I love Blake Crouch books and this did not disappoint! This one was definitely more gruesome and chilling than the other books I’ve read by him but I wasn’t sad about that. It was page turning, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The end did sort of fall flat and didn’t feel like it really came together as much as I wanted it to but the rest of the story was good so I’ll allow it. Definitely faster paced and thrilling and easier to read than some of his other books! Highly recommend!

💀🪦𝔸ℝℂ ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨🪦💀

📖: Run by Blake Crouch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫{4.5}
KU🚫

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, non-stop action, apocalyptic thriller, this is the book for you! I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it very hard to put down cuz I was a little stressed the whole time lol. Just as a warning, there are many scenes in this book that are VERY descriptive and VERY gruesome. This one really delves into questioning what how far you will go to protect those you love and humanity in general. I wouldn’t say this one was overly unique, but it was a wild ride that I would recommend for sure!

The majority of the US population seems to have gone mad, there are mass murders taking place all over. Jack and Dee are forced to flee their home in Albuquerque with their teenage daughter and young son, but it seems there is no safe place to run to. A large majority of the population seems to have been ‘infected’ and have all grouped together to torture and murder the non-afflicted people. But what caused it? And where will they go? And what lengths will they go to in order to protect their family?

𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮:
🪦thrillers
💀 non-stop action
🪦 questioning humanity
💀 apocalyptic vibes
🪦 lots of (v descriptive) mvrder
💀 dual-ish POV

𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦.”

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛, 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝙰𝚁𝙲. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗.

This edition of Run is a re-release of the author's self-published novel from 2011. After murderous rampages break out across the US, Jack packs his wife and two kids in a car and heads out to places more sparsely populated. Attacked at every turn, the family fights to survive with little water, less food, and no plan.

There is an explanation for what caused the violence. To say it's a stretch of the imagination is an understatement. However, the author's writing style makes up for it. Short sentences in short paragraphs ramp up the tension and push the action at blazing speeds. There is no character development for the kids, but the parents learn valuable lessons about what is important in life and how far they would go to protect those they love.

I enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of the author and to those who love fast paced action.

Not family friendly due to profanity and the sometimes graphic violence (the body count is ridiculously high).

Right from the beginning I have to say I usually read epic fantasy and science fiction. I wanted to travel a little bit outside of my comfort zone and this seemed like a very interesting synopsis.

As far as the characters go, you’re following a family that is currently traveling across country in hopes to find a safe Haven from a recent apocalyptic type event that resulted in a good percentage of the population going homicidal. The story is told in the third person which I feel like really doesn’t do the characters thoughts and emotions much of a service which seemed a little more important for this type of story. I did not really connect with the characters until more than halfway through and even then I feel like it was very surface level.

The majority of the story takes place on the open road or traveling in open fields. I think this is a normal expectation for this kind of story however, it felt very redundant as you got further into the story the characters are in the car. The car breaks down, they’re walking, they find another car, the car breaks down, they’re walking, etc.

The writing style again was not something I’ve really read before, it felt very broken up, I’m not sure if that is the right way to describe it but a scene start and then abruptly stop and another one would start but this every paragraph half the time. So it felt like you were getting a snapshot of what was happening. It was very easy to read, not as much description as I’m used to.

The story made sense and was believable and easy to wrap your head around. The concept didn’t come off as outlandish, which I enjoyed. It kept me somewhat engaged when they would randomly provide a little bit of information about what potentially could’ve caused people to go homicidal.

Overall, I enjoyed bits and pieces of it, and I’m not sure if I would recommend it unless thrillers were something you read regularly and you were looking for a little bit of suspense and gore rather than character development and depth.

WOW. THIS IS ACTION PACKED!

I won’t recap the plot, but from page one I was extremely stressed out about this book and could not put it down. It’s one of those you’ll stay up all night reading it type of books because there is no way to fall asleep midway.

I loved the mom in this book. (Ok, minus her slowly packing at the beginning during a crisis.) She was such a bad**s.

I left this book thinking this has to be a movie! Fans of “The Walking Dead,” will love this one!

What an absolute thrill ride of a book! I was completely hooked from page one until the very end. Crouch is a master of pacing and he knows exactly how to ramp up tension to keep you on the edge of your seat while also giving you small reveals along the way. I loved our two protagonists and how flawed they were as characters and I just had the best time reading this one!

I wonder wondering why this one was being re-released but the timing ( after a solar flare - northern lights - people stay up to watch ) I totally get it with all the Aurora Borealis
Viewings around the world in the last year

Overall I had a lot of fun listening to this story - although the wife and the son definitely got on my nerve quite a bit - especially in the early chapters.

It is somewhat violent and not necessarily for the faint of heart

3⭐️

Following an Aurora Borealis that was visible across the United States, people who witnessed the lights start to become violent. In a span of five days, brutal, senseless murders escalate to a full blown apocalypse. Electricity across the country is gone and the Emergency Broadcast System is being used to list the name of people to be killed. When Jack Colclough hears his name on that list, he and his family go on the run towards safety.

