I know this book is one of the authors earlier works and is not on the level of what he writes now. The writing was not the best, but it held my attention with nonstop action. It does get pretty violent and disturbing, which surprised me, as I don’t see that now in his current books. Although far fetched, this is fast paced, filled with gore, hard to put down survival story. Exactly what I needed. Got me out of the reading slump. I will literally read whatever this man puts out!

I love dystopian thrillers so this was right up my alley. Not for the faint of heart, some of the violence is very difficult to witness, however, the characterizations of the main people is so well written and I just got very caught up in the story of a family fleeing from unknown circumstances in a strange world. I think this book is being re-released for an anniversary promotion. It was originally written in 2011 and he credits its success to the beginning of the writing career he always wanted.

I liked this book. It was entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat. I just wish that the actual Aurora lights event that caused the mass violence was talked about a little more or explained more thoroughly.

So upon a reread…. I still didn’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Blake Crouch! Give me Dark Matter, give me Recursion, but Run just doesn’t do it for me. It’s very repetitive: Run, come close, get away. Run, come close, get away. Found a reprieve? Oop, no you didn’t. The phenomenon is never explained and then just dissipates? Great! I found myself skimming a lot and knowing I really didn’t miss anything.

Great book. I’ve read a few Blake Crouch books before and he always brings it! You won’t be disappointed with this thriller!

I was trapped from the get go with Run. This is the type of book that I enjoy reading, the type that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more, the can't put down because I need to see what happens next, type of book. Run was a fast-paced read where I was chearing on the family the whole time.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC.

REVIEW COPY

Blake Crouch is one of the first authors I began stuffing my kindle with back in those days way back when. I loved reading him then and still do to this day.

RUN is his first speculative fiction novel about a family who faces what just might be the end of the world as they know it. They really have a boatload of problems; but they go on the run out of their home town of Albuquerque to find a better place to live.

I now have two copies of RUN and couldn't tell you if the author made changes to the book. I leave my wifi on, so updates come through automatically. I'm not that it really matters matters anyway. I still cried at the end. Um, no, that was me sniffling cuz I have a cold. Yep yep.

Buy yourself a copy of RUN and enjoy!

This was very much a different kind of Blake Crouch, but in a good way. This book was fast -paced and definitely kept you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't bother me, but it may bother others the level of gore involved. My only wish is that there was more explanation around the why of what caused the people to react the way they did in the book, it gives a what caused it but not a great why to me.

Blake Crouch can do no wrong! Again he writes such a page-turning, heart-racing plot. There are so many apocalyptic books out there, but I felt like this concept was super unique and exceptionally written. Crouch writes consistently in a way that makes you stay up in the wee hours of the night just to read ‘one more page’. I loved seeing Jack grow in the way he supported his family and actually thrived in such a challenging environment. This book really made me reflect and think about how I would handle a situation like this, and it sparked such interesting conversation between myself and my husband! I felt like Jack and Dee were both so resourceful, wise, and brave. This book had an interesting plot at its core but pairing with its character development made it 5 stars for me. Blake Crouch never lets me down, so I’m not at all shocked to have another 5 star of his! Got goosebumps many times throughout, but especially at the end. So well done!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an ARC through NetGalley.

I was really excited to read this book based on the author alone, and then I realized this is a re-release of one of his earlier books. This book is an apocalyptic survival thriller that I will say had some disturbing moments but yet very suspenseful. While it was thrilling and a good read it did feel like it was missing something. I feel like this didn’t give me the same feelings as I’ve had reading others from him. While it wasn’t my favorite it still was a good read.

Thank you @netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

RUN!!!!!!!

The positive attribute of this novel is it is compulsively readable and hard to put down. One would think that is high praise, and it is praise, but at the end of the day the novel is a bit unsatisfying.

First, the premise is in much of the southern United States people go suddenly crazy and get violent and start killing people. Mutilating them. It's bad, really, really bad. And seems to have been done in similar ways in other novels.
Second, you have a suburban family with a husband, estranged wife, a teen daughter and pre-teen boy RUNNING for their lives. The superhuman things they must do to escape across the Western United States and avoid the killing spree is a bit unbelievable. But it is wild and entertaining, kind of.

They find out through the grapevine that Canada seems unaffected and that is where they head to, while trying to avoid being caught in the maw of the nasty people effected by whatever is causing people to go crazy.

The theory of the event that made people go crazy was SUPER fortunate for a reissue of the novel because it just so happens that the southern US experienced the event in this book in 2024 before it's re-release. This is speculative fiction, and no spoiler here so I won't say what it is just a good hint, but I thought the theory was ehhhh, not believable.

Overall, a fast paced read but kind of unfulfilling. Kind of like indulging in a bag of potato chips, fun for a few minutes but empty calories.

Run is an early novel by Blake Crouch, getting an updated re-release in October 2024. Run is a propulsive action/horror speed run of a novel, starting with a terrifying premise - a husband and wife in a collapsing marriage take to the road to save their children as gangs of regular people begin killing their neighbors based on a list of name read over the radio - and turning it into a story of survival, perseverance, and what it means to truly love someone. Crouch also deals with wat may be the cause of the violence but doesn't make it the main part of the story, which is wise, as why this is happening is somewhat unimportant to the narrative. The important parts are the couple, their children, and their race across the American West to outrun the violence exploding around them. It's a fast read, and shows Crouch coming into his own as an author. Recommended for fans of his previous work, as well as survival horror fans. Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC.

