What an exciting thrill ride this book was. Highly clever and intriguing plot. Jaw dropping moments, twist and turns, and just when you thought you had it figured out, the author hit you with another scenario. Well written characters and excellent story telling kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

Francesca is on a night train and the only one seemingly awake looking out if the window when she sees a young girl being chased through a clearing, but before she can take any action, the train has sped past. She realises that she recognises the girl and with a bit of investigation finds that she was reported missing two years ago. She gets in contact with her brother who has never given up on finding his little sister and we then follow him on his mission to follow this lead.

This book started off great with a brilliant opening that got my attention immediately, but I felt that it dragged a little in the middle then got a little predictable towards the end.

3.5 stars

No Place to Run by Mark Edwards is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Amazon Publishing and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Aidan has been living with the guilt of losing his younger sister two years ago, when she was visiting him in Seattle.  She was 15 at the time, and he was 27.  It was supposed to be a wonderful reunion, but instead, she disappeared.   He has been looking for her ever since, papering all of Seattle with posters of her face, hoping someone would see her.  He has been on the news, he has been with the police, he has started a web-site....all in the hopes that someone has seen her.

Now, while most of the other passengers slept, a 75 year old woman on a train swears she saw Scarlett running from a man, in Northern California.

Aiden gives chase.  He meets Lana in the small town of Eaglewood.  She is looking for her brother, although the police and mayor of the town swear he is dead.  Together, they are looking for the truth, and in doing so, make some deadly enemies.

From kidnapping, police corruption and  human trafficking to doomsday eco-terrorists, the truth can be hard to find.


My Opinions:   
Well, it started out rather slow, and rather predictable, until about half way through, and then Edwards threw us a curve, and from there on, it continued to be a bumpy ride....and quite good.

I admit to not liking Scarlet from the start...a whiny teenager.  However, I loved both Aiden and Lana from the get-go.  The characters were all quite deep, although some of the back-stories were a little too long (Shannon in particular).

For the most part, it was a fast and entertaining read...even if climate change is not a favorite topic of mine, and extremists are even less so.   But, if not great, it did keep me somewhat captivated.

Seventy five year old Francesca is on a long rail journey home after scattering her beloved husband’s ashes when, very early in the morning, she sees a young woman running in a clearing. Their eyes meet and she thinks the woman looks familiar. Once she remembers where she seen her before she contacts Aidan Faith, the woman’s brother. He is sceptical but also desperate to find his sister who has been missing for two years. He sets about following Francesca’s exact train journey.

Of course there is nothing to see but he meets an interesting girl on the train who gets off when he does. She is picked up by Jimmy and is heading to the Ranch. In the nearest town to the clearing Aidan asks around. Elizabeth in the cafe seems to recognise Scarlett but doesn’t say so. He does, however, hook up with Lana Carrera who is looking for her brother who supposedly died in a recent forest fire. Lana doesn’t believe her brother is dead and she knows that Elizabeth (from the cafe) was his girlfriend.

Elizabeth agrees to meet them at the local ‘murder house’ (not important to the story) but because her father, the mayor, has monitoring software on her phone he sends a ‘welcoming committee’ and things go pear shaped pretty quickly. Lana and Aidan escape but realise they have to find this ranch.

The Ranch is some sort of cult, headed up by Shannon Reinhardt, but not a s*x cult. It’s more an eco-warrior cult but that’s not it either as our two intrepid searchers learn. It’s even worse than that. Young people are being duped in a really nasty way.

This was not Edwards’ best book. The ending was a little too convenient and abrupt. The story itself was a little fantastical, I can’t imagine the bad guys getting away with things for so long without being caught out. And the characters were a little thin. Nevertheless it was an engaging and readable story which built up a head of steam as we neared the climax. Many thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Aidan is the son who can do no wrong in his parents’ eyes. That is until his sister disappeared visiting him stateside, not that they openly blamed him but it must have been a black mark on his impeccable record. So when a chance sighting of his sibling comes to light, he is compelled to follow the breadcrumbs to find her. And these breadcrumbs take him to something more horrifying than a house made of gingerbread, cake, and candy but definitely something sinister at the centre of it all.

As I got deeper and deeper into this missing person mystery, I discovered a very dark world that Edwards had created. A world that in all honesty, I could imagine existing in the States but hoped was just what I’d seen in films. A world where in a small town pull the shutters down to the outsiders and don’t like troublemakers or questions. This community – just 😱😱😱 they really are something!

No Place To Run is a cracking thriller that kept me captivated, but I didn’t get the hebbie jeebie head-f*** feeling that I got from some of his previous novels. For me this was a slight sidestep away from Edwards’s usual psych-thriller book. That said, I really enjoyed my trip to Northern California. It was a long way from the sunny beaches of Baywatch or the glamour of Beverly Hills which is what I imagine when I think California! I felt like I was in a remote part of the US, transported to a small town cut off by woodland and farms. If you like an intense fast-paced thriller that’ll keep you guessing, No Place To Run will tick all the boxes. I would never have predicted what was going to happen and the full story of Scarlett’s disappearance.

