What do you think?
Rate this book
Relentless
A story of a beautiful young woman in the wrong place, at the worst possible time.
Erika Leighton is on vacation with her family in the mountains of Colorado. When she drives to a nearby town to get supplies, she unwittingly steps into a storm of events that threaten to alter her life forever.
The name of the little town is Pineview-known for its downhome hospitality, but infamous for a brutal murder years earlier by Butch Snyder, a troubled local boy. Because of an anonymous but very detailed tip, Butch was caught and justice was served. But as the police took him away, Butch swore that he would one day return to exact revenge.
Five years later, news of a daring prison escape makes its way to Pineview.
Erika Leighton is on vacation with her family in the mountains of Colorado. When she drives to a nearby town to get supplies, she unwittingly steps into a storm of events that threaten to alter her life forever.
The name of the little town is Pineview-known for its downhome hospitality, but infamous for a brutal murder years earlier by Butch Snyder, a troubled local boy. Because of an anonymous but very detailed tip, Butch was caught and justice was served. But as the police took him away, Butch swore that he would one day return to exact revenge.
Five years later, news of a daring prison escape makes its way to Pineview.
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
14 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Clair M. Poulson
55 books296 followersClair M. Poulson was born and raised in Duchesne, Utah. His father was a rancher and farmer, his mother a librarian. Clair has always been an avid reader, having found his love for books as a very young boy.
He has served for forty years in the criminal justice system. Twenty years were spent in law enforcement, ending his police career with eight years as the Duchesne County Sheriff. For the past twenty years Clair has worked as a justice court judge for Duchesne County. Clair is also a veteran of the US Army where he was a military policeman. He has served on various boards and councils during his professional career, including the Justice Court Board of Judges, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Judicial Council, Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, an FBI advisory board and others.
In addition to his criminal justice work, Clair has farmed and ranched all of his life. He has raised many kinds of animals, but his greatest interest is horses.
Clair has served in many capacities in the LDS church, including fulltime missionary (California Mission) bishop, counselor to bishop, young men president, high councilor, stake mission president, scoutmaster, High Priest group leader, etc. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher.
Clair is married to Ruth, and together, they have five children, all of whom are married: Alan (Vicena) Poulson, Kelly Ann (Wade) Hatch, Amanda (Ben) Semadeni, Wade (Brooke) Poulson, and Mary (Tyler) Hicken. Between them they have twenty-three children. Clair and Ruth met while both were students at Snow College and were married in the Manti temple.
Clair has always loved telling his children, and later his grandchildren, make-up stories. His vast experience in life and his love of literature has always contributed to both his telling stories to children and his writing of adventure and suspense novels.
He has served for forty years in the criminal justice system. Twenty years were spent in law enforcement, ending his police career with eight years as the Duchesne County Sheriff. For the past twenty years Clair has worked as a justice court judge for Duchesne County. Clair is also a veteran of the US Army where he was a military policeman. He has served on various boards and councils during his professional career, including the Justice Court Board of Judges, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Judicial Council, Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, an FBI advisory board and others.
In addition to his criminal justice work, Clair has farmed and ranched all of his life. He has raised many kinds of animals, but his greatest interest is horses.
Clair has served in many capacities in the LDS church, including fulltime missionary (California Mission) bishop, counselor to bishop, young men president, high councilor, stake mission president, scoutmaster, High Priest group leader, etc. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher.
Clair is married to Ruth, and together, they have five children, all of whom are married: Alan (Vicena) Poulson, Kelly Ann (Wade) Hatch, Amanda (Ben) Semadeni, Wade (Brooke) Poulson, and Mary (Tyler) Hicken. Between them they have twenty-three children. Clair and Ruth met while both were students at Snow College and were married in the Manti temple.
Clair has always loved telling his children, and later his grandchildren, make-up stories. His vast experience in life and his love of literature has always contributed to both his telling stories to children and his writing of adventure and suspense novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
February 1, 2011
Although as always Clair's books are awesome, this one seemed to drag on and on. It was a continual chase that although carried well and was descriptive, it got somewhat old. This is the first book of his that I felt this way about.
July 7, 2013
Cheesey. Take out the Bob storyline and it'd be much better. Police were so incompetent in this book, it drove me crazy. The only reason it gets 2 stars is because I was actually able to finish it.
May 12, 2017
I found this book while cleaning out my step mother's things. It sounded interesting, and I like thrillers, so I took it on vacation with me. Normally my reviews are, "Things I liked", and "Things I didn't like". I'm thinking that under "Liked" I would write, "It wasn't any longer than it was".
