fast paced post-apocalyptic thriller that was hard to put down. We dive right into this world that is suddenly falling apart due to massive amounts of violence. A family goes on the run to avoid being killed, and to try to find a safe place. Along the way we find out a bit more about what made everyone go wild and the family survives a lot. It was fast paced and enjoyable, my only wish is that we understood a bit more the "why" of how the violence came to be. The explanation was very general and I wish it was explained in more detail, but I still really enjoyed the ride!

SO DAMN GOOD! Blake Crouch originally self-published Run back in 2011, but it’s being republished this month with Random House Publishing Group and wow, it’s a ride. This was action-packed, and I was anxious every single moment. There was one tiny moment of relief, but even then, I was just waiting for the next thing to go wrong. This story terrified me so much that I couldn’t read it before bed. It’s not your typical demons, possession, or slasher horror. It’s real-life, this could actually happen, “what would you do in this situation?” kind of horror.

People have literally lost their minds, and you’re following a family trying to survive what feels like an impossible situation. It’s violent, it’s terrifying, and it’s so damn good. I couldn’t put it down. If you’re looking for a short, quick read for spooky season that will keep you on edge the entire time, Run is perfect. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of Crouch’s republished novel.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

DNF @ 48%. I was excited to read this - as this is going to be a re-release for one of Blake Crouch's previously published books from 2011. Unfortunately this feels nothing like a Blake Crouch book. Upgrade and Dark Matter are both 5 star reads from me, with Dark Matter being one of my absolute favs ever. The best part about his writing is the character development and the descriptive action scenes.

This gives us none of that. We immediately jump into an end-of-world scenario that is explained very poorly (it could have been more clear near the end but I will never know). The main characters Jack and Dee are both shallow, unlikeable, and miserable. The kids don't bring much to the table except as NPC's that are just kind of there. The only thing I learned about their son Cole was that he sleeps a lot. Naomi wears Chuck's and eyeliner. Half way through the book this is all I know.

Instead of developing the characters, we get repetitive scenes over and over again about the aspen trees, the hairpin curves of roads, and numerous descriptions of loading different guns. The writing was not good. There's really no other way to say it.

The concept was interesting but unfortunately the execution was not.

Alternatively titled “Riding around in my automobile”

Although filled with spooky vibes, the plot (goal) was ill defined with the main characters wandering about exclaiming, “Ah! Ah! Ah!” (paraphrasing)

The characters are also underdeveloped. Why should I care about Jack and family? Even some of the standard tricks weren’t utilized. For example, readers usually cheer for the character that they start with. However, the book doesn’t even start with Jack.

But put away your pitchforks. This was Crouch’s first novel, and he has evolved as an author. For reference, Philip Pullman’s first book was so bad that he doesn’t even like talking about it, and it mysteriously disappears from his biography.

Everyone has to start somewhere. In Run, you can see the seeds of Crouch’s brilliance, but it just isn’t all there yet. And it will. It will. Check out Recursion, Dark Matter, or Upgrade!

Am I screaming? I AM SCREAMING!!

This novel is absolutely INCREDIBLE, y'all. I went into this book blind and having only previously read Dark Matter, I was expecting full on sci-fi thriller, and that's how it's billed! But NO. This book is pure end of the world, apocalyptic horror! And ya girl ATE IT UP.

I could not put this down, it consumed my mind, I didn't want to read anything else and I flew through it. It has all of the traditional elements of a good end of times family horror. Parents having marital struggles? Check. Half of the country gone nuts? Check. Doubts about a child? Check. Lots of running, hiding and panic? Check check check. The moment you think you're safe, just give it a minute!

This book also doesn't have chapters! And while that normally makes me crazy, there are plenty of breaks that make it easy to find a place to stop (but why would you want to?) and it just gave it this absolutely unputdownable quality and made it so easy to breeze through pages.

I freaking loved this one, maybe even more than I loved Dark Matter and I cannot wait for everyone to read this book.

FIVE BIG ASS STARS FOR BLAKE CROUCH AND RUN!

I have loved all of Blake Crouch’s books and I could NOT wait to read this one. I didn’t realize until about halfway through that it’s a re-release of his first novel, and that explained why it wasn’t quite as good as his others. Although I still loved it and couldn’t put it down, there was just something missing.

This was my first time reading Blake Crouch’s work, and I’m eager to read more.

Run is a fast-paced apocalyptic thriller that was hard to put down. I loved the gritty dystopian survivalist plot, and I couldn’t help but root for its flawed characters. While the book is action-packed and suspenseful, at its heart, Run is an emotionally charged story of a family’s battle to stick together amidst the unimaginable.

Read if you enjoy:
🏃‍♂️dystopian survivalist fiction
🏃‍♂️ apocalyptic settings
🏃‍♂️ flawed characters
🏃‍♂️ family drama
🏃‍♂️ fast-paced action

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the gifted eARC.

