What do you think?
Rate this book
On the Run #2
Secretive
Zoe Hunter thought all the questions surrounding her ex’s mysterious past had been answered. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Free-spirited Zoe lives an unconventional life. She tried the nine-to-five office routine, but it was like the death of a thousand cuts—paper cuts, that is. But still, she couldn’t take it and vowed to make a living outside a cubicle. Now she’s a “Jill of All Trades,” taking on freelance copy-editing, property management, and even dog walking gigs. Sure, it’s a little insecure, but Zoe isn’t exactly what you’d call cautious.
Normally, she loves surprises and the unknown, except when it comes in the form of a mysterious package, visits from the FBI, and thugs showing up on her jogging route. Zoe isn’t sure who she’s more afraid of, the FBI or the thugs, so she makes a snap decision and skips town to follow the clues in the package, which takes her to London, where she suspects she’ll find her ex, Jack.
The authorities think he’s dead, but Zoe doesn’t agree. Can she find her elusive ex? And what about her new tenet with the shy smile and sexy stubble? Why does he keep popping up in her life? Zoe will have to use her rather eccentric skill set to answer those questions, all the while dodging someone who wants to make this trip abroad her last.
Free-spirited Zoe lives an unconventional life. She tried the nine-to-five office routine, but it was like the death of a thousand cuts—paper cuts, that is. But still, she couldn’t take it and vowed to make a living outside a cubicle. Now she’s a “Jill of All Trades,” taking on freelance copy-editing, property management, and even dog walking gigs. Sure, it’s a little insecure, but Zoe isn’t exactly what you’d call cautious.
Normally, she loves surprises and the unknown, except when it comes in the form of a mysterious package, visits from the FBI, and thugs showing up on her jogging route. Zoe isn’t sure who she’s more afraid of, the FBI or the thugs, so she makes a snap decision and skips town to follow the clues in the package, which takes her to London, where she suspects she’ll find her ex, Jack.
The authorities think he’s dead, but Zoe doesn’t agree. Can she find her elusive ex? And what about her new tenet with the shy smile and sexy stubble? Why does he keep popping up in her life? Zoe will have to use her rather eccentric skill set to answer those questions, all the while dodging someone who wants to make this trip abroad her last.
242 pages, ebook
First published February 18, 2013
262 people are currently reading
420 people want to read
About the author
Sara Rosett
48 books1,662 followersUSA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett writes lighthearted mysteries for readers who enjoy atmospheric settings, fun characters, and puzzling whodunits.
She is the author of the High Society Lady Detective historical mystery series as well as three contemporary cozy series, the Murder on Location series, the On the Run series, and the Ellie Avery series. Sara also teaches an online course, How to Outline A Cozy Mystery.
Publishers Weekly called Sara's books, “satisfying,” “well-executed,” and “sparkling.” Sara loves to get new stamps in her passport and considers dark chocolate a daily requirement. Find out more at SaraRosett.com.
She is the author of the High Society Lady Detective historical mystery series as well as three contemporary cozy series, the Murder on Location series, the On the Run series, and the Ellie Avery series. Sara also teaches an online course, How to Outline A Cozy Mystery.
Publishers Weekly called Sara's books, “satisfying,” “well-executed,” and “sparkling.” Sara loves to get new stamps in her passport and considers dark chocolate a daily requirement. Find out more at SaraRosett.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
November 1, 2019
I'd give it 3 1/3 stars, although I liked it I thought the first one was a little more suspenseful. Looking forward to the 3rd one though!
September 12, 2022
Good follow up to Elusive. Zoe is back on the run and trying to find Jack and the missing millions. This time she’s of to London dodging bullets, thugs, bombs, would be suitors, cameras and more and she and Jack fight to clear their names, provided they survive the day of course. The action is a a bit less frenzied than in elusive, Jack and Zoe move a teeny bit forward in reconnecting and overall a good sequel. 3.7-4 stars.
November 9, 2019
I just love this On the Run series. Zoe Hunter is smart, a bit eccentric, resourceful, and fast on her feet. The banter between her and her ex is great; the dialogue really does make these stories come to life. Lots of adventure, a touch of romance, and enough mystery to keep you guessing as to how the story will end. As soon as I finished Secretive, I bought the next book in the series - Deceptive.
