The country is impacted by an epidemic of rage, power outages, and violence. Jack and his family are on the run, as his name has been announced over the Emergency Broadcast System as a target. The story follows the family’s attempts to find safety in this strange new world.

I’m a big Blake Crouch fan and was so excited to read this one. It was reminiscent of his other works and unfortunately didn’t feel unique. However, I always love the writing style, pace, and action that Crouch packs into his novels.

This book is important to Blake Crouch. A book of firsts he calls it. The first book he was able to self publish and the very book that put him on the map to enable his career in writing. I’m so happy that this re-release enticed me to read this.

What a fast-paced and addicting novel! I couldn’t put it down. The plot is devastatingly apocalyptic and reminiscent of The Purge.

A family on the brink of tearing apart at the seams is put to the test. People throughout the US have started brutally killing each other and groups set out to burn down every city, leaving no souls behind. They hit the road and RUN. No one can be trusted.

This is a story of heart break, rekindled love, family, and growth.

I’ve read some of Blake Crouch’s more recent work, so reading this in his earlier style is interesting. A couple things I noticed-

There are no chapters- just breaks. I honestly didn’t mind this and I feel like it went well with the story and how those characters felt at the time. Living in one long, never-ending nightmare.

A lot of sentences started with verbs. Sometimes it was weird enough that I would pause, but otherwise maybe just a quirky way to write.

That ending though- heart wrenching perfection. 4 stars.

A great thank you goes out to Blake Crouch, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wild, fun ride. Not a ton of exposition, which actually worked well. Read it in a day, felt like I was on the run right along with them,

Read an e-arc of this novel

I’m finding it hard to write a review for a book that is 14 years old and was originally self-published by the author. I am a fan of Crouch’s work and have loved several of his more recent novels. He knows how to write a propulsive story that can keep me turning the pages. Does this compare and is it worth reading? I found I could see the early seeds of Crouch’s later writing. The novel does show its age a little and was light on plot with heavy dose of thrills and way too many machine guns and close escapes to be in any way believable.

It is a family driven high action thriller with only scant information on why this family is being hunted and why the world has turned into a high stakes survival game for this family of four. There is a hint of infidelity in the marriage during the first pages but has little to do with the story presented. There are husband and wife and two children. None of the characters are fleshed out much and I had little engagement with them. It was hard to care about them as people. They seemed to have an abnormal ability to escape bullets and live for long periods without food or water. It was the action that was always front and center. Slowly the story revealed the reason for all the mayhem as the family learned it but it was one more less than believable facet of this story.

I wanted to like it more than I did. I am not a thriller reader but I did find it good for that type of story. If you like thrillers, especially one with many close escapes in which no one can be trusted this maybe a book you would like. I enjoyed it most for seeing how a writer develops and grows in his craft and how this book was just beginning to scratch the surface of great stories to come.

Boy did this book make me anxious. Seriously, edge of my seat anxious at times. So if anxiety-provoking storylines are not your thing, maybe steer clear of this one. But if you enjoy writing that makes you feel, even if it isn't exactly pleasant, scoop this baby up.

No spoilers to ruin anything for other readers beyond there is an event that causes people to change and this forces the family to go on the run to save themselves, kind of like a zombie-apocalypse story but without any zombies. The only point of confusion for me wasn't in the book, but rather why it was an ARC if it had been first published in 2011.

Down the rabbit hole I went. Turns out this was the author's first self-published book after leaving traditional publishing. He left traditional publishing due to the mediocre sales and reception of his books at that time.

Self-publishing was the right move and he hit pay-dirt with his Wayward Pines series. After finding this success he returned to traditional publishing for Dark Matter and the books that followed. Luckily for those of us who didn't have the author on their radar back then, Run is now being reissued by traditional publishing.

