Thank you to PRHAudio for the audiobook! I had no idea this came out in 2011, but it was so timely given that we’ve been able to witness the northern lights here recently.

This is truly one of the scariest, most suspenseful, books I’ve ever read. This was Kyle and I’s most recent audiobook buddy read, and we loved it! We loved The Last of Us and The Walking Dead, The Fall Out, and even though this isn’t a zombie book, it has that same feel because anyone who witnessed the aurora has been infected…with murder.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

No. That is my review. I love a good thriller. I especially love anything apocalyptic. But this? This was a NO for me.

2.75. Not my favorite Blake Crouch by a long shot, I typically love books from this author and this is definitely at the bottom third. I saw it was released years ago and maybe that's why? Books have much improved since then

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Creepy apocalyptic thriller? Yes please! This one had me on the edge of my seat but seemed a bit underdeveloped. But overall a fantastic, spooky read.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my copy :)

blake crouch, you will always be famous to me.

run is a reissue of a blake crouch book originally pubbed back in 2011. with the popularity of blake's books recursion and dark matter it's no wonder that some of his older stuff is getting repackaged. trust me, though, he's always known how to write a banger.

mass grave sites are appearing all over the country. family members are turning on other family members. a cop walked into an elementary school and starts shooting. a woman gets told by her lover to leave because he's not sure that he can promise that she'll be safe with him.

turns out this woman is dee, the estranged wife of jack. when they realize the world has gone crazy, they get themselves into their car and start traveling to escape it. but as they hunt for food and avoid the convoy of murderous people driving around country looking for people to execute, they start asking themselves a question - why? and they soon learn the angry, murderous streaks seem to have been brought on by an aurora that appeared in the sky the previous evening. the only problem? their son saw the aurora too.

for what it was, this was a fun, adrenaline-pumping apocalyptic story. in my opinion, no one writes action the way that blake crouch does.

not going to lie, i did believe at one point that the whole aurora thing was going to be a metaphor for how media is indoctrinating the minds of many americans, how breitbart is making some of our relatives into insane, hateful trump-worshiping zombies. i'm kind of disappointed that the way the aurora was spoken about "you have to die, because you don't see it like we saw it" wasn't metaphorical for a larger meaning.

also, heads up - there's definitely unnecessary violence against animals, which i didn't love.

i think if you go into this ultimately expecting action movie twists, you're going to love it. it was compulsively readable and as always, i am a blake crouch fan.

Think - walking dead meets Ozark. It’s highly interesting as a concept, but there are some slow portions while describing the scenarios as the family approaches the abandoned houses and buildings and run out of gas, etc. It was a good read though, and different from my usual repertoire.

The nitty-gritty: A relentlessly paced survival story, Run is a violent thrill ride from start to finish.

Run was originally self published back in 2011, and I’m so glad the publisher decided to reissue it this year. If you’ve read more recent books by Blake Crouch, you’ll see how far he’s progressed as a writer since writing this book, but it’s also nice to see that even back then, he still had a talent for crafting an exciting story with an original idea. Run isn’t perfect, but I’m giving it four stars for the entertainment value alone, because this book is crazy, and it’s a hard one to put down once you start reading.

When the story opens, we meet Jack Colclough and his family, wife Dee and kids Naomi and Cole. They are frantically packing the car and grabbing as much food and water as they can. We don’t yet know what’s happened, but reports of mass killings all over the country are coming through the news waves. A stranger is announcing names and addresses of specific people over the radio, and when Jack’s name comes up, he knows it’s time for his family to get out. The world as they know it has changed, and now the family must go on the run in order to stay alive.

That’s as much of the plot as I’m going to mention—also, that’s pretty much the entire plot: Jack and his family are running for their lives, and they have to deal with things like their car running out of gas, a lack of food and water (looters have hit all the stores), injury, sleeping outside in the cold, and constantly being chased by gun wielding crazy people. To make things worse, they have to protect their two young children and get them to cooperate, otherwise they will die. This is a thrilling but extremely violent story, and to be honest I wasn’t prepared for the level of violence, including things like torture, use of chainsaws, and burning people alive.

The question you’re probably asking is why (and how!) have some people changed into killer psychopaths and others haven’t? There is a reason, but Crouch doesn’t spill the beans until about a quarter into his story. As far as explanations go, I thought it was a little thin and unbelievable, but this is science fiction so you have to suspend your disbelief and just go with it.

