I picked this book up at the library as I missed the archived date ;( on NetGalley. This is my honest review and all thoughts expressed are my own.
A suspense thriller about how far a father will go to save his daughter.
Another great read written by Harlan Coben!
A standalone read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I usually LOVE Harlan Coben and look forward to a new book by him. But, somehow, this one just didn't do it for me. For one thing, there is just TOO MUCH going on!! The lost, drug-addicted daughter with the terrible boyfriend, the seemingly random murders across the nation, and the two murderers committing those crimes - and then there is why they are doing it!!

I really lost interest and had to make myself keep reading. I DID care about finding the daughter, but the parents were so haphazard going about it that I wanted to shake them. The murders? Yeah, OK, but that was really worth a whole other book, which would have been more interesting, frankly.

I will look forward to the next Harlan Coben, but I hope there is more story and less red herrings.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Several friends had been recommending Harlan Coben to me for awhile, and I finally got around to reading him. Run Away was my first Coben but it definitely won’t be my last. There were seriously so many twists and turns in this book. I don’t want to describe anything about this book and give something away. I think the less you know going in the better the ride will be. This book is absolutely un-putdownable. If you are looking for a smart and engaging thriller add this one to your list!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

Harlan Coben is a long time favorite. All of his books are great and this one is no different. Trust me, you should read it!

Harlan Coben is one of my favorite writers and Run Away is proof of why he still deserves that title. Coben manages to place the every-man in situations that are seemingly impossible, mixes in a lot of danger, some homicidal maniacs, and serves it to us fans on steaming hot plate of 300 or 400 pages or so.

Run Away moves at breakneck speed as Simon tries to save his oldest daughter who's been drawn in to a world of drugs and addiction. After her boyfriend is killed, Simon and his wife Ingrid, go deep into the gritty underworld that controls them. The only problem is that, Simon and Ingrid aren't the only ones looking for their daughter.

I admit that Harlan Coben sticks to a certain formula that works for him. He usually has a 40+ year old man who's been thrust into impossible circumstances and is forced to give it all he's got. If he doesn't, well he just might be killed, go to jail, or be framed for some other insane outcome. I like this formula especially since Coben never makes it boring. Sure, some of his titles are better than others, but his stories rarely let me down. I know that when I open a Harlan Coben novel I am in for a wild ride that few other authors are capable of.

Sure, I feel that the people chasing after Simon's daughter were a little thin and their reason for chasing Paige was a little far=fetched, it did not negate that the Run Away was still a fun read.

Ultimately, I couldn't runaway from Coben's latest once I started it. Run Away is classic Coben and his fans are likely to enjoy this thriller as well.

Copy provided by Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley

Harlan Coben is a masterful writer. His stories always have twists and turns that you never see coming. They always keep the reader intrigued and leaves them with a racing heart. It's always a joy to read something new from this fantastic author.

We would do anything for our children. They are our highest priority life. When something takes them for us we will do anything to get them back. Run Away is the story of what one father will do to get back his little girl and make his family whole.

This father's journey isn't easy. Especially when he really can't get close to his daughter before she takes off. Leaving him on a continual chase that eventually leads him into dangerous territory. Territory that he has no business being in, with people he has no business dealing with.

Through the darkness he searches for the truth. The truth about what happened to his little girl and the truth about the secrets that are uncovered throughout his journey.

This was exactly the type of thriller we expect from Coben. Taut, intense, edge of your seat and twisty with an end you never see coming.

Simon and his wife Ingrid, are looking for their daughter. Simon is afraid she has fallen in with the wrong crowd and drugs are involved. When he spots her in the park panhandling, he tries to get her to return home with him, her boyfriend shows up on something and before Simon can do a thing, they disappear.

