Currently Reading - Bad Signs, R.J. Ellory

From the Blurb:

Orphaned by an act of senseless violence that took their mother from them, half-brothers Clarence Luckman and Elliott Danziger start life with two strikes against them.  Raised in state institutions, unaware of the world outside, their lives take a sudden turn when they are seized as hostages by a convicted killer en route to death row.

Earl Sheridan is a psychopath of the worst kind, but he has the potential to change the boys' lives for ever.  Sheridan and the two brothers set off on a frenetic escape from the law through California and Texas, and as the journey continues the boys must come to terms with the ever-growing tide of violence that follows in their wake - something that forces them to make a choice about their lives, and their relationship to one another.

Opening Lines:

By the time she reached her mid-twenties Carole Kempner had seen enough of men to be nothing other than disappointed.  She bore two sons from two forlorn and wretched fathers, and it seemed that in all quarters and aspects those fathers were found sorely wanting.  One was dumb and thoughtless, the other just downright crazy.