Run by Blake crouch is an action-.thriller in the vein of early koontz or king. In a post-apocalyptic world, a family goes on the run hoping to find solace from zombie like beings they have taken over. Unfortunately, there is no where to run safe enough…

That’s pretty much the plot-sure there is the ultimate question of what caused this, but this is really a thriller about survival. It reminded me of the early walking dead seasons.

While this is a suspenseful page-turner-you can tell that this is an early crouch, as this is as reissue of the backlist title. The characterization isn’t quite fleshed out as in his more current novels and this is very action heavy with not much substance behind it. His writing has definitely improved since 2011!

This is still a fun page-turner that is a worthwhile read for fans of crouch!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blake Crouch is an auto buy author for me and I went into this blind, but technically this is on his backlist! This was self published by Crouch in 2011 and will be reissued this year by Ballantine books.

🏃🏻‍♀️We open with a scene of a scientist getting to a mass grave, one she is there to excavate and research. We’re then whipped back in time and get the full story of the tragedy that happened in North America that caused many mass graves. We follow Jack and his wife Dee and their two kids as they flee from their home on a constant run to get away from those “affected”, those who want to kill.

🏃🏻‍♀️In a lot of ways, this is a Crouch novel through and through. His writing style and the world building are there. The characters would easily fit in his other novels. But for me, the book was long. It read like there was constant action, but if I were to summarize, not a lot happened. So this is the area where Crouch’s writing has really progressed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although the premise of this dark, apocalyptic thriller had real promise and originally snagged my attention, I ultimately felt that it fell short.

I was excited to read another Blake Crouch book, but Run was vastly different from his other novels - not just in content/ideas, but also the writing style. It’s clear that Crouch wrote this story many years before his more recent, successful books. One of the main things I noticed was how repetitive everything was, from the language to the actual storyline. For example, Crouch uses the verb “glassed” five or more times to describe a character looking through binoculars. That might not bother other readers, but there’s just something about using the same word or phrase over and over that gets on my nerves. The plot itself was the same; the book was just basically a cycle of the same order of events happening over and over.

I have to also mention the serious plot armor that Crouch gifts to the main characters. Yes, they do go through a lot and even get injured once or twice, but there were just way too many deadly situations that Jack and his family miraculously survived (although I won’t spoil the ending).

It’s hard for me to strongly dislike Run since I do like apocalyptic end-of-the-world types of books/shows, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one.

As a big fan of Blake Crouch, I was excited to read his first novel for its rerelease.

This book not a literary work of art but it really kept me on my toes and turning the pages! You can definitely tell it’s Crouch’s first attempt at writing a novel but I was able to put aside the sometimes less than stellar writing because I really enjoyed the plot!

I would have liked a little more character development before it immediately started in on the non stop action but overall this was a pretty entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

In case you missed its 2011 publication like me, Run is being re-released this month. Blake Crouch's earlier stories are quite a bit different from his recent works. While Run is less detailed in the explanation of events and the science behind them, the roots of what makes his stories to riveting is already there.... flawed characters up against unfathomable threats on their lives doing what it takes to survive when humanity is lost.

Run is an apocalyptic thriller that walks the line of horror. With how divisive our country has become, one can only imagine how such a sequence of events could unravel. Reading this as I see all the social media posts of the northern lights captured across Ohio and the world where these are not typically seen, it leaves me with an uncanny feeling. As I have not been able to capture my own view of them, I am left wondering what if...

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Blake Crouch, and Random House Publishing Group-- Ballentine for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I have read Crouch's 3 most recent sci-fi book and absolutely adore each one of them, so I felt that it was time to explore his backlog! I loved finding out that this was actually his first ever book, self-published, and now that he is successfully, traditionally published, he is rereleasing it. This was SO gripping and fast-paced! I was truly on the edge of my seat the whole time; I forgot how vivid Crouch's books are, almost to the point where it feels like you are watching a movie rather than reading text. This didn't read like a self-published book at all, and I commend his talent! My biggest gripes were that I wish the aurora phenomenon would have been explained a bit better for the context. The book kind of drops you into the action without much of an explanation, and ultimately what causes the events is never really explained. I do think the "not knowing" is a big part of the tension within the book, so this might just be more of a personal preference vs a stylistic flaw. However, I do think it would have helped as a reader to better connect to Jack, Dee, Naomi, and Cole. <spoiler> I think it would have especially helped to understand why Cole was "affected" yet not violent like everyone else because this felt like a major plot hole. </spoiler> I also think things happened to work out just a little too perfectly at times, yet I was still rooting for Jack and his family all the way through. This was a super fast, high-stakes, action-packed read that was a fun yet horror-filled time!

