The Great Escape

By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrated by: Shannon Cochran

Instead of saying "I do" to Mr. Irresistible, Lucy Jorik hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle with a rough looking, bad-tempered stranger who couldn't be more foreign to her privileged existence. While the world searches for her, Lucy must search for herself, and she quickly realizes that her customary good manners are no defense against a man who's raised rudeness to an art form. Lucy needs to toughen up - and fast.

Her great escape takes her to his rambling beach house on a Great Lakes island. Here, she hopes to find a new direction...and to unlock the secrets of this man who knows so much about her but reveals nothing about himself. As the hot summer days unfold amid scented breezes and sudden storms, she'll encounter a passion that could change her life forever.

In this dazzling follow-up to her New York Times best seller, Call Me Irresistible, Susan Elizabeth Phillips tells the funny, touching, enchanting story of a young woman searching for her destiny...and of a damaged man who doesn't believe in second chances.

Performed by Shannon Cochran

©2012 Susan Elizabeth Phillips (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

I wasn't crazy about it.

Most good authors seem to reach a peak at some point in their body of work, and then gradually subside into lesser quality. This seems to be the case with SEP. Her last few books haven't been terrible, but they haven't been great either. Even a lesser SEP book is worth a read. But I feel like she hasn't really found a new story in a long time. She just seems to be recycling elements from her best books to make her new ones.

I haven't given up hope. I will get her next book. I may even reread this one occasionally, but if you are new to Susan Elizabeth Phillips, know that there are much better books in her body of work than this one. Go back to her earlier stuff if you want her best.

not one of her bests

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I am shocked by the high rating this is getting. I am a huge SEP fan and love most of her books, but this one was just not up to par. There was so much going on that you never really get attached to her to Lucy or patrick. Thenshe tried to throw every thing she could in. It turns out panda has everything and anything that he can. Plus, he is an orphan and then sayssonething about having his mom in a senior center. The voice usedfor Lucy sounds like a 50 year old woman and not a 30 year old lady. It just was very long without being really good.

Just too much!!

What could Susan Elizabeth Phillips have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Eliminate some of the issues with Patrick, it was too much!!!! We get it, SEP believes in gay marriages. Stop pushing itdown our throats!! I am not reading these books to debate serious topics.

Could you see The Great Escape being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No way!!"

SEP Gumbo

There is all of the normal SEP touches here; the couple who can't see what everyone around them does; that they're destined to be together. Indeed pretty much all the situations in this book will be familiar to anyone who's read any of the author's previous novels in either the Wynette, Tx. or Chicago Stars series. Veterans of those works will likewise recognize most of the characters as well.
The good girl who though attractive, isn't in the same league as the drop dead gorgeous male lead. The bad boy who's convinced that he's not ready for love; or can't love, or has been hurt by love, or by some other totally predictable plot machination. The thing is for the author's fans that's not a negative; we're comforted by all the familiar characters of the Wynette series as well as SEP's repeating plot lines one last time.
Long time narrator Anna Fields is missed; Shannon Cochran isn't a bad substitute for her. Their voices are similar; though if the rendition of the boy's speech here is any indication she could use a lot of work on doing kid's voices.
If this is indeed the finale of this series, (it's the seventh book in the series and the Stars series ended after #7 it's a decent finale.

Disappointing

I know that a large part of my problem with this book is the narration. Ms. Cochran may be a perfectly fine narrator, but I came late in life to SEP and listened to most of her books one after the other and then read them again taking breaks between each to really enjoy. And I went from being slightly annoyed by Anna Fields somewhat masculine, monotone voice to falling in love with it. And then she was gone.

And while I believe SEP is an author who deserves far more recognition than she ever receives - at least outside the romance genre - I have to now admit that part of what I draws me to her books is the voice who delivered her stories.

I think I will read the next one and leave it to the voice in my head to narrate.

Beyond narration - I found the heroine in this slightly annoying. Lucy was not the same gutsy yet terrified girl from First Lady. She tried to appear brave and gutsy, but seemed lost and adrift. Lucy should not have grown up into this woman.

The hero was underdeveloped. And this was too bad because more than most main characters he needed to be a fully developed living, breathing, complicated man. Lucy dumped the most perfect man who ever lived and ended up with someone named Panda Bear. You couldn't help but compare the two and since Ted had already starred in other SEP books, we knew all about him and how wonderful he was ... the Panda guy just came off flat.

