The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise

Oakley (The Invisible Husband of Frick Island) draws on Thelma and Louise for this delightful story of an elderly woman and her caregiver who go on the run. After Louise Wilt breaks her hip, her children insist she have someone help her around the house. Louise hires Tanner Quimby, 21, a former college soccer player who lost her scholarship and ability to play after falling off a two-story balcony. Tanner, a dogged rules follower, is intensely angry and regretful over the accident, which happened at a party she didn’t want to go to. At first, Louise seems to Tanner like a harmless old lady. Then Tanner sees a mug shot of her new employer on the news proclaiming her a jewel thief who pulled off a 1975 robbery. Tanner decides to throw caution to the wind and goes on the lam with Louise. Meanwhile, an FBI agent is determined to catch up with the duo, ratcheting up the tension. Oakley keeps readers guessing about Louise’s motives for her long-ago heist and those of her best friend George, whom they’re on the way to see, delivering a suspenseful ending readers won’t see coming. The antics of this unlikely duo makes for an entertaining buddy drama. Agent: Stephanie Rostan, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Mar.)