I actually finished reading it because after being surprised by a few other books and ending up liking them, I thought I'd give it a chance. And I was running out of vacation books! I won't waste time recapping the plot, you can read that on Goodreads, so I'll head right in to "Things I didn't like".
Frankly, I am amazed that the author has a law enforcement background. We have a lot in our family and the way this was written quite often made the officers/deputies look like idiots. Anyone who believes that the Sheriff, and other involved officers/deputies, in charge of a hostage situation, that turns into a kidnapping, would:
1. Ignore the parents, and send them back home to California;
2. Allow the girl's 22 year old "boyfriend" (they have dated over the summer) to hang around;
3. Allow boy to drive a police car to another state, so the officers can fly to get there faster;
4. Allow boy to stay with the officers throughout the ordeal, including the final shootout.
Then we get the boy making the "ah hah" connections that none of the police notice. "Why didn't I think if that?" And, he's the only one that notices an extra set of footprints, after all of the officers pass through? Arghhhhhhhhh..........
I could go on with all of the things that made me crazy, including the fact that the ending was so underwhelming, but I'll stop here. Yes, I'm amazed as well that I continued reading this book. But I thought it might get better. It didn't. I would not recommend this to anyone.
I actually finished reading it because after being surprised by a few other books and ending up liking them, I thought I'd give it a chance. And I was running out of vacation books! I won't waste time recapping the plot, you can read that on Goodreads, so I'll head right in to "Things I didn't like".
Frankly, I am amazed that the author has a law enforcement background. We have a lot in our family and the way this was written quite often made the officers/deputies look like idiots. Anyone who believes that the Sheriff, and other involved officers/deputies, in charge of a hostage situation, that turns into a kidnapping, would:
1. Ignore the parents, and send them back home to California;
2. Allow the girl's 22 year old "boyfriend" (they have dated over the summer) to hang around;
3. Allow boy to drive a police car to another state, so the officers can fly to get there faster;
4. Allow boy to stay with the officers throughout the ordeal, including the final shootout.
Then we get the boy making the "ah hah" connections that none of the police notice. "Why didn't I think if that?" And, he's the only one that notices an extra set of footprints, after all of the officers pass through? Arghhhhhhhhh..........
I could go on with all of the things that made me crazy, including the fact that the ending was so underwhelming, but I'll stop here. Yes, I'm amazed as well that I continued reading this book. But I thought it might get better. It didn't. I would not recommend this to anyone.
dnf
June 19, 2019I normally really love clair poulsons books, and was excited to pick this one up.
I read to page 103 (almost half of this book) and was extremely bored, i didnt care about any of the characters, and i found the hostage situation to be boring, not exciting or suspensful. I wasnt on the edge of my chair, and i found myself just forcing myself to read it.
I did like the connection of Jan, but as she is an extreme side character (at least up to the point i read), i didnt like the other characters or the plot enough to keep reading just to have a few moments with her. Erika i found to be depressing, which given her situation is understandable, but it made me want to continue to read this book less and less.
I read to page 103 (almost half of this book) and was extremely bored, i didnt care about any of the characters, and i found the hostage situation to be boring, not exciting or suspensful. I wasnt on the edge of my chair, and i found myself just forcing myself to read it.
I did like the connection of Jan, but as she is an extreme side character (at least up to the point i read), i didnt like the other characters or the plot enough to keep reading just to have a few moments with her. Erika i found to be depressing, which given her situation is understandable, but it made me want to continue to read this book less and less.
July 17, 2019
This book was okay. I loved the premise of it. I really liked it a lot! I wasn’t a fan of the Bob/Jan story. That was weird. Mostly it was just weird that he was even there when he didn’t love the girl. The chase went on a little too long in my opinion. I wish there would have been more story at the beginning to get us into the characters before the chase started. But other than those things, it was an enjoyable read!
May 7, 2018
I could not believe how long an unexciting plot could be stretched. The criminal is an uneducated moron, who I could not take seriously. He manages to take a hostage and flee from police for several days, which doesn't say much for the police. I ended up skimming though most of the book, and I was still bored.
September 17, 2017
Excellent,and well constructed.
December 30, 2019
18 yr old taken hostage as law enforcement officers and boyfriend tries to locate her
July 19, 2021
Nice clean adventure book. Quite skow and repetitive. And simple story.
February 15, 2022
It was alright, not really my favorite. I’m sure it was for the drama but I couldn’t get how the bad guy kept getting away. Also I wanted to know what happened to Stevie and if Erika saw him again.
