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Run into Trouble
Former undercover agents Drake and Melody are teamed to run a race along the California Coast for a prize of a million dollars--in 1969 when a million is worth something. The stakes increase when startling events produce fatalities and lead them to ask whether the Cold War with the USSR is about to heat up. Can they prevent the worst from happening while they keep running?
- GenresMysteryMystery Thriller
Nook
First published January 7, 2009
5 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Alan Cook
47 books70 followersAlan Cook is an author of mystery/suspense novels and young adult/Children's books. However, his latest novel is a comedy, ROCKY ROAD TO DENVER, set in 1968. His novella, DEATH AT MONKSREST, takes place in England in the 1960s and is the third book of the Charlie and Liz series. EAST OF THE WALL takes places in East Germany in 1963 when the Berlin Wall was up. It is the second book in the Charlie and Liz series. TRUST ME IF YOU DARE, the first Charlie and Liz novel, takes place in 1962 in the U.S. and Cuba. YOUR MOVE is the seventh Carol Golden book. A serial killer is on the loose. FOOL ME TWICE is the sixth Carol Golden book. It deals with scams, and we've all been fooled. GOOD TO THE LAST DEATH is the fifth Carol Golden novel. It deals with junk science. HIT THAT BLOT, with a backgammon theme, is the fourth Carol Golden novel. DANGEROUS WIND is the third Carol Golden novel. It takes place on all seven continents. RELATIVELY DEAD and FORGET TO REMEMBER, the first two, are about a young woman who loses her memory and calls herself Carol Golden. His short story, "Checkpoint Charlie," is in the anthology, MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS ICE COLD: TALES OF INTRIGUE FROM THE COLD WAR, edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson. PICTURELAND, is a Young Adult novel that takes place in a dystopian world. DANCING WITH BULLS, his first children's book, takes place at Knossos Palace on the island of Crete 4,000 years ago. YOUR MOVE is he seventh Carol Golden book, in which Carol is asked to help track down a serial killer. RUN INTO TROUBLE has won a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Pacific West book by Reader Views. It is about an ultra-marathon along the California coast in 1969, during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? HONEYMOON FOR THREE, has received a Silver Quill award from the American Author's Association and was named best Mountain West book by Reader Views. WALKING THE WORLD: MEMORIES AND ADVENTURES has been named one of the "Top 10 Walking Memoirs and Tales of Long Walks" by walking.about.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 15, 2009
Oliver Drake has agreed to join the race Running California and if he wins, he will win a million dollars. Giganticorp, a large corporation with many government contracts, is the sponsor of the race and recruited Drake to participate.
Drake’s first hint that all was not as it should be was when the cab taking him to the starting point of the race was run off the rode on purpose. Drake and the driver were lucky to survive the crash. When Drake finally arrives at his destination, he is surprised to find that his partner for the race is Melody Jefferson, a friend and a person that he had worked undercover with in the past.
Melody is currently living in Denver, Colorado and working for a fitness center. Melody is the only woman in the race. Drake is a veteran of the Korean War and is currently selling real estate. It would seem that Melody has been picked for the race because she is a woman. Drake has been picked because of his history as a veteran. The fact that Drake’s father is an Admiral may have had some bearing on the decision to make Drake a part of the race.
Soon Drake and Melody begin to have suspicions about the race and its true purpose. Next, a series of threatening letters arrive at the hotel and the letter suggests that if Drake and Melody drop out of the race it will place Melody’s mother in danger. Drake contacts Blade, a person he used to work with while doing undercover assignments. Blade agrees to help him try to find out who is sending the letters.
Drake and Melody soon discover that Casey Messinger, the head of Giganantic Corporation, has his eye on a political office. It seems that the race is to help further his political career.
As the two race up the coast of California they find that the race is claiming victims and the outcome could even be a threat to the welfare of the whole country. Can Drake and Melody discover the identity of the person or persons behind the incidents before it is too late? Pick up a copy of Run Into Trouble and be a participant in the race up the California coast.
