3.5 stars
I'm such a fan of Blake Crouch! His book DARK MATTER was one of my favorite books. But this was a bit different. Even though it was very fast-paced and thrilling, I found it a bit repetitive at times.
Thank You Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Synopsis: A family of four is on the run from Arizona to Canada in an attempt to escape the rash of increasing violence following an Aurora Borealis sighting across the United States.

Thoughts: This is a timely review after the Aurora was visible over much of the U.S. last night. 😂 This book is unlike the other super well crafted sci-fi works I am accustomed to reading by Blake Crouch. That being said, it is still an entertaining book. While not an incredibly unique or original plot, it is a quick page turner of a read that is full of action and suspense. If you like end of the world, action movie style survival stories, then this one is for you! I flew through it because I felt like basically every chapter ended in a cliffhanger. It won’t be for everyone, but I think most fans of the genre will enjoy it!

Read this if you like:
🏃🏻 apocalypse stories
🏃🏻 survival
🏃🏻 action-packed thrillers
🏃🏻 family drama

'There is no decent place to stand in a massacre.'
Leonard Cohen

This is a very scary and gory apocalyptic horror story set in the American west, pitting one group of US citizens against others. People are dying and cities are burning. At first we do not know what has set this off but eventually it is revealed.

The protagonist is Jack Colclough, a professor who lives with Dee, his doctor wife, and two young children in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As the story begins they are preparing to run as his name is announced on the radio as someone to be eliminated NOW.

Such begins an odyssey of terror as they try to protect their family at all costs. But where to run TO? Where would they be safe?

I was thrilled to be offered an arc via NetGalley of what I thought was a new novel from Blake Crouch but it turns out it was a very early piece of his work that he self-published in 2011. I would say he's developed a lot as a writer since then. Even I could see several even more terrifying directions he could have taken this plot.

This reminded me a lot of The Road by Cormac McCarthy written in 2006 but McCarthy's is even darker and perhaps more plausible and, therefore, even more terrifying. It's a quick read if you are looking for something like this for the spooky month of October but there are several better choices out there. I have 34 in my GR post-apocalyptic file alone--just ask me for a recommendation.

PS: If you are worried what the aftermath of this year's national election might be like, this will keep you awake at night.

Suddenly a large portion of the population becomes seriously violent. Jack has one thing he can do with his family… run.

This one is constant action but it’s unique because it’s a regular suburban family that is involved in the action. Ever wondered what you would do if the end of the world came? This is pretty much the answer. It’s exciting and nerve wracking, and there’s also a great mystery as to what was happening.

Run comes out on paperback 10/22.

This book was so diffferent than what I expected. It was far more thriller and scary to me than I imagined. The lack of info about why anything is happening is frustrating but also keeps you on the wire because you’re waiting for it the entire time. The family dynamics are odd, to say the least. I am aware enough to know I am just not the target audience for this book, so take my review with a grain of salt!

I am a big fan of Blake Crouch and his writing. His stories are usually engaging, action packed, and fun to read. RUN is an action packed book, but it is a republication of a work he published previously. You can tell how much he has grown as an author since he originally wrote this. This book has all the trademarks of his later books, but his ability as a writer has developed since this book. And I think, personally, this could have been rewritten to reflect this change.

This isn’t a bad book. It follows Jack Colclough and his family as they navigate a string of violence that is sweeping through the country in an apocalypse style narrative. It is a typical road novel, as we follow the characters as they try to figure out what is going on and to find safety. The concept is really interesting and it is action packed, as all this author’s novels are.

But this is where rewriting the story to reflect the author’s writing development. The narrative doesn’t flow well and is clunky. The characters are very one dimensional and don’t really have personalities. The story doesn’t flow and I was left with a lot of questions. Parts of the plot are left unexplored.

Overall, this is a story that is fine. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s not terrible. But I think that it could have benefitted from an overall to make it great.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

starting off this review by saying that horror / suspense without plot books is not really my cup of tea, and if I had taken thirty seconds to establish the fact that this is indeed a futuristic horror novel, perhaps I wouldn’t have picked it up…

BUT HERE WE ARE! blake crouch’s writing is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before with a way to keep your heart pounding while your brain desperately tries to read faster and faster to find out if they’ll make it to the end!

unlike his other sci-fi stories, this one didn’t have much of a plot… as it’s based in the future when humanity is going crazy and basically turning into the purge, one family is on the run from everyone who wants them dead… and it does not stop until the very end 😩

I just wanted more than a suspenseful gory horror movie, as it was never truly explained what made certain people turn to the dark side after seeing the lights… and why it just suddenly stopped? I don’t know I like to have a conclusion 🥸

thank you to ballantine and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! will continue to read anything blake crouch writes!

rating: 2.5 stars
wine pairing: australian malbec

What do you do when the world is literally falling apart around you? There are mass killings happening everywhere and names are being broadcasted over the radio for those that are to be killed next. When Jack hears his name there is no time to do anything except gather his family and RUN. What is to follow is harrowing and more than a little dangerous. Will Jack, Dee and their two children make it out alive? And if they do, what does this new world look like?

This is my first Blake Crouch book. I have seen his book Dark Matter recommended all over the place. I love gaining style, so I’ll definitely be picking it up soon!

This was a very quick, straight to the point, easy to read post apocalyptic thriller. I loved the storyline and I also loved the ending. I loved that this book did not have pages and pages of unnecessary descriptions and fillers.

I have read a lot of books by Blake Crouch, and this was good, but it wasn’t my favorite. There was a post apocalyptic element that I liked, but it was just so brutal and gruesome.