I've loved every Blake Crouch book I've ever read, but I can tell this was his first book (currently being republished!). The premise of this sounded very interesting and I can also see parallels in the story to current political unrest which caught my attention. The characters were relatively interesting and there were a lot of cliff hangers that kept me hooked.

But I did feel like the story got a bit repetitive at times. The characters were interesting, but they were also infuriating. I wasn't expecting them to be Doomsday preppers who were ready for the end of the world, but a lot of the mistakes that were made by Jack and his family just seemed like very obvious mistakes. The kids were old enough to realize how bad things were but they did very little to save their own lives. The explanation of the apocalypse didn't feel completely fleshed out; I understand it was the people that saw the lights that went mad, but why? Is it contagious? The end also felt very underwhelming. I'm glad that I read Crouch's newer books first, so I know his writing gets so much better.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for providing this ARC to me!

After reading Dark Matter, you already know you will become a Blake Crouch fan. Dark Matter is still one of my favorite reads of all time.

This one is definitely different as it was something he self published years ago. Jack, Dee and their two children are on the run. They are being hunted. This is an apocalyptic nightmare. There is not a lot of character development or intricate plot scheming. This is a straight action run-for-your-life slaughter story.

I do think fans of The Walking Dead and violent apocalyptic books/ movies will still enjoy this. I will always be a Crouch fan no matter what!
3.5⭐️

#bookreview Run by Blake Crouch

A sci-fi thriller that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the end. This is an early self published novel by Crouch that recently was picked up. It tells of a family on the run from a sickness that is causing madness in everyone they know.

This was a fun and exciting read that reminded me of many apocalyptic stories like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us. While this is labeled as a scifi this feels more like a thriller, there just isn’t enough of the scifi elements that would make it such.

We follow a family of four through the challenges they face of getting to safety, low resources, other people, the apocalyptic sickness and the dangers of the wild.

I did enjoy this read for the simplicity that it was, it’s exciting and keeps your pulse racing throughout that I didn’t put it down. For me at the tjme of reading this, I was just coming out of a reading slump and I really needed something light and fast paced.

That being said, if you’re looking for the typical feels of a scifi, it really isn’t that. There’s little social dilemma and a brief interaction with the off world and almost no techno vibes. I will add that if you’re new to scifi and want to dip your feet in the genre but are nervous about the technical side of it, this is a great starter read.

Overall it’s a fun read but if you are looking for deep scifi I stress of a beach read, this isn’t the book for you.

Thank you to Random House for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book was originally published in 2011, but this is the first time I have read it. I've read other books by Crouch, and this one did not disappoint. It is an edge-of-your-seat thriller full of action that keeps the reader turning the pages. The pace was perfect, and the concept was intriguing. And since I read this shortly after recent waves of the aurora borealis being seen across the world, I really appreciated the timing. It also provided a unique angle to the outbreak theme. There were some loose ends at the ends, but that's how it was for the characters, as well, so I was okay with that ending. Is the story totally believable? No. However, if you enjoy an apocalyptic-style thriller, this is one to check out.

If you are a fan of Bird Box or other apocalyptic-style works, this is the book for you. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, trying to figure out how the world came to this point and would the family we are following make it out alive. I've enjoyed every Blake Crouch novel I've read, but this might just be a new favorite.

5 days ago the violence broke out. Three days ago the president asked for peace. Yesterday the power went out. Today they read your name out as one of their next victims. Now you're packing your family, on the run from whatever is going on in the world, terrified of how you'll survive, how you'll escape, where you will go. They say it's safe in Canada... if you can make it there...

I really don't want to give away much more than that description, because it was such a wild ride to go into this blind. This was a one-sitting kind of read because it was just so intense, and I had no idea what to expect from the ending.

And not only is this a thrilling ride, but a heartwarming story of the lengths a father will take to protect his children. This needs to be on your list when it releases later this month!

Thank you Random House/Ballantine Books for the digital review copy.

This one is going to have mixed reviews. I personally was a fan! Note that I love science fiction and was previously a Blake Crouch fan. He is an author that brought science fiction mainstream, although this particular book leans more into the thriller genre, with some horror (violence, torture, and gore).

This is pure high-speed, non-stop, adrenaline-pumping action, following a family of four who go on the literal run following an apocalyptic event. This cataclysmic event has caused a subset of the population to be infected with a rage that is only satiated by burning down cities and going on mass killing sprees. Now it's every man for themselves as people flee major metro areas in search of sanctuary.

Crouch explores scifi concepts such as morality, humanity: how far people would go to protect their family, and human nature's will to survive.

Run was previously released in 2011 when Blake Crouch was an indie author. It's now gotten a shiny new cover & rerelease under the Ballantine imprint. As such, it's not surprising that you can see a progression in Crouch's writing maturity between this and his later books, which tend to incorporate more actual science/more novel concepts.

This book is set in my home state of New Mexico, the land of entrapment/enchantment. There's something fun about recognizing all the local dives, bars, restaurants, local attractions, streets and forest names.

