4.5 ⭐

"I reminded myself that life was about more than money; what money could buy also mattered."

Brilliant!

A well-written cat and mouse game of high stakes and colourful characters. Short chapters. Easy to read.
Sometimes a bit jargon heavy. But not too much that it distracts from the story.
While Ruth is a good (morally, a bit grey) character, I find it impressive just how absolutely detestable Mike is. He is a creepy, delusional, vain, very vain man who thinks of himself as some sort of a genius. I mean, Bravo! I haven't detested and enjoyed a delusional character in power like that since Cersei Lannister in A Feast for Crows.

[-------------SPOILERS-------------]
The story starts off as chaos. Ruth running away (or trying to, anyway) from the Agency for stealing millions from banks. Then comes Mike. Our second POV character. Mike is forty. Works for the Agency. Mike is one fucking creepy ass dude. He is also delusional. Fuck Mike.
Anyway, the story progresses at a nice pace as Ruth tries to dodge Agency's many attempts to capture her. Then comes Big John, the explosives truck, Idaho, and his family. Things take a dark turn from there as Ruth contemplates her life choices and becomes melancholic. Mike is going insane in this part of the story. Still delusional (maybe slightly less than before).
Third act is really satisfying. Ruth gets a dog and keeps moving in her van from this place to that place as she plays multiple people working for the Agency (Mike, Gideon, LuAnn). Mike's delusions are at an all time high.
Ruth's story ends at a bittersweet note. Mike gets what he deserves.
[-------------SPOILERS-------------]

Recommended. 👍

Omg, this book was awesome! I could not put it down! The story took so many twists and turns I thought I was doing a salsa! I lost track of why the protagonist was heading out west, but it didn’t matter because it was just so exciting to see what happened next. I rooted for her the entire time and at the same time didn’t understand her one bit. This book was so well written and held me captive for the past 150 pages. It didn’t take long to become the unputdownable page turner. The ending surprised me. I was hoping for the happy ending, and it was, just not the one of a hopeless romantic. It ended realistically though, so I guess there’s that. Very well written! The author did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to read their next one!

I really liked this book! I love a good thriller and I really enjoy how this is about cybercrime, a bit newer and more relevant to the future of theft. I think that this book was well written, and kept me entertained from the very beginning! I enjoyed it!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Very interesting book. The twists and turns it took were surprising. Some of the turns were completely unexpected and I had to stay up very late to finish it. I had to see how everything wrapped up. I admittedly had a little trouble getting started with the manner in which characters were introduced, but as soon as I figured out the cast, I couldn't put it down. Watching Ruth get chased across the country and watching her outsmart the agents chasing her was incredibly entertaining. This was a fun read and I thank the publishers and authors for the opportunity to review an ARC.

Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman

This book was easy to put down. The plot was interesting – Ruth running from being caught having stolen money; however, for me, there was too much technical detail about how she was able to hack into the banks to steal from them. Given that I’m not a techie, I wondered if that is even possible. It didn’t help that I also didn’t really like any of the characters.

On the positive side – without providing details (no spoilers) - I did like the resolution to the story. This is fun read, but probably more so for those interested in the technology.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elizabeth Kaufman, and Penguin Group

I feel ambivalent about this book. After reading the first 12 chapters I was going to put it down. But I decided to read further to see if I could get into it. And I was able to get into it, but I wasn't terribly impressed. It was about a woman named Ruth who created a microchip that allowed her to rob banks. And Rob them. She did. She had millions upon millions of dollars. There was a man named Mike who had her in his sights for many years. He prided himself on keeping her safe. He worked for Homeland Security. And then there was Gideon, who also worked for Homeland Security. He led her to believe that he was on her side, but it turns out he really wasn't. Anyway, the whole book is about her being on the run. There were times when I felt like the author did a pretty decent job with her flight. All in all, I'll say that I wasn't terribly impressed with the book, but I was able to get through it and feel okay about it. I gave it two stars.

When 26 year old cybercriminal Ruth, who has skimmed millions of dollars from different banks realizes the authorities are closing in, she flees, but finds even more trouble on the road. Ruth Run is an aptly named, thoroughly enjoyable chase novel, propelled by the title character whose wit, intelligence and likability are off the charts. This off-beat, zany and unique story gets off to a quick start, and the frantic pace matches the pursuit by federal agents who have their own plans for Ruth. Some of the techie terms were a mystery, but that doesn’t distract from the straightforward plot, which kept getting better as the pages flew by. Loved every minute of this one, highly recommended!! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth Run was a blast to read—fast-paced, engaging, and packed with that unique humor only someone in their twenties can deliver. The ending definitely left me curious about a sequel and what other wild things Ruth might get up to next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ARC.

This novel was a strong four-star recommendation all the way through, until I reached the last page. The on-the-run outlaw narrative is fast paced. The characters are interesting. The hacking details are well-integrated into the writing. Ruth's character transformation from cocky cyber outlaw to victim of manipulation by an agent provocateur is well done. The weird Christian commune where Ruth is (reluctantly) given refuge is all too real.
HOWEVER, I do not care for the author choosing Ruth to abandon her rescued dog at the very last. There is absolutely no reason any author should write animal cruelty into a novel.

Ruth is a "dirt poor" college student when she first comes to the attention of an agent from Homeland Security. Ruth is a self-taught genius when it comes to computer chip design an in the intervening years between college and her current situation, she has managed to place her specially designed chip into almost every financial and government institution around the world. This allows her to siphon funds to her private bank accounts and could afford her the lifestyle she always wanted; but deep down, she's still afraid of spending money and losing the millions she has acquired. When an accomplice gets sloppy with a coding program, Ruth's value to the government is exposed and she is now being hunted.

Fast-paced, engaging and with a sense of humor that only a twenty-something can posses, Ruth Run was a fun read. The ending left this reader wondering about a sequel and what else Ruth could manage to do with her talent. And what happens to Blob?!

I want to thank netgalley, the publishers and the author for this EARC. It had me intrigued from the beginning. Rose was on the run and she outsmarted everyone involved. She was very absent at what she did and perhaps got away with it all. Read it to find out.
I was given this book to put a review on my own opinion. Thank you

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group The Penguin Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Ruth Run was intriguing to me as a heist thriller but really this was focused on the aftermath of the heist and what led our main character, Ruth, to embark on a life of crime, with the reader as a voyeur to the very messy world she became a part of as a result of her impulses.

While the majority of the book follows Ruth as she tries to get away - a very rich woman - what I found the most interesting part of this book was the characters surrounding her, from her inept co-conspirator to the agent who has been stalking her for some time. Ruth isn’t a character I love or am necessarily rooting for based on her own merit, but the surrounding world the author created for around her had me firmly on her side and engaged in the little twists and turns until the very end.