Karen Cleveland is back with her newest thriller where mothers must choose between their duty to their children and their country.

Jill Bailey is a CIA agent (because aren't all of Karen Cleveland's leading ladies?) who is given an unthinkable choice. Where does your ultimate loyalty lie? With your job/country? Or your family?

I thought this was a much better effort than her last one, Keep You Close. You Can Run was on par with her absolutely fantastic debut, Need to Know. This is a fast-paced thrill-ride with (mostly) likeable characters that you can root for. (I spent much of Keep You Close yelling "what are you DOING?!" at the book before throwing it down in exasperation.) I still thought that Jill did some dumb things, especially being a former CIA agent, but I guess it wouldn't be a very long book if everyone made smart choices all the time.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

I've enjoyed Cleveland's prior books, and this one was no exception!

The edge-of-your-seat action made this a quick read for me. I couldn't wait to see how it ended (though I was sad when it did!). The author doesn't fill her books with fluff, just twists and turns to pull the reader in for the rollercoaster ride. I enjoyed the multiple POV's. And the ending? Top notch! I can't wait for her next release!

This starts a little slow, but really picks up and becomes a very compelling read. Jill Bailey is a CIA analyst and gets blackmailed into approving an informant when her baby is kidnapped. She immediately resigns and tells her husband they need to move to Florida. Four years later, Washington Post reported Alexandra Charles starts getting anonymous tips about this same agent and begins to dig into it. That eventually leads her to Jill.

Jill continues to worry about the safety of her growing family and Alex for her own safety as they get closer to the center of what is really going on with intelligence in Syria and the CIA’s role in it.

No language issues. If you are looking for a book that will keep you attention while navigating through the twists and turns, this could be it.

Your country or your family - who comes first?! Jill Bailey has to make an impossible choice when she receives a call that her son has been taken. She follows their instructions and approves "Falcon" as a CIA source, and her son is returned. Jill tries to run and create a new life in Florida, but journalist Alex tracks her down to make sure the past doesn't stay hidden.

Karen Cleveland's Need to Know has one of the best sucker punch twists I've ever read, and You Can Run definitely comes close to that level of WTF. Jill and Alex worked well together, and I loved seeing Jill try to stay one step ahead of the mysterious Falcon. The book is well-paced with plenty of action and suspense. If you like spy thrillers, this is a good one to pick up - also do yourself a favor and read Need to Know!

Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted to Goodreads 7/18/21, to be posted to Instagram closer to pub date 8/31/21.

Karen Cleveland does it again! Just when you think you know what is going on in the store, you don't!

This books is about a CIA agent whose child is kidnapped and will do anything to save him. Her whole life changes because of what she does.

When she does what is needed to be done her life carries on as "normal" until it doesn't, and she will do what she has to to save those around her.

At times things seem a bit far fetched, but it makes for a good story. You think you know what is going on, but not until the very end do you really know what is going on.

A must read!

You Can Run is a fast-paced thriller that will leave you breathless. Jill Baily was a CIA operative
before she had her son, Owen. While still working for the organization, she now sits at a desk vetting new sources. Much different, and safer, she no longer puts herself or her family in danger. Or so she thinks.

Every day during her lunchbreak, she watches the live cam of her son at daycare. But today she is horrified to see he isn’t there. When her cell phone rings and she hears “We have your son” her world collapses. She must do as they say if she ever wants to see Owen again. She is instructed to verify a source without vetting him within three minutes. It is against all of her training, but she will do anything to get her baby back – even though she is compromising the country she vowed to protect.

So begins her life on the run. Terrified to even tell her husband, she insists they move to another state. Her husband goes along with the move, and quietly Jill scrubs her identity. All is well, she has another child and the past is gone but not forgotten. Until the day she sees someone following her and the children. Her world comes crashing down again, but this time she is going to fight for her family with every fiber of her being.

