I adore Harlan Coben and normally finish his books over 48 hours. This one was a slow burn for me. Perhaps that's because his daughter (drug addict) was off putting...not sure. It's a good read and would recommend to fans, but not one of his best.

Run Away is a stand-alone suspense thriller about the lengths a father will go to in order to save his daughter. I've read several books from this author and generally enjoyed them, so was pleased to get this ARC from NetGalley, but when I started it, for reasons I can't fully explain, I found myself easily distracted and delaying picking it back up. It's a good story with plenty of surprises but I can't help feeling a little dissatisfied by the route the author chose to take. My initial impulse was to rate it 4 stars, but on reflection it's closer to 3.

Simon Greene is a happily married well-to-do financial consultant in New York City who has raised three children and enjoys a satisfying career. Everything was perfect until his eldest daughter went off the rails, becoming addicted to drugs with her loser boyfriend, Aaron. When Simon finds her busking in Central Park, Aaron prevents him from taking her home, and Simon throws a punch, which is filmed and goes viral, humiliating him, and worse, Paige runs off. Then months later, the police visit to say that Aaron has been murdered, and Simon is a suspect. Would a desperate man take a life to save his child, or is something more sinister going on?

This took a while to get going, as we are introduced to Simon's extended family, then Elena, a private investigator from Chicago who is hired to trace a missing young man, a gangster called Rocco, and a young couple called Ash and Dee-Dee who are on a mission. The main suspense lay in finding out how they all connected. The complex plot does hold together, and it does all make sense in the end, but the outcome for several characters - both good and bad - felt pretty unfair, which I think is what left me with a slightly bad taste.

It's well written and the characters' motivations become clear as the book progresses, one in particular has a poignant back story that was irrelevant to the plot but made their arc especially sad. I found Simon hard to relate to, probably because I'm not a parent, but his desperation and consequent recklessness did ring true, unlike some of the others' actions. I guessed some of the twists but that didn't spoil it for me. There is quite a lot of violence but it's not gratuitous.

Overall, this was a good but not great read, in comparison to Coben's earlier standalones, but it certainly won't put me off reading more from him when the opportunity arises. 3.5 rounded down for the ending and extended epilogue.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Run Away is available now, I'm late with this review as I only received it after publication.

Simon’s daughter Paige is estranged to him and his family after falling for a boy who wasn’t the best for her. She ended up a drug addict and run away from home, leaving her well off family behind.

But when Simon is convinced that he has seen her busking with her guitar in Central Park he decides to search for her again and bring her home. His plan isn’t as simple as it he thought, he is accused of murder when his daughter’s boyfriend is found brutally murdered.

The truth Simon uncovers is tangled in a cult and he will do anything to protect his daughter.

Every Harlan Coben book I’ve read has been amazing and this new one didn’t disappoint! A must for any Coben fan! Total page turner!

I do enjoy Harlan Coben and this is no exception.
With great characters and plenty of twists in the story this makes for a great read.

A thriller with heart. This book is pacy and quick, with lots of twists and turns, but the emotional plot is done well too. It's a story about loss and the desperate desire to help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

Simon Greene is looking for his missing daughter who has runaway. He is shocked when he sights her in a park, obviously homeless and on drugs, begging for money. As he approachs she runs off, leaving her boyfriend to stop her dad from following her. When her boyfriend is found murdered a few months later, Simon is the main suspect due to the altercation in the park. Thus starts the story which involves a religious cult, adoptions and someone out to kill Simon. A rollercoaster of a book, which I read slowly as I wanted to take it all in and there is a lot to take in. I love Harlen Cobens books and this does not disappoint. Plenty of twists, drama and characters which all came together in the exciting end.

Harlan Coben really on form with this gripping tale . Paige a teenage girl goes missing from home and college and heads into a world of drugs and begging . Her father Simon sets out to find her and sees her in a park , she runs away , but tells his wife Ingrid and they set out to find her . Her boyfriend is found brutally murdered in the flat they shared . They confront a local drug dealer but Ingrid ends up being shot and is in a coma in hospital for some time . There is a link to a number of young men being killed by a hitman but what is the link and who is doing it . It points to an adoption agency who placed them in homes as babies. This is as much of the plot I will reveal as there are so many twists and turns on the way to the ending , suffice it to say there are secrets in the past of Paige's family .

This is the first Harlan Coben book I’ve read but it certainly won’t be the last, it didn’t disappoint.
The story revolves around Simon Greene and his quest to find his missing daughter 21 yr old Paige who is a drug addict. Simon is moderately wealthy with a wife who is a paediatrician and another 2 children.
Simon is a driven man, he feels some guilt that he has not located his daughter missing for six months, and his quest to find her takes him into situations that are grim and dangerous. The book has three seemingly different stories, a private investigator, an assassin and a cult. The plot is well drawn and moves along at a fast pace, it soon becomes clear the three separate stories are intertwined.
The characters are well drawn, you almost feel sorry for Simon and as the story unfolds feel sympathetic towards the drug addict Paige. It is a well written plot, an interesting mystery and a surprising twist at the end.

Simon Greene has spent months looking for his daughter, Paige, a drug addict who has yet to hit rock bottom. He eventually finds her singing in a park, almost unrecognisable from the girl he raised. But she runs away rather than fall into his arms and then the man she lives with (who got her into this mess) is soon found brutally murdered.

Does Paige's disappearance mean she might have something to do with it, or that she might even be in danger herself? The police aren't doing enough and so Simon has to take matters into his own hands...