What Crouch does so well is create tension that never lets up. His characters are in constant danger, and although there are brief moments where they can relax, most of their journey is one of immense struggle, wondering if they are going to live to see another day. If the killers don’t get them, there’s always the threat of starvation. He also separates the family a few times, which makes the tension even worse, since the reader wonders if they’ll ever see each other again. 

The author throws in some domestic tension, which added a lot to the story and gave Jack and Dee some depth. I do love the “married couple’s relationship is on the rocks but then something terrible happens to bring them back together” trope, and Crouch does a nice job of that here. I also liked the way the characters are pushed to their limits, especially Dee, who never even held a gun before, but now she’s forced to defend her family and has to be willing to kill to do it.

As for negatives, there are quit a few plot holes. I mentioned before that the reason some people have turned into killers doesn’t make a lot of sense, and the way the whole thing is resolved at the end is even more confusing. Also, there is a way to tell who is a killer and who isn’t, but only those affected are able to see the difference. And I couldn’t understand why certain people are singled out, their names and addresses announced over the radio. I guess it was a way to show that Jack and his family were in danger, but it felt like a lazy way to explain it.

Despite some flaws, though, Run is worth reading, especially if you’re a Blake Crouch fan. It would make a fantastic movie, although I’m not sure I’d be able to stomach watching it myself. For a quick, tense read, I recommend picking this up.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

I didn’t realize this was already published. Not sure I like when that happens!

The book had a lot of promise. Yes, it was his first book and it shows. I liked the premise but it felt flat.

An interesting read I’d still recommend if you like suspenseful, end-of-the-world stuff!

Run by Blake Crouch is a re-release of a dystopian sort of story. Many Americans have started acting overly violent for an unknown reason. Jack and his family are trying to escape New Mexico and get to Canada safely. But they encounter so many scary scenarios on the way. Will they all survive? Why are people acting so strangely? This was a very fast-paced, intense read. Not my favorite Blake Crouch book, but still very good. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

No question, this is a scary story. With next to no exposition or reader preparation, the apocalypse was released onto the normal population by the "affected" members. There were no zombies, vampires, werewolves or undead, but the affected people were transformed into murderous monsters simply by witnessing a beautiful aurora-like light display in the night sky over most, but not all, of North America. This was a brilliantly simple device that allowed this reader, who refuses to read the zombie genre, to accept the premise of the story. The affected people can recognize each other by a white halo visible only to them but not by the unaffected. At least half the population is bent on massacring all those unaffected, including members of their own families. Most of the story concerns the flight of one family from New Mexico to a possible safe haven in Canada. Suspense is heightened by the fact that the young son in the family has the halo, having witnessed the light display. The affected people believed that God had told them via the lights to eliminate all the others on earth. It occurred to me that this could be a metaphor for ISIS or even those that are victims of the drug addiction plague. I won't spoil the story by revealing how things are resolved, but there is a relatively happy ending. I was glad to see that Crouch has returned to the use of the past tense to give us a more respectable narrative than we saw with present tense usage in the Wayward Pines series. This was a good example of skillful storytelling, just enough character development, and creative, imaginative ideation. An edge-of-seat read!

There were a lot of good things happening in this book. I liked where the story began because it confused me enough to make me want to figure it out. I actually liked the plot as well but the characters and dialogue were rough enough to make this a frustrating read. I can definitely tell this was a first novel because it feels amateur compared to his other books I’ve read. It looks like this is getting republished and I feel like the author should have taken time to expand it and could have made it into a full novel to take care of all the issues I had.

I received this from net galley in exchange for a review.

Terrifying and filled with suspense!

Blake Crouch captured my interest with Dark Matter. After which, I read Recursion, and I’m currently in the middle of Upgrade. So when I saw the republication of Run hitting shelves, I knew I needed it asap. He has such a compelling writing style and immediately pulls you in, making you root for the characters while riding a rollercoaster ride of suspense. After finishing Run it felt like I’d been holding my breath the entire time. I also couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that such violence was being committed because of a strange set of lights in the sky. (The explanation at the end was worth it!) But it isn’t all plot. I was terrified for the family at the center of this story-Jack, Dee, Cole, and Naomi. Crouch also has a gift for introducing side characters at any point in the novel and making you care before promptly killing them off. (Poor Donald.) IYKYK.