Drake’s first hint that all was not as it should be was when the cab taking him to the starting point of the race was run off the rode on purpose. Drake and the driver were lucky to survive the crash. When Drake finally arrives at his destination, he is surprised to find that his partner for the race is Melody Jefferson, a friend and a person that he had worked undercover with in the past.
Melody is currently living in Denver, Colorado and working for a fitness center. Melody is the only woman in the race. Drake is a veteran of the Korean War and is currently selling real estate. It would seem that Melody has been picked for the race because she is a woman. Drake has been picked because of his history as a veteran. The fact that Drake’s father is an Admiral may have had some bearing on the decision to make Drake a part of the race.
Soon Drake and Melody begin to have suspicions about the race and its true purpose. Next, a series of threatening letters arrive at the hotel and the letter suggests that if Drake and Melody drop out of the race it will place Melody’s mother in danger. Drake contacts Blade, a person he used to work with while doing undercover assignments. Blade agrees to help him try to find out who is sending the letters.
Drake and Melody soon discover that Casey Messinger, the head of Giganantic Corporation, has his eye on a political office. It seems that the race is to help further his political career.
As the two race up the coast of California they find that the race is claiming victims and the outcome could even be a threat to the welfare of the whole country. Can Drake and Melody discover the identity of the person or persons behind the incidents before it is too late? Pick up a copy of Run Into Trouble and be a participant in the race up the California coast.
August 29, 2023
Alan Cook is consistently excellent. The story is suspenseful, the characters are complex, and the twists just keep on coming.
October 23, 2016
This book starts off with a bang, a car crash that is an obvious deliberate hit sending the car flying and landing in a field. Quick action is needed for the driver and Drake to escape before the car blows up, but both are groggy. The car is seriously damaged with doors jammed. Drake suddenly notices that the driver is now next to him in the back seat, semi-conscious and must get him out. The only way out is the broken rear window. Pushing the driver out head-first with great effort, he gets the driver fully through when he rolls off the truncated trunk, followed by Drake. With supreme effort Drake drags the driver away, narrowly escaping the fireball as the car blew up, just on the edge of safety where they feel the heat but are not endangered more.
Strangely, as memory reinstates itself, he recalls the driver of the truck suddenly hesitated, backed off just at impact so the crash was not as hard as it would have been, as though it was not meant to kill anyone. What a start to a book about a marathon, a foot race Drake is scheduled to start running the next day! And as we will soon learn, the sponsor will insist he run this race, even providing chiropractic sessions. Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Who would be looking for Drake at this late date of 1969? Though his past was covert, it was a long time ago and he can't make any sense of who might want him dead. The marathon is invitation only, and as he meets with the sponsors from Giganticorp, he learns that the driver's expenses will be taken care of and Drake himself has already been patched up as much as possible with a very colorful face and broken nose. It is at this point he learns that his old partner Melody Jefferson from his undercover agent days is his running partner. Suspicion looms as he thinks about the possible reasons for this. Who would even know about that partnership? What is so important that Giganticorp insists on Drake running the marathon in his condition? The whole idea is crazy and someone obviously knows too much confidential information!
I found Alan Cook's technique for each chapter very interesting as a background for the race. Each chapter is another day in the race and begins with the marathon runners, competing in pairs, given very descriptive daily directions for the route. As a Canadian recognizing some of the routes from driving vacations in California in 1959 and 1961, I really enjoyed these tantalizing chapter settings. Soon the iceberg goes deeper when a sudden attack from the ocean onto the beach results in one runner dead, one injured and several homes destroyed.
The daily route and the pacing of the runners provides interest and background to the story, but at what price? Outside threats are keeping Drake and Melody in the race. There seems to be a political agenda to this oddly fast-paced yet sometimes calm story, but is that what it really is? This book was definitely different in its storyline and layout, with as many hills and troughs as throughout the run of the marathon. Thwarted romance, misguided alliances, and a deliberate political red-herring makes for a well-written attention-getting novel, leading right up to a unique ending to one man's tyranny. Alan Cook is a diverse author and has written several novels, two of them winning the American Author's Association Silver Quill Award and chosen as Best Pacific West Book by Reader Views.