This is a twisty suspense that is, at heart, about a parent's love and will to do anything for their child. Should you let them make their own mistakes or would you always help if you could, regardless of whether you should?

I enjoyed this book and there were definitely a few reveals/twists that really got me. I actually preferred the character moments to the suspense plot, which I won't go into detail about, but I feel I've seen a lot of in fiction lately. The inter-personal relationships were the most intriguing and Coben works hard to keep readers turning the pages.

Run Away by Harlan Coben
I have not read a Harlan Coben book for a few years and was pleased to find that his ability to grip the reader has not dimmed. This is definitely a roller coaster of emotions and you read on desperate to discover the next twist in the story.
The story opens with a confrontation in Central Park. Simone Greene has received news that his drug addicted daughter will be there busking and he tries to win her away from her dealer boyfriend. In the ensuing fracas has strikes the boyfriend and there is an internet frenzy as images of this privileged man is shown attacking a poor homeless man.
Then a few months later the boyfriend is murdered and the detectives turn their gaze back upon Simon and his family again. Alongside this story is another of a wealthy man trying to trace his missing son who hires an ex-cop. It is clear that at some point these two storylines will merge and you cannot predict how this will happen.
The loss of a child to the terror of drug abuse is one which will unfortunately ring bells with many parents and the lengths to which a parent will go to in order to help their child know no bounds. A good read and although this is not my favourite Harlan Coben book it still worth reading. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the chance to read the book in return for an honest review.

This is an action packed, fast paced, absolutely amazing thriller. I loved it & would recommend it to anyone.

Absolutely loved this book. The story was so devastating that I could not completely understand. It stars off with the usual variety of plots that only comes together in the last chapter. The plot was cleverly designed and written to capture the readers interest from the beginning so much so that I couldn’t put it down.

I would recommend this and all other Harlan Coben books, in a heartbeat.

This is an intriguing storyline. The reader keeps getting additional pieces of information which change the whole direction of the story. There are elements of family love,betrayal,drug misuse and sinister reasons for murder. The final part of the book contains further unexpected twists which give the whole tale a purpose. At the root of the problem is a mysterious cult. The approaching death of its leader means that his heirs need to indulge in extreme measures. These measures overlap with the hidden history of the family which is central to the book. The parents of the family that is central to the story promise openness but there is one secret too far. This is a well written book and the turns in the story keep the reader wanting to know more.

Run Away by Harlan Coben is an action packed book, with twists and turns that lead you to think you know what's happening.

We meet Simon Green, a father of a drug addict, who finds her looking far worse than she ever has before, and he blames one person only, the boyfriend.

People start dying, including the drug addict's boyfriend, and that's when Simon has to bring his daughter home, no matter what.

This is a great thriller, that sweeps you along on the ride.

Run Away was published on 8th August 2019, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Harlen Coben on Twitter, or through his website.

If you like thrillers, then here are some more I've reviewed:

The Nowhere Child by Christian White 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The End of the Line by Gray Williams 🌟🌟🌟

What She Found in the Woods by Josephine Angelini 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Pacy thriller in which a father desperately searches for his daughter who has become addicted to drugs and slid into a world he doesn’t understand. When people start getting murdered, he and a private detective try to piece together the links. This is a perfect holiday read page turner, with some very contemporary themes. For you if you like pace and action.

Simon Green is a financial manager. His wife is a doctor and they have three children. Their oldest daughter is at college where she meets a boy. She runs away with him. Eventually they give up looking for her but Simon sees her one day in Central Park so naturally he goes after her. Things spiral quickly out off control.

As ever, Harlan Coben's writing is superb. It's a roller coaster ride you won't want to get off until the end. I read this book in one sitting and I could and didn't want to put it down. The plot is realistic with many tissues. It takes us in so many different directions. I could say much more about this book but I don't want to spoil it for potential readers. This is a terrific read that I highly recommend.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author Harlan Conem for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Omg this was so good I read it in a day I just couldn't stop reading such an amazing story read it, it's brilliant.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a review copy of Run Away, a stand alone thriller set in New York.

Simon Greene’s daughter, Paige, is a drug addict and has been missing for more than six months when he sees her busking in Central Park. She runs away from him but it renews his determination to find her. When events take an unexpected turn Simon finds himself in real danger.

I thoroughly enjoyed Run Away which is an exciting thriller with plenty of twists, drama, mystery and above all secrets. The novel is told from several points of view, notably Simon and the unexplained Ash and Dee Dee, who seem to be on a paid killing spree. Their story unfolds gradually throughout the novel but the little that is initially revealed is intriguing and curiosity arousing. Simon’s story is the ostensibly more straightforward hunt for Paige but it turns out to be tortuous and full of twists. I automatically assume that the thriller description means that the novel will have less than a nod to realism and judge it more on how well it captures and holds my attention. This is true in the case of Run Away which has an absurd plot, measured strictly in terms of realism, but which is very readable and had me hooked from start to finish. I found it easy to escape into Simon’s world and avidly follow all the twists and turns, accepting all the unlikelihoods as part of the excitement. I loved the ending, yes it’s more nonsense, but the twists are great and the tying together is very satisfying.

Simon Greene is an unlikely hero being a financial planner and a loving husband and father, yet he rises to the occasion magnificently, even if he has a habit of doubting himself. He is, however, a man surrounded by secrets, not his own but rather those kept from him by his family. Why? My best guess is that they don’t want to disappoint him.

Run Away is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Fantastic as always. Harlan Coben never disappoints. Fast paced and twists on every page. Couldn’t put it down. Amazing xx