The book excels at blending sci-fi with thriller elements, creating a narrative that is both intense and deeply unsettling. Its imaginative sci-fi concepts are intriguing, but they sometimes stretch believability. The story’s relentless pace and dark, suspenseful atmosphere maintain high tension throughout.

Character development is robust, with well-drawn individuals who bring emotional depth to the story. The narrative is punctuated by unexpected twists that sustain suspense and keep the reader engaged.

What truly sets this book apart is its portrayal of cruelty and horror. The narrative doesn't shy away from depicting intense and disturbing scenarios, which adds a profound level of discomfort and tension. The setting amplifies this feeling of dread, making the overall reading experience not only compelling but also hauntingly memorable.

My first ever Blake Crouch novel. And funny enough that this was his first novel 13 years ago. I was blown away of how much I enjoyed the plot line. There was not much detail/character depth into this book, but grasp my attention with non-stop suspense to find out if the family survived or not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the arc.

Full disclosure, this is not normally my type of book, but I loved Dark Matter so when I got the chance to read another Blake Crouch book I couldn’t resist. I was pleasantly surprised at how much it drew me in. And how I managed to get through some of the scenes… ;) (for someone who loves thrillers you’d think some violence wouldn’t bother me, but…this was next level). The suspense was nonstop and I’d love to say more but I say much else without spoiling.

I didn’t realize that this book had been published 13 years prior before requesting it. This was my first Blake Crouch novel and after hearing so many good things about his novel, I was excited! However, I found Run to be a bit boring honestly and tedious, which I’m hoping is just because it’s one of his older works. The novel FELT like a big run-on sentence or an entire film done with one shot - which can be effective in certain cases, but I didn’t connect with the storyline or the characters enough to say it worked for me in this case. Regardless, I will be trying Crouch’s newer novels and writing this off as just not for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the arc!

From the very beginning of this propulsive book, I was on the edge of my seat. As a fan of Crouch’s other works, I was anxious to read Run and went into it without a clue. This novel is not for the faint of heart. From the very beginning, we find many people have become violent and have begun killing indiscriminately. This is further brought home by the main character, Jack and his family listening to a battery-operated radio and hearing his name on a list as a person who will soon be targeted.
Through Jack, Dee, Naomi, and Cole’s journey you see a metamorphosis of their family. However, harrowing events continue to occur as they traverse through the mountains, abandoned towns and lonely highways. Crouch’s examination of the resiliency of humans under these terrible conditions was fascinating to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballentine Books for the advance reader copy. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve been meaning to read more of Crouch’s backlog so I was happy to read that arc for the traditional pub rerelease of this book. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the copy in exchange for my honest review.

The shear and utter anxiety this book gave me 🫣 it shows how good the story and writing was that I kept coming back even when I had a tummy ache from the stress of it all.

Undoubtedly, my family would not survive this month long rage-virus-epidemic. This is partly due to the densely populated area I live in, but also my husband and I lack a certain set of skills for sure.

I was born and raised in Montana and was pleasantly surprised to find a large chuck of the book take place in the state and I was able to clearly picture landmarks and settings being described.

‼️take extra care with the CW/TW on this one‼️
CW/TW: infidelity, mass execution, murder, violence, torture, gun violence, grief, child death, physical abuse, medical trauma, car accident, suicide

I was definitely invested in the beginning…so much action, mystery, dynamic conversation. But then it just…dulled. Constantly driving, stopping, gapping at bodies, driving more, getting shot at, etc. I had to stop when Dee told her husband to “be a man and help his family, unlike he does at home.” Like really? Not only is it a literal apocalypse, but she had an affair before all of this. Agh I can’t.

Blake Crouch is back with another apocalyptic thriller – Run – except it was written in 2011 and is now being re-released. Just wanted to put that in there so if you already own it or have read it, you don’t do so again thinking it’s new. One day the world is normal is the Colclough family, and five days later they are on a kill list for rampaging gangs of wandering murderers. People are turning on each other left and right, and nowhere is safe anymore. The Colclough goes on the run, hoping to survive long enough for whatever is happening to end.

My husband loves Blake Crouch, and I can admit his more recent books (like Recursion and Dark Matter) are incredibly well-researched and original. However, his view on humanity is incredibly bleak, which makes his books hard to read for me. Run is no different. Scene after scene, Crouch showcases the depravities of humanity, and just when you think the Colclough family is safe, he throws in another horrible human doing something horrible. While I did appreciate the Paul Hewson (aka Bono for the band U2) reference, the rest of the book was not for me. The ending felt abrupt and many threads were left hanging, even with an epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing this advanced review copy with me in exchange for my honest feedback.

Run by Blake crouch is a reprint of an early novel of his from 2011. It’s interesting to see how he has progressed as a novelist over the years. I’m like his clever, sci-fi excursions, Run is a violent thriller about a family being chased by madmen with guns triggered by a celestial phenomenon.

This is not a great book, but at the very least it’s a quick and entertaining read.

I like Blake Crouch. His latest books have been fast-paced and interesting. This was one of his first books being re-released. I’m not sure why a publisher does that besides trying to capitalize on his recent success. They should have cleaned it up.

What I liked: The story was good. It’s called Run, so naturally there is a lot of running away from the bad guys. With death on the line, Jack herds his family northward trying to escape hoards of fanatical gunmen. Good character development and action that led Jack and his wife Dee to make very hard choices.

What I didn’t like: The writing was very odd and tripped me up several times. It felt like he tried to resemble the narrative style of No Country for Old Men or other post-apocalyptic works that set tone through confused grammar. A sentence would be complete. The next a fragment. The next has a verb but no subject. On and on. The inconsistency was chaotic as was intended. It just wasn’t very good. I would have just rather read the story.