Then murders begin. Are they tied to Paige? Are Simon and Ingrid in danger? But still, they search. The find out some not so great things about their own daughter and put themselves in danger trying to find her. How far will a parent go for their child? A good question.
Coben is a master of story building. You pull a thread here and think you know but then another thread is pulled and you are doubting yourself. And you can't stop. By the end of the first chapter, I knew I would be up very late!

Another great thriller from the master of suspense!

NetGalley/ Grand Central Publishing

He sits on a familiar bench in Central Park and listens as the bedraggled young woman sings old Beetles song and thrums listlessly on her guitar. Some people throw change or stop to listen, but he just watches. The girl is his daughter and she has been missing for years. Addicted to drugs and a life he can't understand, not the least of which is her abusive, enabling boyfriend. As Simon witnesses his daughter being dragged away from the park, he reacts in the only way he can and begins fighting back. The fight has multiple witnesses and phone recordings of the punches thrown, and Simon must face the consequences. But his daughter, Paige, is still running and he will stop at nothing to get her back home.

Pure Coben suspense! Thrilling and absolutely recommended for all Coben fans--old and new!!

I know! I am late to the party. Can I admit that it is because once I've read the book I don't have it to look forward to? I knew I wanted to read this one when I could devote uninterrupted time, get delivery food, and focus on the characters and events. I love how Mr. Coben takes all these seemingly unrelated story lines and weaves them together. His writing process must be fascinating. With his story, a father trying to track down his young runaway daughter, an ex-FBI agent looking for a missing young man, and two contract killers out doing their jobs, he successfully foiled my early attempts to find where they intersected. I expect most other readers figured out the connections earlier than I did, but I didn't for a very long time. And boy does nothing intrigue me more than not being able to figure something out! Sometimes it is because the author is holding things back or intentionally misleading the reader. In Mr. Coben's case, he gives you the information but you don't realize it. This made for a very engaging read!

RUN AWAY by Harlan Coben
This was my first Harlan Coben mystery. It was an interesting, well written tale about a dysfunctional family (Is there any other kind?).
Paige is the runaway. She fell in with a druggie boyfriend at college and is no longer the sweet innocent good girl her father is searching for. Elena is a former FBI agent on the trail of the missing 24 year old son of wealthy banker. Simon is Paige’s father trying to save her from herself.
Lots of action here: death, beatings, drug dealers, gun fights, DNA surprises, you name it. A fast read by good writer.
4 of 5 stars

Perception is often more important than reality.

What lengths would you go to protect your child? Your daughter that would follow you anywhere. Simon would do anything for his daughter Paige. He just can't fix her drug problem. It has been months since his family has seen her. Coming from a loving family, what happened for her to turn to drugs and an abusive boyfriend? When Simon sees her at Central Park, he approaches her and when her boyfriend comes in between them, all hell breaks loose. A father trying to protect his daughter but it goes viral and the only thing that is seen is a mad man punching a homeless man.
His daughter and her boyfriend disappear again until the boyfriend is discovered dead. With the viral, Simon becomes the likely suspect but where his daughter.

The search becomes a team effort with his wife as they approach the drug den that Paige was last seen. With any confrontation, there are risks and the risk becomes a reality as now Simon alone must find answers to the why of Paige's addiction and the murder of her boyfriend.

Simon meets up with an investigator looking for a missing man that comes to Simon looking for answers. With the two of them they find answers but the answers lead to more questions. Finding Paige now becomes a life and death matter. Will Simon be to late?

A thriller of a family scope that is driven by a father's love and finding redemption for his daughter.

A Special Thank you to Central Grand Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

You have a drug addict for a daughter. She runs off with the guy you blame for her addiction. Everywhere you go, you look for her. You need to make sure she’s alive. You want to rescue her. And then one day you see her on the street, and you chase after her.

Any parent would do that, right? You can understand why Simon does what he does, and you can understand his burning drive to keep looking for his daughter, to do what he can do to bring her home, even if it risks his life and the wellbeing of his family. Even when his behavior feels far-fetched, you’re all in with Simon. You get it. You get him.