Strangely, as memory reinstates itself, he recalls the driver of the truck suddenly hesitated, backed off just at impact so the crash was not as hard as it would have been, as though it was not meant to kill anyone. What a start to a book about a marathon, a foot race Drake is scheduled to start running the next day! And as we will soon learn, the sponsor will insist he run this race, even providing chiropractic sessions. Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Who would be looking for Drake at this late date of 1969? Though his past was covert, it was a long time ago and he can't make any sense of who might want him dead. The marathon is invitation only, and as he meets with the sponsors from Giganticorp, he learns that the driver's expenses will be taken care of and Drake himself has already been patched up as much as possible with a very colorful face and broken nose. It is at this point he learns that his old partner Melody Jefferson from his undercover agent days is his running partner. Suspicion looms as he thinks about the possible reasons for this. Who would even know about that partnership? What is so important that Giganticorp insists on Drake running the marathon in his condition? The whole idea is crazy and someone obviously knows too much confidential information!
I found Alan Cook's technique for each chapter very interesting as a background for the race. Each chapter is another day in the race and begins with the marathon runners, competing in pairs, given very descriptive daily directions for the route. As a Canadian recognizing some of the routes from driving vacations in California in 1959 and 1961, I really enjoyed these tantalizing chapter settings. Soon the iceberg goes deeper when a sudden attack from the ocean onto the beach results in one runner dead, one injured and several homes destroyed.
The daily route and the pacing of the runners provides interest and background to the story, but at what price? Outside threats are keeping Drake and Melody in the race. There seems to be a political agenda to this oddly fast-paced yet sometimes calm story, but is that what it really is? This book was definitely different in its storyline and layout, with as many hills and troughs as throughout the run of the marathon. Thwarted romance, misguided alliances, and a deliberate political red-herring makes for a well-written attention-getting novel, leading right up to a unique ending to one man's tyranny. Alan Cook is a diverse author and has written several novels, two of them winning the American Author's Association Silver Quill Award and chosen as Best Pacific West Book by Reader Views.
June 19, 2010
I am afraid "Running Into Trouble" was one of the hokiest, cheesiest novels I have ever read. I do not regret reading it. I have never read an Alan Cook novel, and I like to check out an author I haven't read before. But this will be the last novel of his I read.
The name of the big, bad corporation at the root of all the evil in the novel was "Giganticorp"; come on now, can't Cook have a little more imagination. The names of some of the lead characters, Drake, Blade and Slick, were not any better. It had the feel of a bad "B" movie.
I am a person who loves to run and loves to read, so I particularly enjoy novels that can integrate running into the theme and plotline of the story. But in the case of "Running into Trouble", running had nothing to do with the story. And I found the concept of the Running California race unrealistic. No elite athlete would take part in a race in which you run practically marathon distance every day, and in which the course and support are haphazard at best.
Sorry, I did not like this one.
The name of the big, bad corporation at the root of all the evil in the novel was "Giganticorp"; come on now, can't Cook have a little more imagination. The names of some of the lead characters, Drake, Blade and Slick, were not any better. It had the feel of a bad "B" movie.
I am a person who loves to run and loves to read, so I particularly enjoy novels that can integrate running into the theme and plotline of the story. But in the case of "Running into Trouble", running had nothing to do with the story. And I found the concept of the Running California race unrealistic. No elite athlete would take part in a race in which you run practically marathon distance every day, and in which the course and support are haphazard at best.
Sorry, I did not like this one.
February 8, 2012
I enjoyed this book. It centers around a race without getting too rediculous about the running descriptions, although some of the plot elements apart from the running (especially the names of characters and companies) do get a bit out there. But that's fine because the book is entertaining throughout and worth taking a look at.
May 2, 2009
My full review is at Front Street Reviews, but generally, I found this to be a decent book with a pretty good story. I don't regret reading it, in any case.
February 23, 2012
Cumbersome writing style kept me from reading more than a few pages.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews