I have read and LOVED many of Blake Crouch’s books, so I was incredibly excited to be approved for this eARC of the re-release of his debut novel, Run. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t a hit for me.

The premise of the book gripped me right away! Increasing masses of Americans are mobilizing for an indiscriminate murder spree, for no discernible reason. No one is safe, and Jack Colclough makes the decision to flee with his wife and two children. What follows is fast-paced, disturbing, pure chaos.

I sped through this book, because it truly is an edge-of-your-seat thriller! However, beyond the pacing, I found it to be lacking. There wasn’t much character development, and I really didn’t get attached to the main characters. It also became somewhat repetitive, with the family doing the same things over and over again seeking safety. It became rather predictable, and had it not been for the pacing, it would have been a bit dull.

Knowing this was Crouch’s debut novel, I have to give credit where credit is due! While I felt it needed more refinement, Run shows the beginning of the inner workings of the author’s mind. I can see how this has developed into the books of his I know and love (and recommend to everyone!). I’m excited to continue to read through Blake Crouch’s backlist.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted e-ARC!

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. gotta love crouch and a post-apocalyptic thriller! i was hooked from the beginning and loved the ending.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Run
Author: Blake Crouch
Thriller

This was a re release from 2011! Fast paced as f, in true Blake fashion. If you want a quick read that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this one is for you. Bizarre murders start happening all over the country, and we follow a family desperate to escape and stay safe, while trying to figure out what is going on. When they start broadcasting the names of people they need to kill, our main character, Jackson, name is read. What is going on? I love Blake’s books and this one did not disappoint. Curious if anything was changed for the re release. Either way, a fun thriller read if you’re in the mood for something anxiety inducing. 😂. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

Did not finish this book. I really enjoyed Crouch’s Recursion, it was a 5 star read for me, but this book isn’t it.

😰 Run by Blake Couch 😰

Pages: 336
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5️⃣
Book Goal 2024: 110/100

✨Did you go and look at the northern lights when they were more visible ?✨

Wow this book! When I requested it, I didn’t realize it was one of Blake’s previous writings but I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it. This world is in a weird place right now and it almost felt like the perfect apocalyptic story to read.

I felt like I was on the edge of my seat for this entire book and was just waiting to find out why things were happening!

I felt for this family and the horrors that occurred for many others. I felt the raw emotion that came through the pages from the characters. It was a wild run.

Highly recommend for a quick, world chaos read for my thriller or horror friends.

I'm not much a fan of apocalyptic thrillers but Blake Crouch wrote this one well and I was invested from beginning to end!

Jack and Dee’s marriage is on the rocks and Dee is now sleeping with Kieran. Then one day Jack hears on his radio that a group of people have targeted him and are coming to his house to kill him, Dee, and their kids (Naomi and Cole) and they decide that they need to hop in their car and run away from their New Mexico town. On their way out of town Kieran catches up and is one of those trying to kill the whole family. Somehow, an atmospheric phenomenon has made a large segment of the US population into heartless mass murders and Jack and his family are on the run trying to figure out how to survive in this new dangerous world, and maybe find more of their own kind.

This was a propulsive crazy adventure to read. Dystopian novels are not my usual choice but I like Crouch’s work and I wanted to read this one (I didn’t realize it was a reissue when I requested it from NetGalley). It was hard to put down but, like most dystopian works, very depressing (and not necessarily what I should be picking up a week after a difficult and divisive election). I partially read it fast because I needed to know what was going to happen next and partially because I needed to get out of that world as fast as I could (I too wanted to run). This one is not a “have to” read but it is a roller coaster of a ride if you like that. I actually think it would make a fantastic movie.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC to review

I was so excited to read Run as I have read wayward wines before by Blake and I was disappointed with this one.

I like Blake Crouch's other books but I struggled to get into this one and it was a little too violent for me to read at this time in my life so I had to set it down a little bit into it. It just wasn't my vibe.

Unfortunately, I will be giving this a 2 simply because I finished it even though it was hard too. The way the book kept going with a story but still felt like there was no story and not any reason as to why any of it was happening boggled me. I love Blake Crouch's writing but this didn't feel like his previous works.

I requested this book because I loved Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and I also enjoyed this story. It is a bit predictable, but I felt it is still entertaining as a popcorn thriller.

I think this should have been closer to novella length. While the premise was interesting and the story kept me engaged enough to continuing reading, I didn't form any connection to the characters. I thought the reason for why people starting acting abnormal was thin and not that exciting or interesting; there's only a few sentences to why they start attacking others but nothing on how it works. Ultimately, just not my favorite Crouch book.

I loved dark matter so I had high expectations for this one . I found it repetitive , the constant seeking food and gas . It felt like an action packed movie . I didn’t like any of the characters , they weren’t developed well .
Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have read several of Blake Crouch's novels, however this one didn't really do it for me. I had a really hard time getting into it and then a hard time to keep it going. It was fun at times and fast paced, but it wasn't one of my favorites.

Blake Crouch is one of my fav authors. However this is not a favorite of mine. It was entertaining and easy to read. Action as soon as you start reading, different from some of his other novels which take time to develop. It was disturbing and apocalyptic. But this was forgettable. I didn’t find this memorable or even something i was excited to pick up.

This is a gripping, end of the world type thriller. An apocalyptic America where a family is trying to survive. Even though the issues they experienced before this catastrophe were still present, this was a story of survival and a family coming together. I couldn’t put this one down and the audio was great. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

Blake Crouch is one of the best fiction writers of our generation. Run delivers another nuanced and heart pounding story of a family man doing what he can to survive in the face of something unexplainable. I would definitely recommend this one to Walking Dead fans looking for the same kind of pacing and focus. I personally would have loved to dig more into the how/what/why behind the Lights and its effects, but the story is fantastic.

A couple with their own issues has to pack up their two kids and escape their home. They run into problem after problem when certain people have turned evil after witnessing something weeks prior. They don’t know who is evil right away and it’s a constant risk coming into contact with others. They just have the supplies they packed in their car and are hoping to escape to Canada. We have no idea why until closer to the middle of the book.

This book stressed me OUT. From the very beginning I was so interested but so stressed to read. The author made me feel like this whole plot was a real possibility and it messed with my head! For that alone, I’m rating it higher but the ending felt so rushed and bizarre that it kind of ruined the story for me. I really enjoyed it otherwise even though it put me through emotional hell.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Blake Crouch for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review! This published on October 22nd.

The first thing you notice about Run is that the action starts right away and never lets up, making it the kind of book you race through and cannot put down.

A meteor shower has turned everyone who watched it into a remorseless, relentless, brutal murderer, often roaming around in groups looking for victims. A family of four from Albuquerque goes on the run to stay ahead of the crazed murderers, trying to make it to safe haven in Canada.

The second thing you notice about Run is that you've read or seen this type of story many times, from The Walking Dead to The Purge to even The Day of the Triffids with the meteor shower. But this was Blake Crouch's first novel from 2011, re-released, so it was written contemporaneously with some of those similar stories rather than mimicking them.

The third thing you notice about Run is that it never lets up, it's as remorseless, relentless, and brutal as its mad world murderers, increasingly so like its mad world murderers. Despite its cross-country run, it never really goes anywhere. And then its resolution, to avoid spoilers, is not at all what you may have expected, and not necessarily in a way that you might have wanted it to end.

The other thing you notice about Run, or at least what I noticed, is that the timing of its re-release is perfect, if you see it as a metaphor for contemporary politics. And dam to do I see it as a metaphor for contemporary politics. One can only hope that our political situation reaches the same conclusion as Run, without its brutality.

Thanks to Net Galley, the author and publisher for an Advance Reading Copy. This is my honest review, one that is positively influenced by the pace and readability of this thriller and its apt political metaphor, but negatively influenced by its lack of plot development and lackluster ending. Sorry for the late review, I thought I had posted it prior to publication, but something went wrong.

Sometimes, it takes famous writers a while to find their literary voice. Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, “The Torrents of Spring,” was a commercial and critical flop. The book was a satire that never worked. As a result, Hemingway never allowed it to be reprinted during his lifetime. He also adopted a more straightforward writing style with his subsequent work, “The Sun Also Rises.” And the results were fame and fortune.

Blake Crouch is no Ernest Hemingway, but he is a talented and successful science fiction and thriller writer. Before he achieved widespread name recognition with his “Wayward Pines” trilogy, Crouch wrote a post-apocalyptic thriller, “Run.” It was initially self-published to little fanfare. However, it sold enough copies to allow Crouch to become a full-time writer. “Run” has now been republished by Ballantine Books, with much more fanfare. The book shows signs of Crouch’s imagination and ability to create tense, suspenseful scenes. However, it also has too many flaws often appearing in works by inexperienced authors.

