I love Goodwillie's writing style (and last name…). I can't even describe it; it's effortless to read. Aidan Cole is a New York society blogger who lives the typical socialite life. Paige Roderick worked with environmental causes before getting, how should we say… side-tracked. It seems hard to believe that these two people's lives cross, but they do, and I can't tell much more without spoiling the book. Goodwillie's characters and settings are described vividly, but things never get bogged down with flowery language. I had previously read his memoir and loved it, and his first novel did not disappoint. The story sucks you in from the beginning, and the suspense grows with each chapter. It is told using two first person narratives, but both characters are drastically different, in terms of lives and voices. Their paths cross, of course, and the suspense that follows is even better than the build-up.

Paige Roderick is a young woman reeling from the death of her brother, a soldier in Iraq, who finds a purpose and comfort in the radical politics of her brother's best friend. Aidan Cole is a paid blogger, part of a professional blogging conglomerate, who writes snark and gossip during the day and parties all night. Their paths cross when Aidan receives an anonymous email with a picture of Paige leaving the NYC building where a bomb has gone off.

Told in alternating chapters from the points of view of Paige and Aidan, the story begins slowly and didn't really take off for me until Paige and Aidan finally come together about midway through the book. An interesting read that becomes a page turner if you hang in there.

A decent story, glammed-up for probable cinematic adaptation with just enough forward propulsion that you will probably enjoy it in spite of its absurd plot twists, hilariously improbable characterizations and multiple, suspension-of-disbelief-shattering factual errors.

Sadly this didn't work for. Wasn't the suspenseful intense read I had hoped for and wasn't really invested in any of the characters or plot. I need a book to grab me or else I'll lose focus on the important things and get less and less invested in it.

While I was interested in the premise and themes, the execution left a lot to be desired. The author was clumsy in how he tried to flesh out the characters within the narrative, which was a distraction that prevented it from being as fast paced as it should have been. There were some well-written lines, but the overly dramatic and poetic tone of the characters felt unnatural. Overall, everything just seemed to lack focus.

A well written thriller that skewers the inanity and irrelevance of modern American culture and society. The ending was a bit of a letdown. The characters made choices that were plot driven rather than realistic. But I couldn't put the book down all the same. One of my better recent reads.

Unusual novel with a well-developed cast of characters who circle around one another due to circumstances that push and pull them apart. A blogger and an eco-terrorist develop a relationship that at first is cat and mouse and ends with a deep connection that has them writing their story together while physically apart.

Disappointing -- a good idea, but the writing is weak and the characters are one dimensional and annoying. Author is self-satisfied and clearly wrote the male protagonist as his stand in.

implausible story and characters. 29yr old woman becomes-activist-becomes anarchist. 33 yr old new yorker who blogs for a living, meets her and next thing we know he's on the run too? over something so frivolous? had to force myself to finish this book

Maybe I ask too much of books. Maybe I'd just like a story to be believable, and for authors not to rewrite history.

I enjoyed this book at first, although I was repeatedly frustrated by Goodwillie's portrayal of Paige, the activist, and the history he gives (through her) of the WTO protests, Earth Liberation Front, etc. For example, according to the book, at the WTO, the cops only started firing teargas after getting pelted with rocks and such. Uh, not. Also, the black bloc folks smashed in the windows of Starbucks mainly because they were hungry.

Also, Paige is quickly recruited to start doing covert direct action by people she doesn't really know that well--friends of her deceased brother. They just quickly open up to her and let her in. Unrealistic. And it's also unbelievable that she goes underground so quickly, leaving her grieving parents behind, after having quit her job to spend more time with them. As a reader, I only got the sense that she cared about the environment (she had worked for an environmental non-profit), and was good at the covert direct action. Yes, she was upset about the death of her brother in the war, but I feel like I wasn't shown the process of how she came to take more radical actions.

However, the character of the journalist is well-developed, and I like Goodwillie's description of the journalist's life in Manhattan a lot more. It appears that Goodwillie is just better at writing what he knows. That said, I found his actions rather unbelievable.

All that said, it was a decent read, though I skimmed through to the end when it got a bit over-the-top for my taste.