May 22, 2014
Whenever I sit down to write a rather negative review, I always hesitate. I understand how hard the process is to write a book, have it edited, and later published. And the last thing that you want is for someone to criticize something you've poured your heart into. With that apology, I thought this book was horribly written. The only good thing about this book was that the author kept on finding ways to twist and turn the story and keep it going. I seriously doubted his skills in being able to keep me wondering what the next scenario might be. But I was slightly embarrassed because the novel was just poorly, poorly written. It seemed to drag on when reading it because things weren't constructed very concretely and there were a lot of holes or gaps where information seemed to be mission that was pertinent to making the book seem more complete.
Brief Synopsis: A girl named Erika decided to be rebellious during a family camping trip, while leaving camp to get her own food, she found herself wound up in a hostage situation.
(Here's by biggest "beef" with this book: The police seriously let Erika's boyfriend help chase down and capture the criminal, yet the whole time they kept the family out of the loop and ignored the FAMILY'S concerns? Just get this straight, if my little girl was ever in a hostage situation, I wouldn't complacently leave or hang around in a hotel because the police told me that they're "working on it." I would be busting my ass praying or trying to raise money or barter with the criminal in order for my little girl to be safe.)
Brief Synopsis: A girl named Erika decided to be rebellious during a family camping trip, while leaving camp to get her own food, she found herself wound up in a hostage situation.
(Here's by biggest "beef" with this book: The police seriously let Erika's boyfriend help chase down and capture the criminal, yet the whole time they kept the family out of the loop and ignored the FAMILY'S concerns? Just get this straight, if my little girl was ever in a hostage situation, I wouldn't complacently leave or hang around in a hotel because the police told me that they're "working on it." I would be busting my ass praying or trying to raise money or barter with the criminal in order for my little girl to be safe.)
September 18, 2008
This novel is a good and simple, although at some parts it was difficult and exasperating, too. Here's an author with a powerful story to tell, superb timing, a great plot, authentic background, and likable, believable characters who could have easily turned a "good" book into a "fantastic" book by paying better attention to basic writing technique. Far too many times the reader must re-read sections to discover who thought or said something. Poulson does not stick to one point-of-view through an entire scene, which leaves the reader confused. In fact, the author seems confused as to what actually constitutes a complete scene. He also leaves you hanging, and not the good kind. He gets you involved in one of the characters/hostages life and how much the main character Erica cares for him and then all of a sudden the little boy is gone from the story. You have to use your imagination to fill this in. He has too many side stories that get you lost from the main point of view and the main plot of the story. It was a fast read, but a bit difficult at times.
January 20, 2012
Meh, I think I'm gonna give up on Clair Poulson books. I like that they are clean. But it's just sort of weird that they are suddenly about Mormon people when the story has nothing to do with that element.
In this book, it was a big scarey adventure. A young girl gets taken hostage by an escaped murderer and driven all over the country. The adventures and storyline were good...that's the thing that kept me reading. But if I had to read one more time about how she was scared of dying so she just stopped crying and did what he asked, I think I might have screamed. That's the only thought, emotion, anything the main girl had the entire book. In every scene, in every situation, that was what was described about her. And while the plot kept moving, it was interesting to see how many different ways the author could come up with for them to steal a car. Over and over again.
I don't know....just sort of kept reading to finish. Sort of felt like I really was just wasting time I should have been sleeping or doing something more productive with my time. Not a guilty pleasure....just a guilty.
In this book, it was a big scarey adventure. A young girl gets taken hostage by an escaped murderer and driven all over the country. The adventures and storyline were good...that's the thing that kept me reading. But if I had to read one more time about how she was scared of dying so she just stopped crying and did what he asked, I think I might have screamed. That's the only thought, emotion, anything the main girl had the entire book. In every scene, in every situation, that was what was described about her. And while the plot kept moving, it was interesting to see how many different ways the author could come up with for them to steal a car. Over and over again.
I don't know....just sort of kept reading to finish. Sort of felt like I really was just wasting time I should have been sleeping or doing something more productive with my time. Not a guilty pleasure....just a guilty.
July 9, 2013
This is the third book by this author I have read. I just really don't like his books. I will stop reading them, I gave him a fair chance. The story lines are some what predictable, which I can handle. It's the characters that get to me. I just feel like he lacks the ability to get you to understand and relate to the characters. The "love" story side line is actually really annoying and laughable. The Jan character really annoyed me. If she was that afraid of this man, there is no way she would have become a cop and then ask to be in the same place where she witnessed the murder, her character was all over the place and it bugged me. Bob, trying to explain multiple times how he didn't love Erika, felt unnecessary. Also, if she was just a good friend it didn't make sense for him to drop everything and go out there to rescue her. Plus, the cops would never have aloud him to tag along. I could go on, but I just am not a fan of this author. I tried, but I just can't do it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2014
it was an ok, thriller. Mormon girl taken hostage and the ensuing track down of her and the baddie. Had little LDS tidbits through out. very predictable. would have been nice if the author had empowered the female cop. she should have shot the bad guy for lots of reasons. all through out, the deputy was "protecting" even though earlier it was made clear that she could take care of herself. Spoiler!! she did have reasons to fear the baddy (which you figure out a lot sooner than revealed) but would have been better if she had developed the inner strength to deal with it. guess author doesn't think good Mormon girls really should be cops.
