A review by emileereadsbooks
Run by Blake Crouch

challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5 days ago it was like a switch flipped. Brutal murders started happening and it's progressively gotten worse and more chaotic. Now the killers have banded together and have a list of those they are after. So, Jack and his family are on the run. They don't know what caused all this, but they do know to save their lives, they must get out now. 

When I saw on Netgalley with a release date of August 2024, I requested it without even reading the synopsis. I loved Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade so Blake Crouch has earned his status as an auto read author for me. Since I thought it was a new Crouch novel, I was a little confused because it didn't feel like the same vibe, but it was compelling so I kept reading. It wasn't until I was 75% in and I went looking for clarification on something that I saw that this is a rerelease of a previously self published title. So this book isn't the same kind of speculative sci-fi that I loved in those other novels, but it still has the heart and compulsive plot I love in a Blake Crouch book. 

If I had read the synopsis I might have not picked this one up. If I had read reviews, I likely would have avoided it. But this book, like all the other Crouch I have read, sucked me in. It kept me awake at night wanting to read AND laying in bed scared thinking about what if I was in this situation. I was IN IT. 

This book is gruesome and horrific and graphic. If you have any sensitive reader bones in your body DO NOT pick this up. But l could not look away. I was on the run with Jack and his family and even though I didn't want to see the horrific things they saw, I endured it all with them. 

Thanks to Ballantine Books for a digital copy. All opinions are my own.