An apocalyptic novel pitting normal people against those who have seen a strange aurora borealis in the sky.The focus of the story is a family of four (2 children) on the run and run they do from one seemingly catastrophic event to the next( many improbable). There is an “ ah ha” surprise ending but somehow it seems totally tacked on to conclude the book. I was definitely expecting more from the book (Cormac McCarthy ‘s THE ROAD comes to mind) but was frankly disappointed

This book left me confused. Did I like it? It's certainly fast-paced and gripping, though EXTREMELY violent, even gratuitously violent at times. It did keep me entertained, however much of the draw were increasingly implausible situations and over the top near-misses - a la cheesy action/thriller films. If that is your jam then this is definitely one for you. We don't really get any character development other than the couple that seemingly hated each other at the start are somehow madly in love after just a few days?

If you're after something to hook you fairly quickly and keep you entertained as long as you don't think too hard or look too closely, then this is a great read. Any, and I mean ANY sensitivity to violence than STAY. AWAY.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was incredibly fast-paced, so much so that there was little to no character development. All plot, no thought given to detail. Cool idea for a story, but didn’t do it for me.

Blake crouch always delivers a book that is action packed and like nothing else I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put this one down. It is a little gory but was so interesting and I had to push through it to find o it how it ends. Really made me think and is terrifying all at the same time.

I knew what I was getting into when I requested @RUN from @Netgalley Or so I thought. Run is a story of violence that breaks our in America after a Geometric storm of lights., but more than violence it's a story about a family trying to survive in a world they know nothing about and what will this family do to stay together.

Solid 3.5 star read. Reads like an apocalyptic horror movie. I was rooting for this families survival the whole time and it kept me glued to the pages. However I found some things too coincidental and was left wanting a bit more.

Run is a fascinating and thrilling story of survival and family but it is far from Blake Crouch’s best book compared to Upgrade or Dark Matter

Absolutely GRIPPING

A night event in the sky causes a terrible rage to infect Americans. Join a family of four lead by husband Jake as they move from the safety of Albuquerque New Mexico to the unknown wilderness of the US, Crouch has taken some of the basic horror ideas and created a masterpiece of fear that is fit for the big screen! I absolutely stayed up all night to see how it ended. My only complaint is that it was tied up too well - I had hoped for a sequal.

What would you do if your neighbors were your enemies - if your every day job of a professor was now put to the test in the wilderness with you teenage daughter and seven year old son? Join this family of the scariest adventure of a lifetime! #dytopic #horror #run #runthenovel #blakecrouch

This book was good. I would rate it about 3 1/2 stars. It feels like an earlier work from Crouch. The story went by quickly and kept me engaged enough to finish. The characters were a little flat and the main woman is disliked from page one, ad she tells the guy she is cheating on her husband with, that she wants to run away with him and abandon her kids and husband. I mean talk about reasons not to like someone this happened on Like the first page. The action was good and thrilling and I enjoyed it, still.

Dates? Timeline indicators?
I actually enjoyed the lack of chapters and just the continuous story of the chaos and mess that jack and his family were in. But would have loved to see some dates or locations or something to help with the flow of information and bouncing between POV's in the beginning.

Overall, I really enjoyed this take on an apocalyptic story line. I felt that the writing style at times was a bit hard to follow when describing certain scenes. It was hard to follow exactly what was happening, (where were the cars coming from, over a hill but also in the desert and then also climbing over rocks at the same time? what was the trail pass they had to climb with three walls around them? and why did he need to lose the bag??) though I do find with Blake crouch's books I sort of figure it out as I go anyways.

Would have love to see a bit more of a backstory in regards to their relationship, by including Kiernan it felt a bit missing in impact. Why were they falling out? Why were they sleeping in separate beds? Why were they still married but she was allowed to cheat and he wasn't???

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨ (4.5)
Run
By: Blake Crouch
Genre: Dystopian Fiction
Format: eBook

It’s been recommended to me that I should read Blake Crouch so I jumped at the chance to read this in @netgalley.

This book was first published released in 2011/2012 (read two different stats) but was provided as an eARC with an October 2024 re-release.

Thanks to Blake, NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this copy!

Welcome to one of my worst nightmares, bands of murderous people stalking me and my family as we run out of food and water and supplies - no thank you!!

It felt similar to the idea of The Purge, but the madness continues for more than one night.

The book was so tense - I couldn’t relax while reading it!

Even though the bands of murderous humans are not zombies, this book had all the great qualities of a zombie apocalypse story.

The ending was … neat. That’s all I’ll say at risk of spoiling!

I started reading this book as I was laying down for bed, thinking I would fall asleep quickly since I wasn’t emotionally invested in the story at all. Let me tell you, I was wrong. I had to force myself to stop reading at 2 in the morning after finishing half of the book in one go.

This story is incredibly fast paced and I was hooked from the beginning. You follow Jack and his family running from.. well, everyone. There is an event that happens one night that impacts millions of Americans, and they start killing like crazy. It felt very much like The Purge but with a supernatural element to it.

I really enjoyed this overall, I just wish we had a little more context on “why” people were impacted. Like, we know why but we don’t know WHY.

