a teen, camping with her family in a similarly remote spot in the Canyon. 

At first it’s the Canyon itself that seems to be the main danger in the story. Beck, Imogen and Tilda decide to hike into a remote area where very few people go, simply to have it to themselves, but getting there is tricky. One spot in particular is referred to as the “Scary Spot,” where there’s a short section of narrow trail with a long drop off on one side. Just reading about this made my heart race, and I kept waiting for something terrible to happen! But little by little you realize that it isn’t the Canyon that they should be worried about, especially since Beck and Imogen are experienced backpackers. No, the real threat is a stranger named Gale that the girls run into when they reach their destination, a place called Boucher. I won’t go into details, but Gale is bad news, and once he enters the picture, the suspense ramps up even more.

Alongside this tension, Stage sets up some drama between her characters. All three women have carefully developed backstories, which gives them some credibility for their actions when they meet Gale. The story is told solely from Imogen’s point of view, so we really get a chance to get into her head. She’s suffered through a couple of traumatic events that have shaped her personality. Several years ago, she was caught up in a mass shooting at her synagogue, but she managed to escape and hide. Imogen feels terribly guilty about this because she lost some friends in the tragedy. Since then, she’s been terrified to leave her house, and the backpacking trip is her first time venturing outside her comfort zone. The other event happened in college, and it isn’t revealed until well into the story, but it basically ended her friendship with Tilda. It was interesting to see the two try to work things out, especially when they have to put their differences aside and work together to outwit Gale.

Imogen also has self confidence issues. She feels like her life is stalled, while Tilda and Beck both have successful careers and loving partners. Imogen is a writer and her second novel is about to be released. You would think she’d be happy about that, but Tilda has also just secured a book deal—much bigger than Imogen’s—and it just doesn’t seem fair. Imogen has been pouring her life into writing, while Tilda has built her career on her fifteen minutes of fame—she was an American Idol contestant—and at least to Imogen, Tilda’s life appears effortless. These little details about the characters’ lives added a nice emotional layer to the story and worked really well alongside the other tension that’s going on. I also liked the way Imogen’s book, Esther’s Ghost, parallels a lot of her feelings, as well as the events taking place in the Canyon.

There were a couple of negatives that I want to mention. First, although I loved Imogen’s character development, I didn’t care for the way she responded to the situation with Gale. Imogen is a tender soul who wants to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Her reaction to the crisis the women find themselves in is to try to empathize with Gale and see things from his perspective. She hopes this will soften him a bit and make him see them as people. But my reaction to all of these exchanges between the two was “WTF are you crazy??” She also does something questionable at the end of the story that made me want to slap some sense into her!

The other thing I had a problem with was the fact that the girls don’t try very hard to get away from Gale. Here we have three grown women, all of them in pretty good shape and carrying heavy backpacks (which could be considered weapons), but they don’t use those assets until they realize it’s too late. I get it—there wouldn’t be a story if they overpowered Gale in the beginning, but still. 

Ultimately, these issues didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the story. I still feel like this is a solid four star read, mostly because of the characters and the heart-pounding tension. And the backdrop of the Grand Canyon added an interesting dimension to what could have been an over-done plot. If you’re looking for an unusual thriller that’s off the beaten path, I recommend you try Getaway.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.