Run is worth the read, especially if you like fast paced, rip-roaring action books.

“All our life we spend wondering, you know? Now it’s all about knowing.”

I really enjoy Blake Crouch's writing for the most part. I've loved his most recent books. I actually got a copy of this book from netgalley although it was published years ago as a new edition is getting published.

This was definitely the weakest of his books for me but definitely not bad. This just shows how much he's grown as an author

Thank you netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

As with any Blake Crouch fare, I simply could not put this book down. Like, could not. I want to tell you everything about this, but I also want to tell you absolutely nothing about this because you should experience for yourself! So I will tell you a few things, and then it's on you, okay? Great.

►This should be a show. I would watch it- nay, I'd devour it. It is all the best things- family and emotion and morally gray choices and apocalypses! Name things I like more, I'll wait.
►Like I said, I could not stop reading. It was horrifically high stakes, and I needed to know everything.
►Action, yes, but also characters! Sometimes in thrilling fare like this, characters can get lost in the shuffle. Not so, here! The characters are beautifully flawed and relatable and fleshed out.
►So very thought provoking. I mean. How can it not be? How far would you go to save your loved ones? How would you react at the end of civility? Delicious.

Bottom Line: Stop reading this review, and start reading Run.

Id rate this like 3.5 or 4 stars. It was fast paced and a decent story but not the most memorable. I need to read more from this author to determine how I feel.

A fast paced, action packed dark thriller! The title sets you up for exactly what to expect in the book. The characters start running in the first 10 pages or so, and they don't stop until the last 10.

What I liked:
-I thought that the tension was done really well in the book. The tiny chapters/page breaks made it very easy to keep turning the page and it kept the momentum going. There was always some new antagonist or obstacle facing our protagonist so it was exciting to see what would happen next.
-There was a lot of dark moments in this book, so I appreciated that he didn't shy away from some terrible things that people would do in an apocalyptic situation. Also, you have close look at the struggles that our characters face like hunger, dehydration, trauma, violence, etc... and I enjoyed the realism of those struggles.

What I didn't like:
-The characters were a bit thin in this book. It's definitely a heavily plot focused book but I would've appreciated a little more time getting to know the characters, especially in the beginning before everything started.
- The ending was very abrupt. There is not much explanation for how the apocalypse started at the beginning of the book, which would bother me in most books but this isn't really the kind of book where an explanation is necessary. However, I feel the ending of the book needed a better resolution and more explanation. I also felt the epilogue was a bit unnecessary.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Run by Blake Couch
⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 336 / Genre: Apocalyptic Garbage

Let me start this review by saying that this is the tenth book by Blake Crouch that I’ve read. Dark Matter and Recursion were high 4 stars for me. I absolutely loved the Wayward Pines trilogy and I gave 5 stars to Upgrade last year. So I was extremely excited to get approved to review this book by one of my favorite authors. Run was actually written in 2011, which I didn’t realize because I like going into a book blind when it’s by an author I love. Well, I have no idea why they’d bother to rerelease this dumpster fire now. I hated it. Absolutely hated it. People in the US who witnessed an aurora borealis turn into violent serial killers killing everyone who hadn’t seen the lights. And I mean everyone. Little kids are found hacked up to pieces next to their dead parents. And we’re stuck following a family of four as they desperately try to survive. I found the utter lack of humanity in this book so bleak that it was both suffocating and boring. I do not recommend. Two thumbs down. Run. Indeed.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine for gifting me a digital ARC of this thriller by a favorite, Blake Crouch. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

The world has gone crazy and Jack and his family are running for their lives. It started with widespread rage, then murders, and then it took over. But what is happening? Jack's only chance is to run.

This is republished from the author's first self-published book, which is hard to believe considering where he is today. Maybe 10+ years ago, this story was too far out, too gory, too everything? But to me, while this is certainly an apocalyptic one, it's very easy to extrapolate similar events to what our country is going through in current times? Unchecked rage and hate? Check. One side vs another? Check. Way too many guns in the wrong hands? Check. Not knowing who you can trust? Check. Even though it was very violent, I read this book with my heart in my throat wondering how Jack and his family would survive. I thought it was fascinating that the phenomena of the aurora borealis caused people who viewed it to change. A smart, but gory, sci-fi thriller that will keep you glued to the pages.

The premise: Jack and Dee have a marriage that is on the rocks. Dee had an affair with Kiernan, and he shows up at the family home deranged and out to kill. Something has happened in the United States that has turned a segment of the population into a violent army with an agenda of destruction and murder. Jack, Dee and their two kids (Naomi and Cole) hop in the family car and flee towards Canada, which is quite a way from their Albuquerque home.

My thoughts: This is not my genre at all. I actually got this book from netgalley because I thought it was a new Blake Crouch and not a re-release. I flew through this one and was at the edge of my seat —even a bit scared at times. Note that this one is not for the faint of heart and you have to suspend some degree of believability. DIE HARD in book form.


Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.