Running from the Devil: A Novel
Jamie Freveletti
William Morrow, 2009
U.S. hardcover, first edition
ISBN 978-0-06-168422-7
320 pages; $24.99

The summer thriller season has now officially opened with the publication of debut author Jamie Freveletti’s Running from the Devil – one of those books that becomes glued to your hands when you start reading it and doesn’t become unglued until you’ve turned the last page. Freveletti knows how to plot, and she knows how to keep her readers engaged, and she sure as heck knows how to use her research to create a believable story that’s a step above most thrillers. This former trial attorney who is now a competitive speed runner, a black belt in the martial art of aikido, and a keen observer of international politics seems to be able to do anything she turns her mind to.

Running from the Devil starts with a plane crash in the middle of the Columbian jungle, but oddly enough, for me the book didn’t really start moving until the investigation of the crash began in Washington about ten pages later. Sure, Freveletti’s hero, Emma Caldridge, is in immediate danger after the crash as terrorists move in to take the surviving passengers hostage – and as Emma manages to avoid capture – but the intrigue that unfolds in D.C. is what fascinated me most. There are many players in this complicated political scenario, between the different terrorist factions, the United States Department of Defense, Emma’s father, the State Department, Darkview (an American mercenary group, here really the good guys), the Colombian government, Emma’s employer, and the Air Tunnel Denial program. Each group has its own agenda, and the agenda of many seems to be to get Emma for one reason or another. Emma is on her own in the jungle, without weapons, without food or water, without a compass, and with no ability to speak the native language; the land is mined; and she has a mission that goes beyond her own personal survival.

Emma is a strong and resourceful woman, and she never, ever gives up. A chemist with a specialty in plant biology, she uses her knowledge to survive in the jungle, as well as to save the lives of others along the way – occasionally in a manner that will make your stomach turn but also fascinate you. In fact, Freveletti’s use of chemical lore is one of the very best things about this book. You’ll learn things about jimsonweed you probably never knew, and chances are you’ve never even heard of the neem tree before, not to mention what its leaves can do. Fortunately, Emma isn’t too good to be true; she doesn’t know how to use weapons, for instance, and her emotions sometimes cause her to make mistakes. She isn’t superwoman.

Supporting characters may have a bit more cardboard to them; Cameron Sumner, another downed passenger, seems too good to be true, not to mention Edward Banner, one of the mercenaries. Luis Rodrigo is as evil a villain as you’ll find outside of Marvel Comics, completely irrational and probably insane. But there are a few minor characters who seem to be perfect little cameos. I got a big kick out of Gladys Sullivan, another passenger who has heart trouble but insists on smoking as many cigarettes as she can get her hands on. Maria, an indigenous woman who loves red lipstick, is beautifully drawn. Miguel Gonzalez, who runs a special operations response force sent to rescue the passengers, is a good, competent soldier.

Freveletti’s novel has some typical debut thriller faults: a reliance on clichés to get a point across (“she felt as though fate had thrown her a bone”; “The man dropped like a stone”). Sometimes, though, Freveletti uses language to create a picture so vivid that a scene comes to life right before your eyes (“The highest-ranking members of the army, navy, air force, and marines fiddled with legal pads, flipped pencils in the air, and sipped coffee from china cups that they held like mugs, ignoring the elegant, curved handles” – that detail about how they hold the cups is just brilliant).

The language isn’t the point, though, and the clichés fall away as you get deeper into the book and the plot absolutely takes over. Soon it doesn’t seem like you’re reading at all; it’s more as if the book is being transmitted directly into your brain, and you see it all played out cinematically. This book would make a great movie, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that it’s been optioned.

So: buy this one and head for your hammock. Memorial Day weekend will be here before you know it, and reading this book would be a fine way to spend one afternoon of your three-day break.

Full disclosure: way back when, from about 1989 until February 1993, Jamie Freveletti and I were members of the same law firm (which is now defunct). I left the firm to move out-of-state, and have seen Jamie in the flesh only once since then. We’ve been in sporadic contact over the years, and I consider her a friend even now, but I learned about the publication of Running from the Devil only by reading about it in the trade press. I’ve done my best to write an objective review. You have my word that I wouldn’t have written anything at all if I didn’t truly enjoy the book.