A tense thriller with great characters!

Every chapter ends on a cliff hanger which makes this a quick read. The family dynamic in this was great and felt very real to me.

Such a scary premise that never left me with a dull moment!

This is a re-release of an earlier Blake Crouch novel. I’ll say that it holds no candle to Dark Matter, it is still a really good book (I mean come on, Dark Matter is a masterpiece.)

This is a great apocalyptic story that focuses on a rather damaged family’s battle for survival after a large portion of the American public turns to murdering its fellow humans. Some of the depictions of this are graphic. But for perspective, it’s not the most graphic I’ve ever come across. Just watch your stomach if you’re a little squeamish.

To me, the story of society falling apart in this book was quite well done, but the characters were a little flat. Again, after reading Dark Matter with the love that Jason has for his family, it’s hard to compare other characters. Jack, the protagonist in Run seemed a bit dull at first, I’ll admit he did grow on me. Out of all the characters in the book he endured the most.

All in all, if you're a fan of Crouch’s work and like apocalyptic stories, you’ll probably be entertained by Run.

Thank you to Blake Crouch, Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the early e-copy & the opportunity to provide my honest feedback.

Since the copyright date of this novel was listed as 2011, I have to assume that the advance reader copy of Run, which I received from Netgalley, is either a reprint or an updated version of Blake Crouch's first published novel, but regardless of which, I couldn't put this novel down, stayed up all night, and reading it from beginning to end until 5:30 this morning, with only one reason for not giving it a 5-star rating, which I'll get to. It gets 4-1/2 stars from this reader.

I'm used to being astonished by Blake Crouch's inventive plots, but this post-apocalyptic novel grabbed me from the opening quote and never let go. Run is the story of one family--a father, mother, son and daughter, who managed to sleep through a night of the aurora (the youngest, their son, Cory did see it), and the next day they wake up to a world gone mad. Those who viewed this strange atmospheric event have turned into ruthless killers, some joining bands of others to form ad hoc murderous, arson-prone, soulless, heartless, militia-style groups, who torture and kill anyone whom they come across who were unaffected by the aurora. In one scene that is terrifyingly reminiscent Mr. Crouch had referenced some of the horrors of Hitler's extermination camps in WWII. As their rampage continues, they burn every city and town to the ground. And yes, this plot was also reminiscent of John Wyndham's novel, The Day of the Triffids.

Leaving their home in Albuquerque, this one family is ready to try to make it to the Canadian border, assuming they will be safe there, since the aurora was only visible in the lower 48 states and northern Mexico. It's a horrifying journey, fraught with danger, thirst, starvation, capture, and injury, as they attempt to evade and eventually escape with their lives, and through it all, even though there are times when they are separated, this family sticks together as never before.

The reason for my slightly less than 5-star review is the ending, which made no sense because it was so short, so simple , and so utterly without explanation, and which I can't mention, since I don't do spoilers. And here's the warning, this novel contains extreme scenes of brutal violence, torture, and murder, and it is not for the faint of heart. But, if you're looking for one heck of a page-turner of a novel, this is it. Thank you, Blake Crouch, for another thrilling, unputdownable read, and thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read and review the advanced reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated herein are my own.

Nonstop action and such a page-turner! I need to read more books from Blake Crouch. I was on the edge of my seat and needed to know how this story ended. If you’re looking for something that grabs you from the first page, pick this one up.

Wow, wow, wow. I read Run by Blake Crouch in one day, which is unheard of for me. I'm a slow reader normally but I could not put this one down. Something happens during a recent aurora borealis event that anyone who was outside during became infected somehow with a killer virus. It became a man versus man world as one family is running for their life. The writing and storytelling is so fast paced and built this level of anxiety for me. I had to keep reading to find out what happened to Jack, Dee, Naomi, and Cole. This one will not disappoint! Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy.

3.5 ⭐️s rounded down to 3⭐️

I really loved Dark Matter by Blake Crouch so I jumped at the chance to read this! This book is actually a re-release of one of his earlier novels. It hooked me in right off the bat!! 🙌

I did feel that something was missing - perhaps the why behind the aurora and its effects? I also felt that the ending was abrupt! 🤔 I still recommend giving it a shot! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

Oh boy, I wasn't expecting to have this kind of read with this Blake Crouch book. However, I binged it in two days. I couldn't put it down for two very different reasons: 1. it was so propulsive and I needed to know how it ended, and 2. I didn't want to be inside this very scary, crazy, and dystopian world for longer than necessary.

This book will not be for everyone. But if you are ok with stressful situations in an unrecognizable U.S., then this is a propulsive dystopian novel worth your read. I surprisingly did not have nightmares related to this book; and I continue to think about and reflect on the many terrifying incidents that occur in it.