Cut and Run

Whit Mosley #3

by Jeff Abbott

Many years ago, Ellen Mosley became Eve Michaels. She left her husband, her adored children and her safe life for a life on the run, a new lover and $500,000. But then she discovered that the money was the Mob's - and they weren't too happy about losing it. There was only one choice. She turned her back on the everyday world and returned the cash to its owners. The Mafia were impressed, offered her a job in the family and she thrived. Now, her grown-up son Whit wants to find her. His father is dying and he wants to call Ellen Mosley to her husband's deathbed to pay her dues. But when he finally tracks her down, it couldn't be at a worse time. Eve's position in the organisation is under attack, and soon both mother and son are on the run from the Mob again ...

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Adult, Audiobook

Paperback

Published November 4, 2004

About the author

Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has a degree in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. His early novels were traditional detective fiction but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and France.

Series:
* Whit Mosley
* Jordan Poteet

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my own fault for choosing to consistently read trashy crime thrillers, but this one unfortunately disappointed. The ending was a huge let-down and the relentless twisting and re-thinking of plot angles made this unnecessarily complex without being overly clever. I really enjoyed it for about 300 pages, but it then began to annoy a little bit. Some of the details and actions were unbelievably far-fetched and made you lose faith in and revoke the books' credibility somewhat. I remember really enjoying Fear and Panic, but this one I can't rate as highly I'm afraid. It still had some great points in which one could get lost in, but once it got to the point where you couldn't really accept the decisions the characters were making and the plot wasn't making total sense, it became very difficult to remain fully engrossed.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a chore, so a two and a half on balance (rounded up because it was readable enough in the end). I picked this off my TBR list as it was one of the books I'd owned for the longest yet not got round to yet, so it felt like housekeeping. I can guess why I picked this up in a library a decade or so back - I used to read American crime thrillers more often, and this fell in to the Dean Koontz and Gregg Hurwitz kind of mould.

So yes - average Joe gets involved in fast paced, double crossing, family loyalty, chased by the feds and the mob type convoluted thing. There's a plot which would make for a straight to DVD 'sequel to a proper blockbuster, we couldn't get the movie star actors' movie. Starting the book as an ordinary man off the street, the main character travels to a strange city and from no-where develops incredible smarts to repeatedly outwit and outshoot several gangsters, hit-men and all the authorities... I don't really enjoy this kind of novel any more. The twists got daft, the motivation behind things utterly ridiculous (basically some guy decides to get involved in multiple killings etc. all for the curiosity of meeting the mother who abandoned him when he was a small child, and multiple bad guys deciding not to just run off with five million dollars because they want revenge), meh.. but I got it out the way.

[Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tore through this fast-paced thriller in day...and what a fun day it provided! Typical Abbott fare with a kookie cast of characters placed in high stakes situations with more twists than a crazy straw. Dizzying yet satisfying.

NEEEEEEEEEEXT!!!!

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Third and last book in the Whit Mosley series. Whit's dad, Babe is dying and he goes off in search of his mother, who abandoned him and his five brothers. She turns out to be deeply involved in the mob, and also turns out to be a murderer and money launderer. He is angry with her and also wants to help her. In this book he breaks laws (very out of character for him) and lies. Claudia is very angry with him at the end. Gooch gets tortured and has to be hospitalized. There is a stripper who is also a computer genius named Tasha Strong. She turns out to be one of the two main bad guys. Her and José. They hate drug dealers because his mom was killed by them and her brother was gunned down by them. Now the ingratiate themselves into mob families and gangs, and then destroy them from the inside. Whit's mom has a new boyfriend who she really loves, but in the end it turns out he loves money more than he loves her. Very sad. Also, after coming home with Whit, she talks to all her sons, and Babe, but then leaves again the next morning. Super sad.

[Satrajit Sanyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Abbott is a Texas author who can really write an exciting novel, with well-drawn characters and a plot which twists and turns often enough to satisfy almost any reader. In this book, Judge Whit Mosley decides to track down his long-absent mother in order for her to explain the desertion of her family to Whit's dying father.

In the years since she walked out on her husband and six sons, Ellen Mosley has transformed herself into a member of the mob, living in Houston and specializing in money laundering for her boss, Tommy Bellini. As Bellini lays dying, his son Paul manages to make the family vulnerable to attacks from the outside. He bungles a drug deal and ends up without the drugs or the money. Ellen, who is now called Eve, is implicated in the robbery of Paul's money, but she is innocent.

