Not If I Save You First

Ally Carter, queen of teen spies and criminal enterprise, is back with a standalone novel that follows the daughter of a former Secret Service agent and the son of the President as the face off against Russian kidnappers in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.  Not if I Save You First is a fast-paced read that will have you wondering who’s side everyone is on until the final pages and absolutely rooting for Maddie, a strong, kickass female character who bedazzles her favorite hatchet and always carries an extra knife. Logan is such a boy but as the son of a president he’s a pretty interesting character should not be underestimated.

Here’s the Amazon blurb:

Maddie thought she and Logan would be friends forever. But when your dad is a Secret Service agent and your best friend is the president’s son, sometimes life has other plans. Before she knows it, Maddie’s dad is dragging her to a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.

No phone.
No Iinternet.
And not a single word from Logan.

Maddie tells herself it’s okay. After all, she’s the most popular girl for twenty miles in any direction. She has wood to cut and weapons to bedazzle. Her life is full.
Until Logan shows up six years later . . .
And Maddie wants to kill him.

But before that can happen, an assailant appears out of nowhere, knocking Maddie off a cliff and dragging Logan to some unknown fate. Maddie knows she could turn back- and get help. But the weather is turning and the terrain will only get more treacherous, the animals more deadly.

Maddie still really wants to kill Logan.
But she has to save him first.

This book was really fun. I liked that it was a standalone because I seriously cannot commit to a series right now and this had a lot of fun twists and turns you often see in more adult thrillers. Maddie was such a kickass character and I liked that the romance element got twisted on its head a couple times. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Brittany Pressley, and I really enjoyed it. She had a great voice for young Maddie and Logan compared to older Maddie and Logan and didn’t try too hard with her Russian accent to make it comical.

Overall, I thought this was a fun book.I remember reading the Gallagher girls series when I was growing up and loving them and it’s fun to be back in such a kick ass world that Ally Carter crafts so well.