Take the vibe from Into The Wild and transplant it into an apocalyptic world of violence and mayhem, and you have Run. I enjoyed this one; it was overall a slow burn, but with just enough thrills and violence dispersed throughout. This book was at times very emotional, atmospheric, and almost poetic; while at other times, it read more like notes jotted down by someone on the run. It took me some time to get used to the latter writing style as well as the juxtaposition of the two styles, but once I did, I really enjoyed the way it was written. There were times when I wanted to shake the characters for the decisions they made, but I always say that I think this is to an extent essential in a thriller. I did feel that the transition into the resolution could have been more developed, but I also understood the sort of ending that the author was going for, which I did appreciate. Overall, very well written with good character development --an enjoyable read.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this opportunity.

I am a huge fan of Blake Crouch and have loved other books he has written, but I could not get into this book and ended up not finishing it. I usually love dystopian novels but this one just wasn't clicking for me.

This is a newly published backlist title of Blake Crouch's and as a big fan of his, I was pleased that this book still felt like his writing. As I would expect, it's an excellent thriller - fast paced and unputdownable. I finished it in probably fewer than 24 hours and would probably have read it all in one sitting if I could have.

Once again, Blake crouch manages to deliver a really touching love story in the midst of a heart-pounding suspenseful story. I raced through the whole thing and was brought to tears a few times by the story. Crouch is one of my favorite thriller authors because of the way that instead of making a story high stakes by making it about the end the world, he writes about the end of the world and makes it high stakes by making it about a family.

This does feel like an earlier story from Crouch - it did not have the well-researched science that I've come to expect from him, but it does still deliver when it comes to the feeling of reality that his books always have to me. It was a really solid read, and although it is probably my least favorite of the titles of his that I've read, I still give it a solid 4 stars.

This book seemed like a gigantic step back for Blake Crouch until I realized it was his first published novel, from back before he had massive success and critical acclaim with Wayward Pines and other books. So it makes sense to me now why it was so basic. I finished it very quickly, so it was very readable, but going in knowing that it is his older work will make it more enjoyable for other readers.

Not as multilayered as Crouch’s other books, but this was a mostly fun & quick read. The plot jumped around too much for me to really get invested in the story, and I felt like there was something overall lacking in the character development. Concept-wise, this was incredible; the overall execution just wasn’t quite where it needed to be. It was cool to look back on an earlier book of his and see just how far he’s come in terms of storytelling.

Spoiler alert! This book is being republished and is one of Crouch’s early works. Much like any of the greats, you gotta start somewhere and this is definitely one of those books. I love Blake Crouch: Dark Matter was my first foray into sci-fi that I actually enjoyed, and I quickly read his succeeding novels. Run is disappointing, in the way people love the Goldfinch but not The Secret History. It is a junior novel, full of heart racing drama, but little to no backstory. Honestly, this didn’t keep me from pulling an all-nighter to finish, but it wasn’t the best thing he’s ever written. If you like Crouch, and you want to pretend that we live in a dystopian society (oh, wait….) then pick it up!

Thank you to @randomhouse, @netgalley and @blakecrouch1 for an ARC!

Oh my God. I'm absolutely ruined. This book was PHENOMENAL! I've seen such mixed reviews about this book, but I feel like it really comes down to the type of person you are. This book touched on ALL of my real life fears and had me so emotional through every single page. My heart was racing from the first chapter to the last and I found myself laying in bed at night unable to sleep because my mind was on overdrive! I literally could not sleep.

I don't think I'll be able to read for awhile because this book has me in such a chokehold, I really need to reflect and just soak in the aftermath before I replace every feeling I have with another book. I will tell everyone I know to read this, and read it now.

This was originally published in 2011 and is being reprinted in the fall and I am begging you to get your hands on a copy and READ IT.

Infinity stars for this book. Thank you so much @blakecrouch1 for writing this and putting it in my hands. 🙌

Ok, I am going to mention something that the blurb doesn't mention: this is Blake Crouch's first book. He wrote this before he wrote the other best sellers you might have read.

Here's why this matters: While it has some things in common, in a lot of ways, it's a completely different style than his books. First of all, it has little to no science in it. It's not really futuristic (in my opinion) even though there are several elements that could be construed as futuristic also it has very little plot. Basically the whole story is about running away and trying to get to the border. A lot of stuff happens but the plot itself is basically that.

The why and what are thin in this story. It's much more action and gory/horror action for the most part. Which is also more uncharacteristic of his later novels. At least not this much. At some point I was overwhelmed with the amount of gore and violence especially since it feels senseless and there's nothing grounding the reader to the why.

The one thing that's most consistent with his current style is the adrenaline rush you feel as you read the story. It's nonstop adrenaline. In this case it's full of violence and gore and horror but the pacing is so on par with his usual style.

It's hard to say i loved this because it is so disturbing and so violent. And in some ways unsatisfying. But it's also not easy to put down.

with gratitude to netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review