I was gripped throughout, especially during a scene in which Jack and a group of survivors are laying in a pit while soldiers patrol the edges with guns and chainsaws. It was the most disturbing scene for me. The ending was satisfying, especially after learning the twist, all my questions were answered. I can’t wait to read what he publishes next!

4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who enjoy a fast pace, lots of tension, plot driven narrative.

Run is giving The Walking Dead/Purge type of plot. I lead with this because had I known up front, I would not have read it. This genre is not for me. But I like Blake Crouch's writing style, unique stories and suspense-telling tales so I read until the very end. Curious to see how his debut novel measured up to recent releases. Let's just say that I can see the growth and appreciate his newer books.

Run is a one-dimensional story of a family running. That's it; that's all. Five days ago, an epidemic of rage began. Four days ago, senseless murders swept the nation. Three days ago, the president begged for peace. Two days ago, the killers began to mobilize. One day ago, the power went out. And tonight, the killers are reading the names of people to be killed over the emergency broadcast system. Jack is listening over a battery-powered radio and hears his name and address. This means killers—for an unknown reason—are coming to his house. Jack hurriedly gathers his wife, son and daughter to run for their lives.

And they run...and run...and run...until the unsatisfying end. No real answers. No climax. No full conclusion. No explanation. Just a family running amongst pointless violence. I am so very disappointed but grateful. Because if Run was my first impression of Blake Crouch, I would have missed out on his much better books such as Dark Matter, Recursion, and Good Behavior / The Pain of Others. Run away from this one, Bookhearts.

Happy Re-Pub Day, Blake Crouch! Run is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie

I’ve seen mixed reviews on this one but I really enjoyed it. This is Blake’s first book he ever wrote but is being published in the US for the first time. Run was as a wild ride that made me question what I would do in the circumstances the characters went through and making plans for survival if something like this actually happened. This book was hard to read at times but equally hard to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy. Run is a rerelease of Blake Crouch’s first book. It follows a family as they desperately try to survive the time when people go on a rampage. The family that we follow through the book is made up of Jack, Dee, Naomi, and Cole. I do think the story was a little long and repetitive, but I was invested in what would happen. Run was Crouch’s first book that he self published, and his writing style has improved since then. Overall I enjoyed the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of this title.

While we wait for the next (truly) new Blake Crouch book, it's nice to see Ballantine re-printing his earlier books. You can see the spark of what's made his more recent work so compelling and page-turning in this, even if I found the main plot a little underdeveloped in places here, especially towards the end when everything just seems to resolve itself.

Run! This book was so good that it reminded me of the movie The Crazies and gave a subtle nod to The Walking Dead with the formation of groups or towns. I feel like this book was written so well that you couldn’t stop reading it. It’s packed with action and will not disappoint.

I would definitely purchase this title, but I would not reccommend it based on his other works which are much stronger. The twist at the end was not a great pay off for the lack luster storyline throughout the book. It just wasn't it for me.

A brutal and relentless dystopia that left me lying awake at 2 am thinking about moving back to the UK after this year’s presidential election.

After some aurora lights blazed across the skies of the continental 48 states, most of the US population turns into Christian blood-thirsty killers with access to all sorts of weaponry. Jack Colclough, his wife Dee, their 14yo daughter Naomi and 7yo son Cole have not been Affected so they go on the run from Albuquerque heading to the Canadian border to stay alive.

That’s the plot really and the author gets it going immediately (the blurb gives you much more set up than the novel) as the family drive, walk, and hide in an effort to evade the Affected. There’s a pretty straightforward rhythm: the family undergo increasing hardships to get away, they have a brief respite, they are caught up with, they escape, and repeat. The respites become ever shorter and the escapes become increasingly unlikely - how many nick of time saviors can there be?

The prose is workmanlike and the characterization doesn’t go much beyond Jack feeling like a manly man now he’s killed to protect his family and Dee realizing that this was what she needed to fall in love with Jack again.

So not really my cup of water drunk out of a gas station toilet but I was gripped and it feels realistic enough, prescient even, given that it was originally self-published in 2011, to make me ponder my chances in a post-election world.

Thanks to Ballantine and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Blake Crouch just does it for me. I was looking for a fast paced, addicting read and this was it! Highly recommend, but keep in mind that this is probably his most graphic book.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.