Disclosure: Received an uncorrected ARC of this book from NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Random House (Thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely could not put this down, stayed up all night to finish it. It’s been 14 years since I have done that. Riveting, fascinating, not unfamiliar premise. I love that it isn’t out of the realm of possibility, which also terrifies me. Would absolutely love to see this turned into a feature film.

A book hasn’t given me this much anxiety since “Intensity” by Dean Koontz. It was so well written and fast paced and so many emotions. It was thrilling to the point I had to set it down but then so good down I had to pick it right back up.

If you have ever thought about reading a Blake crouch book do it !! I urge you to pick one or 4 up from your local book store full of mystery suspense twists and turns around every corner something me an my husband read this together on my kindle because o told him about the first page an he begged me this books is amazing

I have to admit, I’m a fan of Blake Crouch’s latest tech/science-based books. I wish I’d known that this was an earlier work of his (per the copyright page, this was written in 2011) because this was not quite up to what I’ve expected from Mr. Crouch's books. The idea is there - a family of four try to survive complete and total chaos after an event that turns the contiguous US on its head. The writing wasn’t as sharp as Crouch’s later books - though the idea was a solid concept. While it’s understandable that one needs to find the basic things (food, water, shelter, safety) and avoiding “bad guys” during post-apocalyptic times, it became very repetitive. Additionally, I didn’t really care for one of the family members and felt meh about two others. While there were chapters explaining the event that happened, it never felt fully explained in the “why.” And the ending … so many questions … If you like post-apocalyptic survival stories, this might be one you’d enjoy. I’m rather on the fence about them, and while I’m okay with suspending some reality belief, this one I had difficultly in doing that and still believing it.

Here’s my confession…

Give me a post apocalyptic, survival story any time, and I will read it.

“Run” follows 4 different families as they try to survive after an unexplained nighttime light show. After which, many people are turned into raging killers. So, the world is different, and Hell has come calling. These families must struggle to keep clear of those killers, find food, water, shelter, and safety. Lather, rinse, repeat. Throw, some violent and vicious scenes that aren’t easily forgotten, and there you have it.

The novel was too repetitive and became cumbersome and tiring.

The last half dozen chapters tried to give a reason for the lights, however, never stick the landing. The ending was not fleshed out, and left too many unanswered questions.

I’m a Blake Crouch fan, but was disappointed here.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

48 of the states in the U.S. experienced a phenomena in the sky- the lights. While many slept through it, some went out to see it. Over the next few days, all hell breaks loose as those who saw the lights start a series of mass murders, killing because they saw God.

In this book, we follow a family of 4 as they rinse repeat find food, find water, survive, run into bad guys. This book was full of horrifically memorable scenes, and at the same time it was so repetitive and I felt like I had read similar apocalyptic premises. I did not like the characters, they were not well-written, especially Dee and Cole. Unfortunately, this book really dragged out for me.

I was so excited to read this book because I am a fan of Blake Crouch’s recent books, but unfortunately this was not my favorite of his works.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing, and the author for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is apocalyptic and disturbing. Exactly the type of book I love and I found it highly entertaining. The overall plot was somewhat similar to other books (Year One by Nora Roberts) something turning people into mass killers. However, the cause was somewhat different and not fully explained, the first few chapters tried but it wasn't enough, it left up to the reader to flesh out. The only things that I might have changed, if it were left up to me is I would have explained the cause a little more and not rushed the ending. A slightly different, but good, Blake Crouch read.

Blake Crouch can do no wrong! I love his writing, I would not describe myself as a sci-fi reader but his books are enthralling! I am always hooked once I start reading.

So, this looks like it was Blake Crouch’s first book and it shows. I didn’t hate it but it’s clear he has definitely evolved as a writer.

I love apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books, so this book has my name all over it. And being a thriller, it hooked me right away. Overall, this was a fast-paced read, full of action, with just a few spots carved out to slow down and catch your breath.