“Run” occurs in the immediate aftermath of a bizarre natural disaster. The appearance of a strange, late-night meteor shower over the contiguous United States causes everyone who witnesses the event to go insane. (This same plot device was used a half-century earlier by John Wyndham in his classic sci-fi novel, “Day of the Triffids.”) Those who witnessed the aurora soon developed an overwhelming urge to kill those who hadn’t. The affected see glowing lights around others like them, so they know the precise people they must kill. Within a few days, mass chaos overwhelms the entire country as both affected and normal people arm themselves to the teeth and begin shooting at each other. Those who are not affected form armed camps or try to make their way to Canada, where the aurora did not appear.

Although the author sketches the backstory over the course of the novel, most of “Run” focuses on the Colclough family. Jack is a college professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and wife Dee is a doctor. (Her profession is handy in treating the various wounds and injuries people suffer throughout the book.) Along with 14-year-old Naomi and seven-year-old Cole, they pile into their Land Rover and head north. Fortunately, they have plenty of supplies at home, such as water jugs and backpacks, which come in handy on their journey.

Most of the book comprises a series of repetitive and largely forgettable encounters the Colcloughs have with affected and a few normal people. They go around or through roadblocks, dodge gunfire, and outrun pursuing vehicles. Then, a few pages later, almost the same sequence of events occurs. When they run out of gas, they either siphon more from abandoned vehicles or get a new ride. They find convenient refuge off the main highway in fully stocked cabins or vacation rentals. When an armed group of the affected chase them, the family has to climb a tall peak to get to the other side and safety.

I’m sure that if this type of disaster occurred, any survivors would go through a similar gauntlet to get to safety. And I’m sure each hostile encounter with other people or nature would be a harrowing experience. However, the Colcloughs’ journey soon becomes monotonous for the book’s readers. During the quieter portions of the journey, Jack and Dee talk to each other, but readers learn little about them other than the precarious state of their marriage. The couple was on the verge of divorce, with Dee seeing her affected lover just before the family fled. Anyone who has read a similar survival story can guess how the family’s peril will affect the couple’s marriage. Readers learn even less about the Colcloughs’ children, who become complete cliches. The various outsiders they encounter are virtual nonentities, with one exception I won’t spoil near the book’s conclusion.

What makes “Run” so frustrating is that several of the family’s encounters are potentially interesting. They meet groups of normal people, including a cultlike group, who have sometimes adopted extreme measures of self-preservation. They also meet a few individuals, including a pilot, who help them during their journey. Each encounter has intriguing possibilities the author should have explored in more depth. Unfortunately, most of them end abruptly and, often, violently as the affected are constantly hunting down normal survivors. I would have enjoyed learning more about the individuals and groups the Colcloughs meet, but the author rushes through the descriptions.

The author saves the worst for last. “Run” has a definitive ending, but it makes no logical sense. Previous events in the book don’t suggest the ending is possible, much less plausible, given what happened before. Most readers will view it as a complete copout. I can’t describe the ending further without spoiling it. However, it struck me as the result of an inexperienced writer choosing the easy way out of a fictional world over which he had lost creative control.

In writing “Run,” Blake Crouch may have been influenced by post-apocalyptic works such as Stephen King’s “The Stand.” However, King took over 1,000 pages to establish his characters and show the pandemic’s progress. Blake Crouch does neither. He wisely avoids lengthy information dumps, but the glimpses he gives of the rapid progress of his dystopian events don’t always follow. I can’t imagine many people staying up late at night to see a lightly publicized “northern lights” show in the sky or that they could organize so quickly and efficiently to track down the unaffected. The author also relies on far too many convenient coincidences to keep his story going.

“Run” has several good action and suspense scenes, most occurring near the end of the book. The author also creates intriguing scenarios for what might happen in the wake of a catastrophe like the one portrayed in the book. (I was reminded of some communities that spring up throughout the various “Walking Dead” series.) However, he doesn’t allow sufficient space in the book to develop his ideas in depth. What shows up on the printed page is often repetitive and boring. I think this book could be turned into a good limited TV series or be effective if expanded. However, in its current state, “Run” has too many of the typical flaws of an inexperienced writer.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own