April 21, 2020
If you’re looking for a page-turning, fun read, I recommend this. Zoe Hunter makes an engaging companion as she races from Texas to London and on to Germany, ducking and diving into danger and negotiating the perilous reefs of romance into the bargain. She’s refreshingly human, not the kind of cardboard cutout, feisty female protagonist who can irritate me. The atmosphere of the places she visits is well conveyed and the other characters are interesting too. Although this isn’t the first in the series, a fair bit of backstory is deftly worked in, so for me, the book worked as a stand-alone story, although some people may prefer to start with book one.
October 17, 2013
After having been on the run with her handsome ex-husband Jack, who is now presumed dead by the FBI, Zoe has returned to her mundane life of proof-reading travel books and real estate management. Back to the house she now lives in alone since Jack is no longer occupying the upstairs and back to the suspicions of the FBI that she has somehow pulled a fast one with the money that had disappeared from Jack’s company. She knows she's almost broke but the FBI likes her for the theft of the twelve million dollars. Everything seemed to be getting back to normal when she finds herself being spied on by a man in a silver car. When a couple of thugs in a van try to kidnap her, she knows things are heating up again. A rare visit from her mom provides the final puzzle piece that gets her back into action.
Zoe travels to exciting destinations, meets exciting characters and reunites with old friends from her first European adventure. There are twists, there are daring escapes, there is a little romance. This is a fast-paced series that is just fun to read but I definitely would begin with the first of the series, Elusive, which I reviewed here.
It’s so easy for me to relate to Zoe, not in how her life is, but in how she wants her life to be. This is an easy read that makes me happy in the same way an icy cold glass of Dr. Pepper makes me happy.
I received this book from the author through Librarything in exchange for my honest review which I have given.
Zoe travels to exciting destinations, meets exciting characters and reunites with old friends from her first European adventure. There are twists, there are daring escapes, there is a little romance. This is a fast-paced series that is just fun to read but I definitely would begin with the first of the series, Elusive, which I reviewed here.
It’s so easy for me to relate to Zoe, not in how her life is, but in how she wants her life to be. This is an easy read that makes me happy in the same way an icy cold glass of Dr. Pepper makes me happy.
I received this book from the author through Librarything in exchange for my honest review which I have given.
May 6, 2020
Cozy but overly complicated mystery. I don’t feel that it fully explains everything, but it could be because the same issues, characters are going to reoccur in later books in the series.. Takes them forever to figure out details but then it wraps up very quickly at the end. Continues the storyline of the primary characters, which is what I enjoy most. Liked the London location.
February 7, 2023
I really enjoyed this second book in the On the Run series by Sara Rosett. Tightly-written plot with lots of action, international intrigue, danger, humor, and a touch of romance. I know I'll be reading the rest of the series.
September 30, 2018
Another fun weekend read. The plot points strained credulity a lot less than in the last one, so a definite improvement.
January 30, 2017
Secretive (On the Run #2) - Sara Rosett (Prologue + 20 chapters + epilogue) Jan. 25-29, 2017
I read this as a part of the three book series, On the Run Boxed Set. For an overall impression of that book, check out my review on that book set dated January 29, 2017.
This is the second book in the series, and this one took me a bit to really get hooked in the story. There was so much meandering that went on in the beginning that I didn’t really get until almost at the end. I never know how I feel about those kind of lack of disclosures. I started out being hopeful of Helen being prominent in this book as she was in the first, but she ended up being almost a throw-away character, sadly.
This story didn’t really start picking up until Zoe and Jack were united in their quest to solve the mystery. (Or rather continuing mystery started in the first book.) Once that happened, the writing got a lot tighter, the plot got more interesting and it read a lot faster too.
This was an enjoyable next step in this series, but not as nice as the first book. I do appreciate the character growth of Zoe, but at a cost of her friendship to Helen? That much I didn’t so much like. It felt like Helen was brought in at the beginning of the story and then disappeared as Jack made his appearance, never to really come back in again.
For that, the story felt Zoe and Jack heavy. It wasn’t as fun in that way. There should have been more balance between the other characters. One such character that was introduced in the first book, came in, but disappeared just as quickly.