The chilling theme of someone holding an infant hostage ramps up You Can Run to a whole different level. The characters are interesting, scary, intriguing and realistic. Even though Jill is a CIA agent, she is a wife and mother, so she is relatable on many levels. The last few chapters will leave you breathless and unable to stop reading until the end. I loved it.

Karen Cleveland is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst, which brings a scary realism to her novels. She has written two previous books, Need to Know and Keep You Close, both of which are New York Times bestsellers. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Need to Know. Thriller fans will love You Can Run as well as the other books she has written.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2021 Laura Hartman

Karen Cleveland has done it again. I’m still impressed how she takes a character like Jill, a CIA agent, and makes her so relatable and down to earth. The book holds your attention and creates enough tension to make it difficult to put down. Jill is back at the CIA, mother to a young child and trying to balance her job and her family. A conflict arises and she leaves her position to protect her family, but secrets can’t stay hidden for long and she’s thrown back into the world of spies. Our second story line follows Alex who is trying to get a career making scoop and gets a tip that will intersect with Jill’s past. Great second novel @karencleveland Thank you to Ballantine books for the advance reader copy.

What a fun ride this was! I love the fact that all of the Karen Cleveland books center on women spies. I was a huge Alias dab when I was younger and this is like if Sydney Bristow had married a regular dude and they’d had two kids. I highly recommend if you like fast paced thrillers that keep you guessing. Super fun! Just don’t think too hard while reading.

I have little to nitpick about Karen Cleveland's YOU CAN RUN because it was a story about trust delivered in two different points of view. Jill Bailey Smith leads the charge to get back her kidnapped son while she's a covert communications (COVCOM) analyst. To get him back, she has to do exactly as the kidnappers say which means pushing through an intel asset without proper vetting and betraying her husband. As Jill conquers one hurdle, she packs up the family and tries to start fresh, even adding a daughter to their family. Meanwhile, journalist Alex Charles is itching to make a name for herself as a black woman in investigative reporting. Their worlds collide when Alex's anonymous source has information about the asset Jill approved.

That's the basics of YOU CAN RUN, but the meat of each action is where Cleveland proves her talents. Not only are the points of view clean and delineated by chapters, but both main characters have clear arcs and motivations. Jill wants safety for her family and her country; Alex wants to get the truth out to the public and dreams of a Pulitzer. Both have added pressure: Jill has to contend with her choices that could land her in prison and certainly come between her husband Drew and herself; Alex is haunted by memories of her divorce and the death of her mother, the woman who adopted her and instilled the truth that black women usually don't get to win.

By chapter five, the time line jumps four years allowing Jill and Drew to have settled into a new normal when the kidnappers are back to threatening the children. At the midpoint, Jill changes from reactionary to aggressively pushing back and takes hold of the situation when her brain is telling her to runaway again.
A third woman comes into play, Natalia, a Russian spy. With her, both Jill and Alex have another struggle with trust. Readers don't get to see Natalia's point of view until the very end with an explosive twist.

Since this is all about spies and what governments do that the general public never learns about, it's hard to think that after all the top secret games are played and foiled, Jill's family's involvement would be kept secret. Even though it's Alex who breaks the story, other reporters and (let's face it) citizens salivate with curiosity and likely reveal every detail about her life (doxxing). Cleveland expects readers to go with the premise that Jill's children will be safe from the post-kidnapping trauma of being in the spotlight. One of Barack Obama's daughters smoked a joint at concert and the whole world knew.

The ride of action versus reaction will captivate readers who get sucked into a feminist drama disguised as a spy thriller.
Rating: 5 stars

I read one of Karen Cleveland's previous books. It gripped me from the start and never let me go until the end.

This one was somewhat less gripping, though the initial situation was, if anything, more intense: how would you feel if you were a CIA analyst and a new mother, and you got a call that someone had your baby son?

Jill Bailey is in that situation. She does what she has to to save her kid. Four years later, of course that situation comes back to bite her in the butt. She teams up with investigative reporter Alex, and the cat-and-rat game is on.