What then transpires is too complicated to try to describe, but basically all of the bad guys are trying to end up with the drugs AND the money. Whit stumbles into this situation and is soon entangled in illegal activities which threaten his career and his mother's life. Abbott manages to untangle the complicated situation at the end and to create an interesting story along the way

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Jeff Abbott's second novel. It was a good read and kept me engrossed in it till the end with the twists and turns. Always, Jeff Abbott's books are not the usual murder mysteries but quite good thrillers giving you the feeling of watching a movie. In this book, though the plot was not boring it kept going on and on trying to find who was behind the theft of the money and why someone is keeping Whit Mosley's mother hostage.

[Carrie DelaPena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always a fan of Jeff Abbott's books because they have great character descriptions, plenty of suspense and the culprits often surprise me. In this story, Whit is looking for his mom who abandoned the family 30 ears prior. Their reunion and his conflicted emotions and choices were bittersweet. The ending was frustrating but felt right. I wish Abbott had written at least one more book in this series to explore the repercussions of Whit's choices.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes and no...I have enjoyed the previous 2 Whit Mosley books primarily due to the humour - something sorely lacking in this particular book. While the general idea of the story is interesting, the plot itself is somewhat convoluted and the rationale for Eve/Ellen's actions is shallow. Oh well, every author deserves a couple of misses....

[Alison Takacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another captivating thriller by Jeff Abbott! So many moving parts and characters to figure out. Eve certainly is not a likeable character, so it’s a bit difficult to get behind Whit’s devotion to her. Despite that, I am hoping there will be more Whit Mosley books in the future.

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one too, went off the deep end. It got so mixed up and complicated that it was hard to follow.
It was enjoyable enough, but a little crazy!

[Punit Sahani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice suspense thriller.

[Jerry King · Rating 4 out of 5]

2003

[Shuvam Nayak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the plot is interesting somehow at the end I lost interest. I don't remember much of the story now but if you are into crime thriller kind of story then you will enjoy this read.

[Debbie Sato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was ok. Got this as an audible, and it was a little hard to follow. Recommend reading vs listening.

[Krystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Previous Jeff Abbott books I have devoured. I really struggled with this one. The story line was monotonous for me and characters were overworked.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read... seemed long but not overly so ... interesting story... seems like it is open for the more use of this story.... but it seemed to wrap up very quickly

[Freda Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

New author. I'll read the rest now.

[Patsy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

More violent than I was expecting, but otherwise good.

[Patricia Cochrane · Rating 3 out of 5]

very different from the first two

[Martha Beaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love anything written by Jeff Abbott

[JoAnne Cattanach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t need that much of Eve’s day to day, love Whit and read this series for his adventures. Wish we could have just had Whits perspective. DNF@ 43%

[Adelyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took an eternity to get going, I wanted to find and strangle Eve even before Whit had managed to track her down. Perhaps this is in part because (I’ve just realised this book is part of a series and) I haven’t read the first two books in the Whit Mosley series, and am not familiar with his backstory. That being said, I was more invested in Whit finding his mother and their reunion over the trashy politics that the people in Eve’s world were squabbling over – and half the “fights” that occurred I thought were completely unnecessary. I only really got into the book once Eve and Whit reunited and got deeper into digging up the crimes of the people around Eve, more because I wanted to figure out the whole story more than I cared for the action that was going on. With every interaction Whit had with his friends (particularly Gooch, whom I thought was an absolute darling!) I was getting more and more frustrated with how near-sighted he was being, and getting people who would do anything for him in danger for nothing. 2.5 stars, 3 on Goodreads as I did enjoy piecing together what was going on in the underworld.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whitman Mosley is a Justice of the Peace in Port Leo, Texas. When he was a young boy, his mother, Ellen, deserted the family, leaving the care of six sons to his father, Babe. When Whit learns that his father has only a few months to live, he takes it upon himself to find his mother. He cites his father's impending death as the reason for his quest, but the truth of the matter is that his father doesn't care about ever seeing Ellen again. The quest is purely Whit's own.

One of Whit's friends is a PI, who follows the long-gone threads of Ellen's past and comes up with a credible recreation of what happened to her. She ran off with a wealthy man who had embezzled quite a bit of money from the Mob. When things don't work out, she disposes of him and ingratiates herself with the Bellini family by returning the money that her paramour stole. Since then, she's become an important player in their operation by finding the best way to launder money from their various enterprises. She's located in Houston under an alias. Of course, Whit is on the road immediately with his trusty friend Gooch when he learns that she is still alive.

What follows is a tale of reconciliation, revenge, retaliation and remorse. The "godfather" of the Bellini clan is in a coma, and his son is trying to take over the operation. He sets up a huge drug deal with a Miami kingpin, but the 5 million dollar payment is stolen. Abbott plants a sea full of red herrings, with almost every character showing a strong likelihood of having been the one to steal the funds.

The pacing of the book was excellent at the start, and the pages were turning themselves rapidly until about two-thirds into the book, at which point Abbott lost control of the plot. There were far too many sets and sub-sets of characters scheming to get the money or to kill one another. The plot had more twists and turns than a funnel cake, and I found myself totally lost what with all the double crosses on top of double crosses and characters switching loyalties along the way.

Basically, the book was too long to sustain the reader's interest. The final section of the book deteriorated badly. I found it less than credible to see a person who was representing the law (Whit) doing many of the things that he did. The basic premise about why Whit was involved with his mother was flawed, in that his father had no interest in seeing her before he died. The scene where they met again was painful, to say the least. However, the book did end just the way it should have. I think it would be difficult for there to be a fourth book in this series based on what happened to the lead character in this one.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love this series and this one is a humdingah, but I got exhausted trying to keep up with all of the twists and turns. I needed a scorecard to keep track of the players and intrigue and that's hard to do when you are listening to the book on your drive into work. Ah well....
Each book, so far, is dark and sucks the reader right into the depths. There are some funny parts that I look forward to, there are characters I look forward to listening to, especially when Whit and Gooch get together.
I went right along with Whit and his desire to find his mother. He thought it would help his dying father find peace in his last days. I could empathize with how he looked for something he thought he needed to find.
His mother is a piece of work that I alternated between admiring and wanting to smack down. She did what she needed to to survive, but I did not like how she left her husband and six children to begin this survival.
There were some very grey areas of the good and bad that I had to work at to accept. A very good story and I look forward to the rest of the series.
Four grey area beans....

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book. I couldn't get past 30 pages. I skimmed the rest, saw where it was going and moved on. I have read other Jeff Abbott before and liked it - but I've seen this trend before too. This is the 3rd Whit Mosely, and like Jordan Poteet before, he veers the character off to his dark side and leaves us unsure of what to think.

But beyond that, I am a mother, and I could not ever imagine leaving my little boy. Also, I have 6 brothers, and I cannot imagine what they would have been like (or me for that matter) had our own mother abandoned us. I couldn't get past that story. I couldn't feel anything for Ellen/Eve and any of the other characters. The pain and awfulness of the story nearly overwhelmed me. There is a enough suffering in life that I don't need to read about a bunch of dirtbags on top of that. Enough.

I'll read Abbott again, but no more of this series.

[Devonne West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cut and run is a about an adult son (now a judge) searching for the mother that abandoned him, his father and 5 brothers. When he finds her, he finds more than he's bargained for as she is involved with the mob and they think she has $5,000,000 of their money. Much of the book takes place in Houston and as a new-comer to the town, I enjoyed visualizing the streets and landmarks that were mentioned. It's an exciting book to read with bits of sarcastic humor - because if the mob is known for 1 thing, it's their sense of humor. :)

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third outing for Whit Mosley tells the story of what happened to his mother after she left the family thirty years ago. With his father dying, Whit decides to find his mum and gets a private investigator to look for her. He soon finds himself involved with the mob and trying to stay alive and rescue his mother. While a decent enough story, I just couldn't care enough about Whit's mother to actually give a damn whether or not she made it to the end of the book alive.

[Kenneth del Rosario · Rating 3 out of 5]

/ It was the first Jeff Abbott book I read. And with that kind of storytelling power, it certainly won't be the last. The characters' stories are riveting and painful, yet believable. Though I think there's too much blackmailing and double-crossing going on. Wish he had explored more Whit's brothers. I love the last 20 pages of the book when Eve went back to see her former husband. Such intense few pages! :)

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have rated this higher had I not read some really strong books lately, but this didn't really work for me. The premise is a grown man going to find his mother who ran out on the family when he was a boy. Good hook, but the relationships don't really play out as expected. I thought the characters were weak, and you just need stronger characters to carry out the emotions going on here.

[Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every now and again I like to pick up something that I wouldn't normally read... test the waters and try to stretch myself a little.

Unfortunately, sometimes the experiment results in me getting totally disinterested in it all together and abandoning it for something that I like more. I'm not saying there is anything bad about the book, just that it wasn't for me