One of the best things about Phillips books' are her development of secondary characters. And she does that well in this book too. Even though I thought the narration suffered the most with Toby, even the poor narration could not overcome the cleverly developed and delightful secondary characters. I wish either one of the secondary couples had been the center of attention in this book.

If you love Phillips books you will read this book regardless of what any review says. I expect you will be disappointed but will be more disappointed if you pass it up. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

The Great Escape is just that!

It’s fun and sweet! The story and narrator make me happy!!! I’m looking for escape from the pandemic and these difficult times across our planet.

Love SEP!!!

What did you love best about The Great Escape?

I'm always happy reading an SEP book. She sucks me into the pages every time.

Have you listened to any of Shannon Cochran’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

While it's tough for anyone to step into Anna Fields/Kate Flemings's shoes, Shannon Cochran does an admirable job of it. She's easy to listen to.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely!!

Missed Anna Fields

I was sorry to see and hear that Anna Fields, who reads for SEP didn't with this book. I missed her terribly. I've gotten use to her ability to read Susan's books with the humor she means to express, that I was disappointed not getting to enjoy the narrator.
With that said. Susan once again doesn't fail for story line one bit!! I loved this book. As always, I'm hoping to hear more from Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
I enjoyed that there was development of characters besides to two main ones, ie. Lucy and Patrick. We get to know Bre, Mike, and Toby, along with Temple and Max. I truly enjoyed every moment of this book and would recommend it to everyone.
It was longer than most of her books, but that's because she did a more extensive development of all the characters.

Great Story - Terrible Narration

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator has strange slow annunciation and her modulation and intonations are odd - sounds like a grandmother. All wrong for this book.

What a bummer!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I am a huge fan of this author and have patiently been waiting for her next book.What a disappointment. There wasn't much comedy/romance it was just blah. I was hoping for another Dream a LIttle Dream or Natural Born Charmer which made me laugh out loud and there was chemistry between the main characters. This book was more of a public announcement about troubles in our world.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was OK, but way to drawn out.

What three words best describe Shannon Cochran???s performance?

She is not Anna Fields but she does OK. Her Lucy voice was a little to whiny.

Could you see The Great Escape being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Absolutely not

Any additional comments?

Please don't let Susan Elizabeth Phillips be out of writing material.

3 ½ stars

I felt good while reading the paperback, but the audiobook narrator ruined it.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I’ve read most of this author’s books and gave 4 or 5 stars to all but two. I love her style. I love her dialogue. I love the way her characters bicker and insult each other. It’s her trademark. When I opened this book and began reading I felt like I had just been reunited with an old friend. A lot of her stories are similar, but I like her kind of stories.

Some reviewers claimed it was too long. I prefer long because I like being in her world. Some reviewers complained she talked about too many social issues: racial, disadvantaged youth, lesbian, military PTSD. Didn’t bother me. They were not overwhelming or depressing. They were secondary stories. I’d much rather have secondary stories with various topics than sticking to one couple and filling pages with too much pondering and worrying.

Several reviewers claimed there was not enough chemistry between Lucy and Panda. I agree. I would have liked more emotional development. I didn’t feel much desire from either of them. Sure there was sex, but it was “I’m using you for your body. It’s a temporary fling.” The “wow” factor for me is when a guy shows intense desire for a woman, and this book does not do that. Even at the end, it was Lucy who initiated getting together, not Panda’s desire.

STORY BRIEF:
The main story is Lucy running away from her life, pretending to be something she has never been before, and latching on to surly motorcycle guy Panda. Secondary stories had interesting characters including divorced, down on her luck Bree who recently became guardian to 12-year-old Toby, and fitness guru Temple hiding out for a while.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR: Shannon Cochran
Narrator has a nice and pleasant general narration voice, but she is awful with some of the characters. It’s kind of like Alvin the Chipmunk voice. Whenever two characters are talking she uses a normal voice for one character and her chipmunk voice for the other character. She is not consistent. Sometimes Lucy is normal, other times Lucy is chipmunkish, other times Lucy sounds like a high pitched whiny toddler and other times like an elderly lady. She used the chipmunk voice for Toby a 12 year old, a mother and her son at a parade, and Lucy’s stepfather Matt Jorik. It was a weird, icky voice. During a sex scene Lucy sounded dorky and whiny, not sensual. I also didn’t like some of the narrator’s emotional interpretation. I would have said things with a different tone.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 418 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 3. Setting: current day mostly Charity Island, Michigan, with a few other locations. Copyright: 2012. Genre: contemporary romance.