⭐️3.5
Apocalyptic and action packed from the get-go. America has become a place of chaos. The power is out and the people are going on massive killing sprees. Jack, his wife Dee and their kids, Naomi and Cole suddenly are on the run for their lives.

This one is high speed action from the very beginning, you will be exhausted when you finish.

If you are looking for action, survival and an end-of-the-world type thriller, Run has you covered.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6783032839

Pub date: October 22, 2024
Thank you Netgalley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Listen…I LOVE me some Blake Crouch BUT this could’ve been a novella🙃 you can definitely tell it was written a while ago (this is just a republishing!) because he’s come SO far!!

Not to say this was bad, it just wasn’t great. It’s a nearly 9 hour audiobook and while it’s certainly his usual action packed, every end of chapter is a cliffhanger, you need to know what’s happening type of story…it was repetitive! It could easily have been edited down a biiiiiit! And you never know what really happened💀 or the why, I guess you could say.

✨suspense thriller
✨family-oriented…what lengths would you go to to protect the ones you love?
✨on the RUN action (see what I did there?🤪)
✨vague-ending
✨good on audio
✨mob mentality killings🫣

After a series of strange murders grips the nation, ordinary people begin to act violently without warning. The country quickly spirals into chaos. Jack's family is forced to leave everything behind, fleeing into the wilderness to escape the growing wave of violence and try to outrun those who are hunting them.

This book is an incredibly fast-paced book and an intense story of survival. Blake Crouch always does a great job at keeping tension high and engaging the reader. Like his other books, I walked away from this one questioning the what ifs.

This book had a brutal and freaky plot that I definitely enjoyed with a fun cat and mouse chase. This kind of story has been done a million times but Crouch brought a somewhat fresh feel to it. I felt the character development was lacking a bit and the ending was predictable.

I was so excited when I got this ARC from Blake Crouch because two of his other books that I have read were fantastic

I love a good post apocalyptic story line. Because post apocalyptic has been done before countless times, I found myself being entertained for sure, but not something I thought about after I was done reading.

I never really got a sense of much character development. From the very start of the book, you are thrust into action. If you haven't read anything from Blake Crouch, don't start with this one ( try Wayward Pines, Dark Matter) because those are top shelf.






Thanks to NetGalley, Blake Crouch and Random House Publishing Group for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wild ride and I actually really liked it! This is my first book by this author and it didn't disappoint! I am interested to read some of his other books now! Thank you NetGalley for my ARC! I'm a little bit late to the game reading it :)

We start with a spate of very violent crimes. Brutal. Senseless. Unconnected. Or are they ? School shootings, mass murder, many dead. But why ? And things are escalating... Governments are baffled but plead for peace. To no avail. The violence escalates further and the killers, although initially isolated, start to gather. To prey further on the innocent. To facilitate this, they broadcast names and addresses... and this is where we start... when Jack hears his name and address. He is home with his wife and two children. They are coming for them. To kill them... the only option left to them, as the title of the book suggests, is to RUN!
And so begins a cat and mouse chase with Jack and his family trying to evade and outrun the killers, at the same time as sort of also trying to work out what in the heck is going on, and why?
Yes it does get a bit samey along the way as all that really happens is that they come across the baddies and take certain steps to evade or fight back. We do get to a crossroads later on where things get a bit more worrying, but it does take a wee while to get there. That said, it never dragged or got boring and the destination was definitely worth the meandering journey.
If I have one criticism it is that the focus was mainly towards the action rather than the characters and I would have liked it to be a bit more character driven at times.
It is worth noting that this is a re-release of one of the author's early books and I guess it shows that he has come a long way since writing it. But it is also important to note that without it, he also wouldn't be the author he is today...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Fast paced, exciting and suspenseful! I read this gripping, apocalyptical story in 4 hours. It follows a family as they fight for survival against all odds when they are forced to flee their middle class lives in Albuquerque to seek refuge from a madness that has descended upon a huge part of the population. Will of them reach safety before it’s too late. I highly recommend this gripping, throat grabbing book. Release date: 10/22/2024

Run is an apocalyptic thriller written and self-published by Blake Crouch in 2011. It's now being released by his publisher, and I was excited to get my hands on an early copy. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this one. Thank you to Blake Crouch for always writing mind-bending and pulse pounding thrillers that I can not put down!

5 days ago, America started to go mad. Seemingly, random violent murders started happening all over, but then the murderers began to organize. The power is out, but Jack Colclough hears the killers order his death over a battery-powered radio. Jack's only option is to take his family and run. But where do you go when it seems the world has gone mad? What are you willing to do to survive and keep your family safe? This truly terrifying tale of the ugliness of humanity feels way too close to a potential reality for comfort. Blake's creativity and intense writing style always suck me right in, and this was no exception. I wasn't sure my heart could take the anxiety of this one, but I couldn't look away!

I was really excited to get this ARC because I’ve enjoyed this author’s previous books and had high expectations. This apocalyptic thriller was fast-paced and full of intense, disturbing action from the very first page. It follows a family of four trying to survive in a chaotic world where people have suddenly turned into murderous psychopaths. Their journey for survival was gripping and full of tense moments, making it a quick and entertaining read.

However, while the book was fun, it didn’t feel very unique. The plot has been done before, and nothing about it really stood out as special. After a while, the story started to feel repetitive, with the same cycle of running, seeking shelter, and surviving. By the end, I found it predictable, which took away some of the excitement. While it’s an easy and thrilling read, it’s not my favorite from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.