I really struggle with whether or not to give this 3 or 4 stars. It’s a good book, it’s action-packed, and as a reader, I was entertained. It’s not entirely unique and it’s not entirely memorable and most importantly, it’s subpar compared to his later works. But, it’s not bad. Blake Crouch has just created some incredible writing lately, so this earlier work doesn’t shine as brightly.

But, with that being said, this is a great book to read while traveling. It’ll keep you distracted and engrossed!

3.5 stars up to 4 stars.

I read this book really fast because I was intrigued from the start. It was fast paced and I was never bored. Although I enjoyed reading it, I feel like I’ve seen many similar story lines and it wasn’t super unique.

I recently watched on Apple TV+ the new series Dark Matter based on the book of the same name by Blake Crouch. I enjoyed it so much that I went looking to see if he had anything new coming out. I was excited to find on NetGalley, that he has a book coming out in the fall called simply Run. Turns out that this was originally self-published by the author in 2011. It is being published for the first time by Ballantine Books. It's tentative release date is October 22. I read an advanced reader copy of the ebook provided by NetGalley.

Run is an apocalyptic thriller that takes place in essentially present times. An unexpected and (at first) unexplained pandemic has led many in Jack's community of Albuquerque, NM to become randomly murderous. TV and radio are down except for the announcement of who those affected will be coming to kill next. When Jack hears his own name on the radio, he swiftly packs his family and camping gear into their SUV and run. The plot follows them as they head north toward Canada, doing their best to avoid those affected in order to stay together and alive.

This is a very dark novel. It is not as well-written as his more recent work, but there are glimpses of what is to come. The challenges and emotions of the family are the strength of this novel. The pace is unrelenting. There are no named chapters and no table of contents. This feels like a purposeful choice to keep you turning the pages. It works. Even the clipped writing, with regular incomplete sentences, feeds the urgency. As I read this book, I was reminded of other apocalyptic novels like The Stand by Stephen King and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Unfortunately, this one does not rise to that level. It is much darker and more grim while not being as well-written. It was an interesting glimpse into Crouch's early work, but if you are looking for an apocalyptic thriller, I recommend the others I mentioned. If you want to read Blake Crouch, you are better off starting with Dark Matter or Recursion.

My rating: 3/5

What do you do when complete, baffling chaos breaks out around you and most of your neighbors want you dead? People are randomly killing each other in gruesome ways, you don't know why and you just know you have to run as fast and as far as you can. This is what happens to the Colclough family of New Mexico, and we follow them on their nightmarish road trip of desperate survival. Not only are they trying to survive the killers all around them, they also have a broken marriage which may or may not be survivable, adding a deeper emotional element to this thriller.

This is the premise of Blake Crouch's first novel, which is being reissued. His novel Recursion is one of my all-time favorites so I was thrilled to have the chance to read his early work.

This is an extremely fast-paced, cinematic novel and his talent is shining through from the first page. It does feel like a first novel, though. I wish there had been more depth to the characters. The plot was repetitive, which slowed down my interest after a while.

I am sort of neutral on this one. I wouldn't actively recommend it, knowing how much better Recursion is, but at the same time, it is very thrilling and scary at times and good "popcorn" entertainment.

I was so excited to read this ARC because up until this book I’ve read nothing but 5 star reads from this author. Unfortunately this one didn’t hit that 5 star rating from me.
This book was truly so hard to put down because I HAD to know what happens next but then slowly took a no one is that lucky turn and felt a little repetitive. This disturbing apocalyptic read has so many 5 star ratings that maybe this one just wasn’t for me! I truly can’t wait to read more work from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Random house publishing for an advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Super fast paced read and hard to put down. Definitely leans more towards the genre of a survival thriller than sci-fi. I've read other Blake Crouch books and I remembered them being more sci-fi heavy. I would have given it four stars if not for some sexist parts about being a "real-man", etc.

This wasn’t very unique and felt like something I’ve read before but can’t put my finger on it. It was a quick and fun read and I did enjoy it. It just felt overdone in a way.