A private investigator sent to look into an apparently unrelated missing person also captivates you. Elena battles grief borne of a recent loss, yet she digs in to find this missing boy. Some of my favorite scenes are when she interacts with Simon as they try to figure out what his daughter and her client’s son might have had in common.

There is a third narrator, but I couldn’t get into his sections. The temptation to fast-forward through his chapters was MIGHTY, and sometimes it felt as if I was forcing myself to slow down and read his. He, too, is connected to Simon’s daughter and Elena’s missing person, and since this is a Harlan Coben story, you can be sure that these connections are unexpected.

I loved so much about this book. I loved the way Coben made me feel every bit of Simon’s desperation and Elena’s sadness. I loved that I could not engage in conversations with friends and family until I finished the book because I had to know what happened, even as I started to suspect a thing or two.

I did not love the ending, though. It felt a little too convenient, a little too pat, a little too forced. I’m a homer for Harlan Coben, though, so I’ll give him a pass. Here’s hoping his next book feels more org

What a story, you feel at times that you are right with the characters. If you are a parent you can put yourself in the shows of either Simon or Ingrid. The moment Simon sees his daughter in central park and tries to talk to her everything begins to change. The author includes today’s social media and how it is not for always good in how it is depicted. You at times want to be for the parent Simon but then I feel why did he take his wife to an area where they did not belong and were so out of place? This of course only adds to the story. The author does a wonderful job of drawing you the reader into each character and the overall story that once you begin you won’t want to stop. A very good book.

Another wonderful read from Coben with a common fear to many families. A child who goes away to school and becomes involved in drugs and then is lost to them and to her life as she knew it. My favorite aspect of this was the different ways the two parents responded to this situation, it offered some reality to the severity of the impact of the impact of this sort of an event on a family's dynamics. This is an intense read and enjoyable to Corben fans.

#RunAway #NetGalley

Manhattanites Simon Greene - a financial advisor, and his wife Ingrid - a pediatrician have three children and an upscale lifestyle. But the drug scourge touches people of all socioeconomic levels, and their daughter Paige was a college freshman when she ran away, took to the streets, and became a full blown drug addict.

Simon and Ingrid are desperate to get Paige into rehab, but the girl is elusive and hard to find. Then Simon gets a tip about Paige busking in Central Park and - when he goes over - finds his precious daughter - skinny, dirty, and disheveled - performing for spare coins.

Simon tries to grab Paige but gets into a scuffle with her druggie boyfriend Aaron. The crowd - who thinks Simon is trying to abduct the girl - descend on the financial advisor and the two addicts get away. The video of the incident, which blows up on the internet, makes Simon look like a vicious bully.

When junkie Aaron is murdered in a Bronx drug den, Homicide Detective Isaac Fagbenle shows up on Simon's doorstep asking questions. Fagbenle - who's hot on the trail of Aaron's killer - considers Simon and Paige prime suspects. Simon, determined to save his daughter from a homicide arrest and her druggie lifestyle, sets out to find Paige once again. Despite Simon's protestations, his wife Ingrid tags along.

Simon and Ingrid go to the Bronx, find Paige and Aaron's bare bones apartment, and meet the addicts' landlord Cornelius - who's sympathetic but doesn't know where Paige is. The distraught parents then confront the drug dealers nearby and things take a bleak turn.

As Simon continues to search for Paige, he joins forces with Elena Ramirez, - a former FBI agent who's now a Chicago private detective. Ramirez is searching for a missing young man named Henry Thorpe.....who seems to have had some connection with dead Aaron.

Meanwhile, a young couple called Ash and Dee Dee - who met years ago in a foster home - are driving around the country murdering men on a 'kill list.'

To say much more would give away spoilers, but - as would be expected - all the above threads eventually come together.

Additional characters in the book include Simon and Ingrid's adolescent daughter Anya and college age son Sam; Simon's business partner Yvonne - who happens to be his sister-in-law; Simon's client Michelle - a lonely old woman who looks forward to Simon's monthly visits; Simon's lawyer Hester Crimstein - a fierce, capable defense attorney (who also shows up in Coben's 'Myron Bolitar' series 😊); several gangbangers; and more.

I'm a Harlen Coben fan, but this book was disappointing. Some aspects of the plot are so overblown they're cartoonish. Moreover, intelligent characters walk into traps that would have been sussed out by a sixth grader. This last plot device doesn't belong in a book by an accomplished, experienced writer.

That said, the novel was fast-moving and kept my interest, and I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy mysteries, especially Harlen Coben fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Harlen Coben), and the publisher (Grand Central Publishing).

What would you do to get your daughter back? What lies would you tell to your wife to get your daughter back? If you would lie to your wife don’t you think she might do the same? This was one of Harlan Coben’s scariest books because all of the scenarios were so real and so believable. This is one you really won’t want to miss – but don’t start it unless you have cleared your calendar. You truly will not want to put it down.

A more appropriate rating would be 2.5 stars out of 5. This was not one of my favorites by Coben. I put it down several times to read something else. It was just okay.

Simon Greene works in finance in Manhatten. His wife, Ingrid, is a pediatrician. Paige, their oldest child, is lost to them- she is addicted to drugs and has disappeared. Simon manages to find her and notices how strung out she is. When her boyfriend intercedes, as Simon attempts to take his dauther home, it leads to an altercation that becomes a viral sensation on the internet. Simon continues his search of his daughter which brings him into the violent underbelly of the drug world. However, there is something strange going on- why did Paige go from a promising college student to this downward spiral of addiction and self-destruction? The answer is very complicated, as we eventually discover.
I have known Harlan since the days of the bleeding ball paperbacks about Myron Bolitar over twenty years ago. Those books were great but he was heading towards a career as a midlist author in the crime fiction world. At an auction, I won the bid to have him use my name in an upcoming novel. Harlan asked me if it would be okay if I was named as a character in an upcoming standalone which was not part of the Myron Bolitar series. I told him it would be fine. The book was TELL NO ONE, the first of his suburban noir novels. Initially, the books took place in suburban northern New Jersey where both of us are from. I could easily identify with the characters and knew the locale very well. He then got a contract worth many millions to write three additional books similar to that one. His career then skyrocketed. I continued to read his books for a number of years but two things became apparent- there is a similarity among the books (a main protagonist- family person- caught up in circumstances beyond their control and they need to bring their lives back to normal entailing life-threatening danger) and he really did not need my support or my reviews as he became a major bestselling author. So I stopped reading him. I heard good things about this one, so, after many years I decided to pick up his latest. To be honest, the book is very entertaining. I finished it in two long sittings but was engaged throughout. For a thriller, the characters are remarkably well rounded. The plot moves quickly but became increasingly complex as it neared the satisfying conclusion. There are numerous times when reality has to be suspended but we are not talking about high art here. For pop fiction, it is acceptable to stretch reality. Harlan is still in fine form. This is an excellent book for the plane or the beach. Recommended.

Larry gandle
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

Over the years, so many of my reader friends have recommended Harlan Coben and praised his books. And I always thought "Nobody is that good." Run Away was my introduction to Coben, and all I can say is -- Wow! Well, that and how could I have denied myself so much pleasure for so long?

Run Away is a terrific read. This story of a father desperately trying to protect his family is definitely thrilling, but also deeply moving and thought-provoking -- something I don't generally expect from this type of fiction. I really fell in love with Simon Greene, but I loved that there were also several interesting female characters in the book -- women who actually played a part in the story, and weren't there just for decoration. So refreshing!

It took me quite a while to finally try Harlan Coben's writing, but now that I've had the experience, I'm hooked. I owe the publisher and NetGalley a huge thank you for helping me discover a new favorite author. I see lots of Coben in my future!