October 26, 2015
I really liked this book because its about lots of action. But that's not the only reason why I liked this book. I have plenty of reasons why I liked this book but I might just spoil half the book. I will tell you what happened in some parts of the book though. A killer just escaped from prison to seek revenge on a little town in Colorado. He goes to a convenience store and takes 4 hostages. Will he succeed on his plot of revenge? Read the book to find out more on what happens.
January 24, 2008
Listened to this book on tape. It was a little too hard to believe, though it kept my interest as I listened, it was not as entertaining as I thought it would be. It is about a two girls, one that witnesses a crime, and another who is part of a new crime. It was not too hard to predict and I never really felt like the girls were in that much danger...
January 28, 2008
This one really is relentless. True suspense through the end because this bad guy really never gives up. You may find yourself yelling at the book like me, "Will you die already!" Wasn't one of my favorites because I sometimes felt like slapping some sense into the main character. Good read still. Maybe good for teenagers to read who don't see why they should listen to their parents!
October 25, 2011
If you want a page turning thriller that does not involve language and vulgarity than I would recommend this book and author. It was great!!
The author is a former police officer and judge and is also LDS. Therefore, he understands crimes, criminals, and the justice system, but does not feel the need to make all his characters slimy or fill my head with garbage. Good read!
The author is a former police officer and judge and is also LDS. Therefore, he understands crimes, criminals, and the justice system, but does not feel the need to make all his characters slimy or fill my head with garbage. Good read!
Read
July 2, 2015I love Clair Poulson! If I get to read a book just because I want to, he's my favorite author to turn to. This book is no let down!
Murder. Robbery. Abduction. Hostages. This exciting story goes through many twists, turns, curves, and tumbles--literally--as the plot thickens and the characters traipse through several states. It's a good read!
Murder. Robbery. Abduction. Hostages. This exciting story goes through many twists, turns, curves, and tumbles--literally--as the plot thickens and the characters traipse through several states. It's a good read!
September 2, 2012
He has much better books. His other books are more intense by far. This one did not have an element of mystery like his others. I was very put off by the struggle for love by two characters. In the middle of this crisis they were deciding whether to love each other or not. Kind of lame. I wouldn't really reccomend this one. Try mirror image if you want a really good read.
October 4, 2013
The only thing that made me finish was to find out what happened to the main character. The writing style wasn't very good and it didn't seem realistic, both in the detective work and the romance. It seemed very cheesy and unrealistic that the main characters boyfriend fell in love with a cop while looking for her. I mean, really?
January 10, 2014
I really think this would be more like a 4.5. When i began reading books by Mr. Poulson, I had trouble getting into them but people kept recommending them and 8 would try, try again. Now I really enjoy his books and I am currently working my way through all of them. I enjoy that he knows his law enforcement stuff, that it is credible.
February 11, 2011
Pretty good story about a murder who escapes from prison and takes hostages in his attempt to get revenge on those who put him in prison. Parts of the story weren't as fast paced as I would like, but it was overall enjoyable.
Read
March 13, 2023This was an okay LDS fiction. I thought the girl probably could have escaped, but I can understand that being in the kidnapped situation probably doesn't make your mind think like it normally would. Not high on the list, but an okay read.
October 9, 2013
This book was ok. I was very intrigued by the storyline, but some parts felt like it kept going and going. Good enough to keep reading and see how it ended!! It was my first book by the author, and I've been told he has some better ones, so we'll give it another try.
July 23, 2014
Not as good as some of his other books I've read, but I had a hard time putting it down. I will say I wasn't a fan of the way this story wrapped up with the main characters though. Otherwise I'd say it was a good read.
February 8, 2015
This book was so captivating that it kept me up until 5 am reading it! I really couldn't put it down! This was also the first Clair Poulson novel that I read. It got me hooked on his great books and I haven't been disappointed yet!
April 7, 2023
I enjoyed the story for the most part. While the female character is a police officer it was suggested that she let the male officers handle the hard stuff. At the end her love interest also asked her how attached she was to her career! It thought it minimized her status. Not happy about that!
April 6, 2008
There are some definite holes in the story, but it was good overall.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews