The full review can be found on https://mysterysequels.com/book-review-run-away-harlan-coben.html.

Harlan Coben has done it again. He wrote a book so compelling, full of action, suspense, and human emotion that I stayed up until late to finish it. The twists in the book were some that I didn't see coming from a mile away. So far, this is probably one of his best standalone books.

I am a Coban fan, but this book is a bit too macabre and weird for my taste. It’s the story of a desperate father searching for his daughter, a runaway, a junkie. At first I was totally involved in the story until its’ twists and turns took me to some very dark, weird and violent places.

I also felt that some of the characters and settings passed any level of believability, even for me, who loves thrillers.

I suspect that lots of people will enjoy this book, but I preferred his more traditional books and I look forward to reading lots more.

Harlan Coben's writing blows me away. His stories always center around "family." This one is no exception, and it's another excellent example of the ties that bind a family through thick and thin - good, bad and ugly. And this one with a surprise at the end I never saw coming.

Another suspenseful and engaging crime thriller from Harlan Coben.

The novel deals with several serious issues including drug abuse, mental health, family dynamics.
At its core is the love and devotion that hold families together and the risks they take to save their loved ones.
The plot is pacey and gripping with a surprising ending. Recommended.

Thanks #Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC.

Another good one from Harlan Coben. RUN AWAY focuses on Simon, the father who searches tirelessly for his drug-addled daughter, Paige. But when he finally finds her, and her boyfriend gets in the way, things go horribly wrong and Simon finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. But this only makes Simon and his wife, Ingrid, more determined to find their daughter. Simon teams up with Elena Ramirez, a former FBI agent turned PI and the things they are uncover are more shocking than they ever anticipated. Good writing, good characters, only slightly implausible plot - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Run Away by Harlan Cohen is a well written mystery story. The plot covers many intense issues including drug abuse, family relationships, violence, and mental health. The story begins with Simon, a successful money manager, missing and then searching for his daughter Paige. When in college she became addicted to drugs, dropped out and left home. He is determined her and the man, Aaron, who he blames for Paige's addiction. The story is really about love, dedication and facing any type of risk to save a loved family member. The ending is a complete surprise. I recommend this book and admit once I started it could not put it down!

I only recently discovered Harlan Coben, and I haven't been disappointed by him yet. This one is full of twists, turns, and nonstop action. One thing I really appreciate about Coben's work is how "neat" his mysteries and clues fit together. The premise of this book is perhaps a little far-fetched, but I'm not one to be bothered by an crazy plot, as long as it works within the story.

I couldn't put this one down! Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Simon is desperately searching for his daughter Paige, a once promising college student, who has fallen into drug addiction. The path to his daughter leads him on a dangerous path, full of twists and turns.

This was a good read if you wanted a twisty thriller. Every chapter led you down another dangerous twisted path. There were a lot of people keeping secrets in this book. At the end there is a surprise that I didn’t anticipate. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Run Away

Thanks to netgalley.com and Hachette Book group for the advance copy of Run Away. This is a stand alone novel without the usual cast of Coben characters and it’s a good one.

Simon Greene is desperately trying to find his daughter, Paige. Once a stellar college student, Paige has fallen in with a drug dealer, Aaron, and has herself become an addict. Simon's wife, Ingrid, a pediatrician, banned Paige from the home after she steals whatever she can get her hands on. Feeling guilty about this, Simon tracks Paige down in Central Park, and in an attempt to get her to go with him, he starts a fight with Aaron which is filmed by anyone nearby with a phone.

Soon, Aaron is murdered and Simon the natural suspect and who, of course, fails to follow his attorney’s advice. Simon and Ingrid, frantic about Paige, embark on a search together and in the course of an altercation with a suspected drug dealer, Ingrid is shot and his hospitalized, lingering in a coma for most of the book. Simon, who can do nothing for Ingrid continues his search for Paige.

A parallel plot involves a pair of killers who have a list of victims in different locations which they are tasked with eliminating in such a way that those victims do not appear connected.

At the center of this fast paced novel is a marriage of cult activity and technology where almost any information can be found about anyone at any time. As Simon continues his search for Paige, he finds that there is much more to Aaron’s murder than a drug deal gone bad. No spoilers here, though.

Coben really knows how to balance thrills and character dynamics. I found it hard to put Run Away down.

I think this is a story that will cut to the core of readers with kids. I found myself sympathizing so much with Simon Greene as he hunts for his missing daughter. His pain and fear felt so real, so visceral, that I was on the edge of my seat. It is a book that affected me emotionally, as well as providing all the exciting thrills I seek out in this genre.

If you're new to Coben's work, I should point out that he's more of a traditional thriller writer. By this I mean he favours high-octane, high-stakes plots, as opposed to the quieter domestic thrillers that have become popular in recent years. I'm telling you this because I have seen a few comments about the plot being "unrealistic", and it definitely is more Die Hard than The Girl on the Train.

That being said, the relationships between the main players in this book made the story so tense and compelling for me. I cared so much about the characters. In this book, Simon Greene's daughter, Paige, is lost. At first, she is lost to drugs and a relationship that he suspects is abusive; then, later, her boyfriend is found dead and she is simply missing. Nowhere to be found. Did she kill her boyfriend and run? Or is the person responsible looking for Paige, now, too?

The plot thickens at every step. Simon discovers new bizarre threads of the mystery, snaking across the country and, perhaps, leading back many years to an old secret. I found myself questioning everyone. The more Simon uncovers, the more questions arise. Does his daughter have a dark secret? Did her boyfriend? Does his wife?

I also really enjoyed the nod to a current trend that is gaining popularity by the minute and how this could easily be abused. I had wondered when an author was going to tap into concerns and fears surrounding this issue, and Coben does not go easy on us.

I don't know about you, but I found this extremely entertaining. Fast-paced, dramatic, with a side order of WTF.

Full review to be published online in late March.

RUN AWAY is the latest entry in Harlan Coben's long string of standalone domestic thrillers. While not packing quite the punch of some of his other thrillers; it is nonetheless a riveting and powerful read. Simon and Ingrid Greene are searching for their daughter Paige, who became hooked on drugs by a man named Aaron. Elena Ramirez, a PI from VMB Investigations, is hired by Sebastian Thorne III to find his son Henry. Ash and DeeDee (aka Holly at Truth Haven part of the Shining Truth cult) are going around killing people. Eventually, Elena begins to look for Paige in relation to missing Henry. She is also looking for Damian Gorse who was murdered by Ash and DeeDee. (Napoleon Dumas shows up briefly during this investigation.) This is truly not as confusing as it sounds here.

All of this is masterfully intertwined into an engrossing story with plot twists, surprises, and a fantastic ending that will blow the reader away. RUN AWAY is a recommended read for Coben's many fans; as well as those who enjoy well written domestic drama thrillers.

Simon believes that he and his wife, Ingrid, a pediatrician, have established a nearly perfect life. They have 3 beautiful children, successful careers, a beautiful home in Manhattan.

And then their oldest daughter, Paige, goes away to college . . . and it all goes wrong. Paige becomes a drug addict, drops out of school, and has an abusive boyfriend, 11 years her senior. After all attempts to help her fail, she disappears.

Brokenhearted, Simon cannot bring himself to stop searching for her, even though he and Ingrid have agreed to suspend their efforts. With a tip and some luck, he spots her playing the guitar and singing at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. But she's clearly strung out to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. And when Simon approaches her, begging her to come home with him, her boyfriend, Aaron, materializes and there is an altercation. In the chaos, Paige runs.

Three months later, Aaron has been brutally murdered and Paige may be in danger. Simon and Ingrid are now united in their effort to find Paige, and together they venture into a dangerous world. With tragic consequences.

Meanwhile, former FBI agent and private investigator Elena Ramirez has been hired to find a missing 24-year-old. Henry Thorpe's wealthy father is not convinced that the text he received from his son saying he was heading west for a couple of weeks means Henry is not in trouble. Just the opposite, in fact.

And Ash has been hired to kill two men. He doesn't ask questions. He simply carries out his assignments, accompanied by his friend, DeeDee, with whom he was in foster care as a youth. DeeDee has joined a cult, the Shining Truth, and is known as Holly at its compound, Truth Haven.

At the outset, how these three disparate stories are related is a mystery. But as bestselling author Harlen Coben's intricately plotted new thriller, Run Away, progresses, it becomes clear that there will be convergence. First, Elena and Simon encounter and begin working together to find Paige. Both are empathetic characters. Elena has lost the love of her life and been forced to leave the FBI following an injury that left her with a limp. Simon is forced, through Paige's disappearance and other events, to confront his effectiveness as a father and husband. His introspection fuels his determination to make amends for mistakes he made -- even though he thought he was doing his best at the time -- and be more present if only he can find Paige and set things right in his family. Along the way, he finds a surprising ally, as well as a few enemies who threaten not only his well-being, but that of his family.

Run Away's pace never slackens as Coben takes readers along on Simon's desperate search to find his daughter and keep her safe, and keeps them guessing about how the three seemingly unrelated stories are, in fact, connected. As they begin to converge, Coben reveals plot twists and surprising developments that propel the story forward. And just for good measure, he wraps the story up with a jaw-dropping conclusion.

Run Away is a compelling exploration of just how far a father and mother will go to protect their children. But it is also a surprisingly tender exploration of marriage and relationships that illustrates it is impossible to ever fully know another person. Everyone harbors secrets. Coben explores how one family deals with secrets that are finally exposed, as well as whether some secrets can remain hidden for the sake of the family's survival. Run Away is a contemporary, intriguing story with endearing, relatable characters that will leave readers pondering its themes long after they've finished reading the book.