THE WINNER

Title:The Winner

Author: David Baldacci

Price: Rs 299

This  one is not a new release.The thing is I got to it very late,but at least Im happy I did.I picked this book at random,by just reading the dust jacket.I had not read about it anywhere and was disinclined to look up the reviews as the book was already in my hands.

'The Winner' as the title aptly suggests is a story about Lu Ann Tyler who though being beautiful and intelligent is caught up in the whirlpool of poverty and abuse at the hands of her boy friend.She has an infant daughter Lisa,who means the world to her.Lu Ann desperately wants to get out and get a new life for herself but sees no way to do so until she gets a call from a man called Jackson who offers her a guarantee to win the $100 million national lottery.He only has one condition ,it being that as soon as Lu Ann wins the lottery she has to leave the country and never return again.At first ,Lu Ann declines the offer ,but she finds herself embroiled in a murder and so decides that the lottery is her only ticket to survival.

Lu Ann lives by Jackson's orders for ten years,but at the end of it she is tired of always running and comes back to the United States thus disobeying Jackson.The story picks pace at this point because Lu Ann is somehow discovered by a relentless reporter and a handsome contractor with a mysterious past and ultimately by Jackson who is now seething with anger and intent on revenge.What happens next and does Lu Ann's past catch up with her is what the story is all about.

This story is a gripping thriller and leaves you compulsively turning the pages to see what happens next.I loved the experience of reading this one.Though I found it a bit too stretched towards the middle yet there was a feeling of wanting to know how it all comes together in the end.Each character is well-etched out and is there for a reason.

It is a story about desperation,money,murder and deception.There are a lot of gripping the edge of your seat moments.There comes a time when you begin doubting everybody in the story.Trust me when I say that this one is full of twists and turns and  a must read for thriller addicts.

I would rate it a 4 out of 5.