It’s the summer of 1976, and life has not been kind to Tom and Alice. They’ve been trying for years to have a family, two attempts ending in a miscarriage and another in a baby that died at birth. They need a break.
Together, they climb into their new RV and cross the border from their home in Seattle, hoping to find a little peace in a relaxing trip through rural Canada. But in “The Hitchhikers,” the eight novel by Chevy Stevens, the trip becomes a nightmare.
Along the way, they pick up two teenage hitchhikers who introduce themselves as Blue and his pregnant girlfriend Ocean. They get along well until Alice pops into a rest stop and sees their photographs in the newspaper. It turns out that their names are Simon and Jenny, and they are being hunted for the brutal murders of Jenny’s parents.
When Tom, who had brought a pistol along for protection, confronts them, Simon disarms him and beats him so badly that Tom spends the rest of the novel tied up inside the RV with a broken collarbone.
With Alice forced to drive, they head off down the road, stopping occasionally for gas and food. Simon, who needs money to stay on the run, commits crimes at nearly every stop, stealing cash and supplies from gas stations, convenience stores and even a church. At each stop, his violence escalates, culminating in the shooting of a policeman. His girlfriend seems squeamish about the violence but does nothing to dissuade him.
Here and there, the narrative is interrupted as the author gradually reveals Simon and Alice’s back story, a sad one about abusive childhoods.
“The Hitchhikers” is promoted as a thriller, but thrills and suspense are in short supply. Instead, the tale is tedious and predictable as Simon brutalizes people over and over again. Stevens writes well, each scene well crafted, but the repetitive brutality gives the book the feel of a short story that has been unwisely stretched into a novel.
The tale finally comes to an end with two twists that seem less surprising than inevitable.
Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”
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