There were events presented in the first book that I hoped the author would address in this book, that never materialized. Are these things going to be addressed in later books? Or are they never going to be fully revealed? Not sure how much I liked that about this story. No closure kind of turns me off of reading more from a series.
There were some obvious typos in this book (not spelling errors, per se; more like wrong word choice that a spellchecker wouldn’t necessarily make note of.)
The author does a nice job at the end of the book to give more insight into the locations used in the story. That’s cool and interesting.
Overall, a pretty decent read.
Three stars.
I read this as a part of the three book series, On the Run Boxed Set. For an overall impression of that book, check out my review on that book set dated January 29, 2017.
This is the second book in the series, and this one took me a bit to really get hooked in the story. There was so much meandering that went on in the beginning that I didn’t really get until almost at the end. I never know how I feel about those kind of lack of disclosures. I started out being hopeful of Helen being prominent in this book as she was in the first, but she ended up being almost a throw-away character, sadly.
This story didn’t really start picking up until Zoe and Jack were united in their quest to solve the mystery. (Or rather continuing mystery started in the first book.) Once that happened, the writing got a lot tighter, the plot got more interesting and it read a lot faster too.
This was an enjoyable next step in this series, but not as nice as the first book. I do appreciate the character growth of Zoe, but at a cost of her friendship to Helen? That much I didn’t so much like. It felt like Helen was brought in at the beginning of the story and then disappeared as Jack made his appearance, never to really come back in again.
For that, the story felt Zoe and Jack heavy. It wasn’t as fun in that way. There should have been more balance between the other characters. One such character that was introduced in the first book, came in, but disappeared just as quickly.
There were events presented in the first book that I hoped the author would address in this book, that never materialized. Are these things going to be addressed in later books? Or are they never going to be fully revealed? Not sure how much I liked that about this story. No closure kind of turns me off of reading more from a series.
There were some obvious typos in this book (not spelling errors, per se; more like wrong word choice that a spellchecker wouldn’t necessarily make note of.)
The author does a nice job at the end of the book to give more insight into the locations used in the story. That’s cool and interesting.
Overall, a pretty decent read.
Three stars.
March 30, 2018
This is the second of three e-books in an On The Run bundle. I already had a copy of the first one (Elusive), but it was cheaper to buy the bundle than to buy the next two books separately! This is of course a continuation of the first book. Zoe's ex Jack has not reappeared since diving into the canal in Venice. But when her mother comes for a brief visit, she brings a gift for Zoe that was sent to her mother's address. It contains the chain with her wedding ring, which she thought was also at the bottom of a canal - or else in the custody of the Venice police. The box also contains a piece of paper with a web address, which turns out to be a site for Covent Garden in London. Figuring that Jack is still alive, of course she immediately hops on a plane to London, and ends up going first class - courtesy of Sam, one of her rental office clients. When she realizes Sam is tailing her, things begin to go from bad to worse, and more of Jack's secrets come out. Zoe hires a cyber-crime expert in London to try to trace how all the millions have been shifted from account to account, making it look as if she or Jack has the money. After another murder and a fire, Zoe and Jack are off to France to continue sleuthing. This was a more convoluted plot, with lots of bad guys, and a great read.
April 16, 2019
I rarely purchase e-books, I love using my kindle e-reader but if I am going to actually purchase a book I want to be able to really hold it. After completing the first installment of On the Run Mysteries (which I did get for free) I was hooked and I needed to find out what came next for Jack and Zoe. Again, I am left considering purchasing another e-book, simply because I want to continue journey with them.
Sara Rosett has done a great job pulling readers in with this fast paced, exciting series. Zoe is completely relatable--her emotions and expression changes in moments which happens with real people too. She is brave and resourceful. And while she has unknowingly been thrown into a mess of intrigue she works to find her way out of it and doesn't just leave the work to her ex husband, Jack.
Oh, and there is a sweet romance of relationship rebuilding and I just love seeing it redevelop between Jack and Zoe.
What's going to happen next? I need to finish this so I can go download it and find out!
Sara Rosett has done a great job pulling readers in with this fast paced, exciting series. Zoe is completely relatable--her emotions and expression changes in moments which happens with real people too. She is brave and resourceful. And while she has unknowingly been thrown into a mess of intrigue she works to find her way out of it and doesn't just leave the work to her ex husband, Jack.