All in all, I think this one should have stayed in 2011. I’ll continue to read his new releases because he has certainly evolved into a great writer.

I normally love Blake Crouch. I think his characters and world building are wonderful. He writes accessible science fiction that makes us question current realities while fully appreciating the limitations of our own scientific endevaours. However, Run is just so dark that I found myself depressed and disengaged with the story. There was so much brutality and descriptive violence that it was offputting to the storyline. I kept with it, hoping that it turned a positive, but even at the end it is heartbreaking and terrible. I'm sure there's a place in someone's heart for this novel, it just wasn't mine.

The title, “Run” conveys the book perfectly; that’s exactly what was happening.

Blake Crouch sets a quick pace right away. Jack told his wife, Dee, and two kids: 7-year-old Cole and 14-year-old Naomi to hurry. They needed to get in the car and leave their home. Someone was on their way there – someone who could kill them. They went from Albuquerque to Cinnamon Pass with an elevation of 12,640 feet – a place that was too cold for camping. But that’s what they did with their sleeping bags, tent, food, water and a ham radio.

They needed to escape from soldiers with guns who were killing anyone that didn’t see the lights in the sky one evening. These people looked up and saw an aurora visible in the 48 states and northern Mexico. Afterwards, they were identified with a white light around their heads and shoulders. A hiker claimed to see God in the lights and then turned violent towards others that weren’t like him. As Dee and Jack were in the car trying to escape, they saw all kinds of dead bodies. There were lots of coincidences while they were on the run.

The story was exciting at first but then after a while, it was too strange. I liked that it had just a few strong characters that were well defined and the setting was okay but the plot with all the dark adventures was too far-fetched. It felt like there was no real solution ahead. The book had no chapters, just breaks with dots. This was Crouch’s first novel he self-published in 2011 which gave him a positive start. I enjoyed the author’s other books especially “Upgrade” which was 5 big stars. However, this book, in my opinion, wasn’t his best. I’ll look forward to whatever he writes next.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy with an expected release date of October 22, 2024.

i got into blake crouch after watching apple tv’s adaptation of dark matter and was super excited to read this one. i love an apocalyptic thriller read so this was really fun. crouch is quickly turning into an auto-read author for me!

[ARC Review ]
📖- Run
✍🏼- Blake Crouch
📅- 02/24/11
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕗
▪️you like action movies 🎥
▪️you liked his other book Dark Matter
▪️you ever wonder “what if the world ends”
𝕊𝕪𝕟𝕠𝕡𝕤𝕚𝕤
Chaos breaks amongst the southwest part of the US. Reports coming in of police officers going on shooting rampage in an elementary school and then a nursing home. Houses being burned down, home invasions. Power is out, no cellphone coverage, and no internet. The only functioning communication was the radio. This leaves Jack Colclough and his family to pack whatever they can and RUN. The question is where will they run when they can’t even trust police enforcement?

𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 💭
I devoured this book! It was fast paced and it had me intrigued from the beginning. Blake Crouch never fails to amaze me and keep my mind occupied with the “what ifs”. It was action packed and throughout the whole book I felt like I was watching a movie play out in my mind. This book automatically surpasses Dark Matter.

This is a BLAKE CROUCH book but it's a re-release. It will give you anxiety and freak you out but it's not exactly his best work.

Jack, Dee, and their two children are on the run as chaos erupts in the U.S., with people looting, committing violent acts, and burning cities. Hearing that Canada might be safe, they head north.

The book opens with a fast pace and keeps things moving. It reminded me a bit of The Purge, with ordinary people turning to violence, and also No Escape, as the family faces constant threats while fleeing. The pacing keeps things tense, though at times it felt a bit intense.

There are quite a few violent and graphic scenes. The book is a quick read, with short paragraphs scattered across the pages, making it easy to finish in one sitting. If you love Blake Crouch, you may like it. If you expect genius from him, you may not. 2.5 stars.

This book is re-releasing. So It was not something that was brand new and I was a little disappointed by that, because I went into it thinking that it was. Anyways, it was interesting as his books always are. However, it feels dated as you are reading it, but not in a nostalgic way.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for my early arc copy of this!

Great suspense/thriller! I have enjoyed other books by Blake Crouch as well. If you are interested in thrillers, check this one out.

If you are looking for a wild, gruesome thrill ride that may or may not give you anxiety, this is the book for you.

Jack, Dee, and their two children are running for their lives. Something has happened in the United States where suddenly people are going crazy, looting and committing violent acts, burning whole cities to the ground. There is a rumor that Canada is safe, so the family throws together what supplies they can and begins the trek that way.

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up. It gave me The Purge vibes, with the regular people suddenly giving in to violent tendencies. I was also reminded of the movie No Escape, which gave me the worst movie anxiety ever, with a family on the run and constantly coming up against dangerous obstacles. All this to say, tensions were high, my anxiety was on a rollercoaster ride through the ups and downs, and the fast pacing left me breathless.

The author is quite descriptive in the violent acts and gore, so the book gets plenty gruesome in parts. It is a short read, with many short paragraphs spaced across the pages rather than having true chapters. This keeps it propulsive, and I literally could not put it down and finished it in one two hour sitting.

I know this is an older Crouch that is being rereleased, but it is fitting that his first book is now the first of his I’ve read! I was highly entertained by this book, perfect for a quick and thrilling read.

Thank you to Ballantine books for the arc. All opinions are my own,

Was really disappointed to see that this was a rerelease and not a new offering. Overall, it didn’t hold up to their other works - I worry folks will be disappointed

I haven't read a Blake Crouch since Recursion that I loved, and that makes me really sad. I wish this was a better one.