I found Jill somewhat less engaging than I had the previous heroine, and ditto her situation. I think it was those four years, during which she never even tried to let someone know what had happened.

That said, the story was absorbing and the twist at the end breathtaking.

Thank you @randomhouse for gifting me this book. I’ll read anything Karen Cleveland writes. I loved her first book and enjoyed her second. You Can Run, Cleveland’s third book, is an unputdownable thriller. Cleveland excels with strong female leads that make you root for their success while also wanting to learn more about what it’s like to be in the CIA. This book had the added bonus of addressing the intersection of the intelligence community and journalism. I loved this book, and it was the perfect escapist read. Out August 31.

This is my third KC book and I’ve enjoyed each of them!

I would rate this 3.5 stars!

Slightly predictable, but highly enjoyable. The pages in a KC book turn fast and furious! Though it seems all her books revolve around Russian spies and while I enjoy it some of the aspects get a little repetitive.

Her first book is still my fav, but I will continue to read her books!

The story is filled with tension and the author obviously did her research. This is a 9/11 spy thriller with a Cold War twist I doubt you will see coming.

This was my first book to read by this author and I can't wait to read more! The characters are amazing and the story flows so well. Really cannot recommend this one enough!!

Being a CIA analyst doesn't save you or your family from imminent danger. Ask Jill.
An intriguing, soul rending, exquisitely stomach churning read. Grab onto your seats your in for a rough ride.
Great characters and invigorating storyline.
Greatly recommended!

3.5 Stars. Thank you for the ARC of You Can Run by Karen Cleveland. I have read all of Karen Cleveland's books and always look forward to a new release. This one did not disappoint. It was a fast paced, edge of your seat story that kept me engaged from beginning to end. I also really appreciated the way the story was told from the point of view of the two protagonists, Jill and Alex. This is a great "read in one sitting" read. Enjoy!

Fun and fast-paced

A frantic story of CIA analyst Jill Bailey. One phone call sets her off on an intense, soul searching gamble that could put her family in danger. She is panic-stricken for most of the book. I sped through this one, absorbed in the plot.

Jill receives a cable that is the kind a reports officer like herself lives for! Her chance to vet a source, a crucial one, he is a Syrian defense official. She is chomping at the bit to participate in this covert operation. Later that day Jill receives a call from someone with a deep, robotic voice, somewhat like one you might hear in a horror flick. She is terrified!! And who wouldn't be! Are they watching her now?!

Pulse-pounding tale with espionage, a great protagonist (Jill) and investigative journalist (Alex), secrets and that ending!!! I'll never tell because they might come after me!

Thank you to @atrandom and #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #YouCanRun. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Another keep you guessing to the end page-turner from Karen Cleveland! I enjoyed her debut novel "Need to Know", but somehow missed her second novel (I will remedy that very soon). With believable and likeable characters and an insiders knowledge of the CIA, Cleveland delivers another great suspense/thriller.

We have your son.

It’s the call that’s every parent’s nightmare. And for CIA analyst Jill Bailey, it’s the call that changes everything.

It’s Jill’s job to vet new CIA sources. Like Falcon, who’s been on the recruitment fast track. But before she can get to work, Jill gets the call. Her son has been taken. And to get him back, Jill does something she thought she’d never do. Afraid the kidnappers will expect more in the future, she takes her family and runs.

Alex Charles, a hard-hitting journalist, begins to investigate an anonymous tip: an explosive claim about the CIA’s hottest new source. This is the story that Alex has been waiting for. The tip—and a fierce determination to find the truth—leads Alex to Jill, who would rather remain hidden.

Together, they piece together the truth about Falcon, and the truth will upend everything. Highly recommended.

This is a slow burner tale of kidnapping, spy's, espionage and intrigue.

Honestly, it was a bit too slow burning and I found myself a little confused with who is on who's side and who is that person?

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this advanced readers copy. This book is scheduled to release August 31, 2021.