Oh, and there is a sweet romance of relationship rebuilding and I just love seeing it redevelop between Jack and Zoe.
What's going to happen next? I need to finish this so I can go download it and find out!
January 30, 2021
I'm hooked on Sara Rosett's On the Run series. I finished Secretive last night and launched right into Deceptive, staying up too late and almost missing my Zoom meeting this morning. In Secretive, Zoe Hunter takes matters into her own hands after two thugs in a white van try to kidnap her. A mysterious package is a clue to her next travel destination and she decides London might be safer than staying home. Unfortunately, it isn't. But Zoe is resourceful and not only connects with missing Jack, but helps them drop out of harms way. I'm rooting for them in book 3!
July 2, 2020
LOVED it! There wasn’t as much from scratch mystery as the last one as this was a continuation of the previous book. I loved it though! There were answers to a lot of questions in the first book and the epilogue wraps things up very satisfyingly. I must say I thought this with Elusive and now with Secretive this is such a great series to be turned into a tv series or movie series. Action, adventure, mystery-it’s great!
August 25, 2019
This is my 2nd read of the On the Run mystery series. I thoroughly enjoyed it as I did the first one. Much excitement, great characters, love Zoe and Jack. Will look forward to reading more in this series.*
*I have read all of the Murder on Location series (excellent
*I have read all of the Murder on Location series (excellent
September 15, 2019
Secretive
The second book in the international mystery series with a couple on the run. FBI, thugs, romance and humor. This book doesn't disappoint and I'm looking forward to reading the next adventure in this series. Very enjoyable
The second book in the international mystery series with a couple on the run. FBI, thugs, romance and humor. This book doesn't disappoint and I'm looking forward to reading the next adventure in this series. Very enjoyable
December 28, 2021
I had high hopes for this series, but the 2nd book was way too similar to the first.
How many times can Jack go missing and show up just in time? How many times can Zoe be blamed for money fraud?
Now it sounds like Book 3 will be Zoe running around Europe trying to clear her name again.
How many times can Jack go missing and show up just in time? How many times can Zoe be blamed for money fraud?
Now it sounds like Book 3 will be Zoe running around Europe trying to clear her name again.
January 10, 2022
Zoe and Jack are a fascinating couple and the mystery of who’s setting them up, how, and why is top notch. Each book has a well thought out plot, lots of action, great dialogue, and the perfect touch of romance. What’s not to love?!
March 16, 2022
Surprisingly good! The second installation of the On The Run series by Sara Rosett, I found this book creative, original, entertaining, and enjoyable. Better than expected. This was worth the time to read. Looking forward to the next in the series!
October 28, 2025
Loved this book. I wish that the other books were on digital library. This was the only one I could find in my Libby app.
I will listen to the rest, even out of order, when they come available.
really enjoy your books.
I will listen to the rest, even out of order, when they come available.
really enjoy your books.
August 3, 2019
Audiobook performed by Laura Princiatto
September 1, 2019
From US to Europe
Zoe leads a life of doing odd jobs, waiting to hear from fer dead husband, Jack. She avoids criminals and the FBI, until she figured out where Jack is.
Zoe leads a life of doing odd jobs, waiting to hear from fer dead husband, Jack. She avoids criminals and the FBI, until she figured out where Jack is.
September 5, 2019
Ok story, some suspense but I didn’t care for it. I haven’t read any of her other books and probably won’t.
October 20, 2019
I had a long plane ride so I downloaded the next two in the series. Glad I did! Definite vacation-type reading. Fast paced fun that takes you to London and a castle!
October 20, 2019
Another entertaining installment. I'm very much looking forward to the next book.
October 29, 2019
Continue to listen to this series while walking.
November 28, 2019
Continuation of the excitement and a great second book in the series.
February 27, 2020
Secretive
There were surprises in this book -- secrets finally revealed. I appreciated the suspense involved with who-is-a-bad-guy. Or who-is-a-good-guy instead.
There were surprises in this book -- secrets finally revealed. I appreciated the suspense involved with who-is-a-bad-guy. Or who-is-a-good-guy instead.
March 14, 2020
Light fun, suspenseful with a bit of fluff thrown in. Sara Rosett is my new guilty pleasure hahaha
April 18, 2020
Really liked this book. Zoe comes to reality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews