The January Literary Road Trip Box was themed to the state of Delaware and the featured book was Laura Lippman's Sunburn. Sunburn is a noir style thriller primarily set during the vacation season in a small town in Delaware.
Polly has some dark secrets. She has decided to leave her husband and child while on a beach vacation in Delaware. Polly plans to drive across county, but ends up stopping in a small community not far from the beach, feeling that it is unlikely that she will be discovered. Her husband isn't the only person that will want her found. She takes a short-term job as a waitress at a local cafe and plots her next move.
Adam is the investigator sent to find her and he quickly does. He is captivated by Polly, and rather than simply taking her in, he takes a job as a cook at the cafe to get close and figure out what she is hiding. Polly and Adam have an intense attraction that quickly turns into a steamy relationship. Neither reveals what the other is hiding and the situation becomes further complicated when Adam realizes that he is not the only investigator looking for Polly.
This story is extremely twisty and exciting, as the reader does not learn the depths of Polly's secrets until the end of the story. Polly is not an easy character. I had many subscribers write to tell me that they were angry with her actions, however, stick with the story to empathize with her difficult choices. Sunburn is sexy too with the intense relationship between Polly and Adam. It's certainly not a romance story, but the main characters do have a physically passionate relationship. Most interesting is the tension that is created by having Polly remain in a small town, rather than flee the state. It serves to tighten the pace and gives the story a constricting, claustrophobic vibe.
If you've purchased the January box, I hope that you enjoyed Laura Lippman's Sunburn. If you have not had a chance to buy the January box, a limited number of leftover boxes are still available and can be purchased here.
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