RUN was a really great palate cleanser read for me, and I really enjoyed this overall.

This was a 3.5 star rating from me. When I got this ARC from Netgalley I thought it was a new Blake Crouch book and then was surprised to learn that this was an early self published work from him. It’s pretty standard societal collapse sort of stuff. It has his signature break neck thriller pacing and big heart and the idea of people all suddenly becoming enraged and killing others doesn’t seem far fetched in the current climate we live in, but overall it just felt familiar. Like I’ve read this a billion times before and that doesn’t make it bad cause he writes so damn well, but it didn’t blow me away like most of his other works. Still a fun, bleak, quick read.

Apocalyptic. An outbreak of violence. Jack and his family are desperate to stay together and alive as they’re being hunted by “the affected”. Fast paced. Scary. This is a wild ride..

Thanks for sending this to me, NetGalley!

Crouch develops another intense thriller that challenges the reader to think of what they will do to protect their family in an impossible situation. The story isn't afraid to tread into uncomfortable levels of threats to the family but the characters and setting are written so well that I read much later at night than I expected each time I picked up the book. Highly Recommended! Thank you Netgalley and Random House Ballentine Books for an e-copy of the book!

Note: This is a translated version of the original review posted in spanish:

Score: 3.3 Stars.
It's been over 4 years since I last read Blake Crouch, and it was now the time to enjoy another of his novels. Before starting the review, I want to thank Ballantine Books and Netgalley for approving the digital ARC of this book, in exchange for this review.

My first approach to Crouch's work was with the short story titled "Summer Frost", which is part of "Forward", Amazon's science fiction collection.
From that moment on I knew I wanted to read more of Crouch's works, and when I saw that his debut novel was being reissued, which was available on Netgalley, I didn't think twice about requesting the Digital ARC.

In Run, we will follow a family that lives in Albuquerque and must flee their home to try to survive an apocalyptic version of modern society. But what has happened here? We don't know yet, but what is certain is that people have become more violent, and they attack others for no reason, even ending the lives of their victims. This is how Jack and his wife make the decision to pack up as much as they can and flee with their young children to the north.

This will not be an easy task, and the family will have to endure hunger and many dangers, in addition to the great uncertainty of achieving their goal of surviving and staying together.

I am not a big fan of survival stories, and the reason is that I do not like to feel part of it. For example, I am sure that they would be among the first to fall into a situation like this, and I suffer when I see how the characters do everything possible to survive. The two children go through horrible moments and there are scenes in which you feel like your heart stops, because you wish that your body would not make the slightest noise that could attract the threats lurking in the darkness.

On the other hand, I found the explanation of why this violence breaks out throughout the country interesting. A new fear has definitely been unlocked in my life. I can't give you too many details because finding out what this is about was an interesting surprise. As for the ending, I wasn't entirely satisfied, but I didn't think it was bad either. Considering that this was the author's debut novel, I think it's an interesting start to his career.

Anyway, this has been a very interesting and entertaining read, recommended for those who are looking for an action-packed story that will leave their hearts racing as they read on. Now I'm really looking forward to reading Crouch's other novels, especially Recursion and Dark Matter.

A man and his family embark on a cross country escape to safety when a wave of ultra violence turns most of the population into ruthless killers. This book is a plot driven, edge of your seat thriller.

I believe this book is a re-release of an early Blake Crouch novel that was originally self published. I enjoyed this book as quick page turner. I found the characters to be a bit one dimensional, but in the way that action move characters are a bit one dimensional-- I dealt with it since I was there for the action! The book has a mysterious affliction at it's core which isn't ever explored or explained-- kind of a bummer, as that would have really elevated this as an interesting speculative fiction book for me. However, at it's heart this book is a rather simple story about one family, so I was happy to overlook this. Major trigger warning for violence and gore.

I was very happy to have read this book. It's one of my favorite types of books to recommend to folks who are not frequent readers, or readers of thrillers and/or speculative fiction. It's fast and engaging, so a perfect entree for non-readers. That said, there are other Blake Crouch novels I'm likely to recommend over this one.

Literally, once you open the book, you've hit the ground running with this fast paced narrative!
Not the most original plot, it is based on a nationwide apocalyptic event, but once you suspend your disbelief, it is nonstop high anxiety gore and entertainment.
Blake Crouch is my favorite science fiction author - "Dark Matter" being one of my all time favorite books. His storylines and characters are so well developed, each of his works have an excellent human interest aspect, along with mind bending, yet believable plots.
This is a quick read and would be a great book to have on hand while waiting during an endless delay at the airport - really takes your mind off everything else for a while....

4.5⭐️

Thank you Random House Publishing & NetGalley for this arc of Blake’s book Run.

This was SUCH an insanely good read! Blake knows better than most how to start off the story in a way that immediately grabs ahold of you and keeps the pages turning at high speed. You immediately resonate with the characters, recognizing their humanity and hard season of life they’re already in when the plot kicks in and see their character growth through the tribulations of the story!

Dark Matter was my first Blake Crouch read and I loved it from start to finish and Run has fallen right into line behind it. 10/10 recommend!

An apocalyptic thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Fast paced and not for the faint of heart.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest reviews.