Mark Edwards doing what he does best! Capturing your interest and not letting it go again until you have finished the book! He has a way of pulling you in and making it so it’s hard to put it down, even when real life catches up with you!
You can tell he always puts a lot of research into his books to make sure they are accurate to the places and people you meet along the way.
I don’t want to give anything away so just grab it and get stuck in, expect lots of twists and turns along the way!

Francesca is traveling back on a train after scattering her beloved husband’s ashes, and she happens to see a young woman who appears to be running from someone. Their eyes meet and Francesca thinks she recognizes her as a girl who went missing 2 years ago. She contacts the number for the search for the missing girl, which gets her in touch with the girls brother, who has never given up searching for her as he feels responsible for her disappearance. He doesn’t find his sister when he takes the same train ride, but he does meet Kristin, who is picked up and being taken to The Ranch. He follows her and starts asking around about what goes on there and meets up with Lana, who is also searching for her missing brother. While they hunt for the missing ones together, they develop feelings, but also discover a weird eco warrior cult run by Shannon and her minions. Aiden and Lana have to go through a lot to try to get their siblings back and try to help set free the others that have been brainwashed as well.
I didn’t love this one, but it was definitely something different by this author, who I enjoy.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

No Place To Run by Mark Edwards



Title - No Place To Run

Author - Mark Edwards

Genre - Mystery, Thriller

Published - June 2022

Pages - 347



Two years ago fifteen-year-old Scarlett took a trip to Seattle to visit her brother Aidan where she vanished into thin air. Aiden's been looking for her and has had nothing but dead ends and misdirections. He's almost lost hope until someone sees a young woman running for her life through the forest in Northern Carolina. Could this really be Scarlett? When Aiden heads south, he finds a town riddled with missing teen posters. The locals are scared, and the sheriff won't talk. Then Aiden meets Luna and gains his first clue, between the two of them they start making enemies. Enemies who want them silenced for good.



This book is slightly different from Mark Edward's usual books. I did enjoy it although I do prefer his books that have a more supernatural tone to them. The book was fast-paced well written, and the characters were likeable and well developed. The plot was interesting, kept me hooked and needing to read on.



Mark Edwards is a great storyteller and this book is just another shining example of this.

Having read most of Mark Edwards’ novels and grown to love his immensely readable style of tense, dark psychological thriller, I have to admit that this one took me a little bit by surprise. But not entirely in a bad way.

The story launches in typical Edwards’ fashion, with a gripping premise that immediately sucks you into the narrative.

Traveling up the west coast of America on an overnight train, elderly widow Francesca spots a young woman running for her life across a forest clearing just as dawn breaks. The woman’s face is somehow familiar, and Francesca is convinced it belongs to a teenager reported missing two years before.

When Aiden, the elder brother of missing Scarlett, learns that his sister might still be alive, he heads down to Northern California and the town of her siting to see if he can find her.

The first half of this book is very much a slow burn; heavy on atmosphere and exposition and hints of dark mysteries being concealed in the small town, where Aiden is repeatedly warned off his search.

What follows, though, when everything kicks off, is a masterfully structured plot, packed with gun-toting bad guys, unexpected twists and heart-pounding action. The writing is sharp and pacey, and I consumed the last few chapters like a dervish.

Granted, there’s an awful lot to take in; in fact, some might accuse Edwards of pushing the boundaries of credibility. But, for me, this story spoke unnervingly of possibility. And the more I thought about it, the more I came to respect Edwards’ intentions. Sects and zealots do exist, after all, and there are no limits to the extent they might go to to achieve their ends.

Some Edwards’ fans may take against his hallmark creeping suspense fiction being replaced by a dystopian action thriller, but I think he’s done a fine job and tip my hat to him for stepping out of his comfort zone and trying something new. I would certainly read more from him in this vein.

Absolutely loved this from the first page. This author never disappoints. His characters are ordinary people that get thrust into situations that they could never have dreamed possible.

A must read!

Mark Edwards has done it again! No Place to Run is his third book set in the U.S. and Edwards has crafted an action packed, compelling adventure tale. In a departure from his usual chiller-thrillers with spooky vibes, this story is a suspenseful missing-persons mystery.

Aidan Faith, originally from the UK, is working in the tech industry in Seattle. His teenage sister, Scarlett, comes to visit and to take in all the sights of the area on her first trip to the U.S. Things go terribly wrong, and Scarlett goes missing. After a large manhunt with no results, two years have gone by, and Aidan is still looking for her.
From the riveting opening scene, through his convoluted search for Scarlett, Aidan is relentless, encountering eco-terrorists, an environmental activist cult, and a number of sordid characters. The action and suspense is truly nonstop, and the story is given added gravitas by its themes of environmentalism, youth commitment to saving the planet, climate change and trafficking of minors.
Aidan’s persistence in searching for his sister is admirable and really drives the plot. Lana, who is looking for a missing brother, is a likeable female protagonist. Both protagonists exemplify the values of strong sibling bonds and Aidan’s strong belief that “Family…came first. It always came first.” Shannon is a well-drawn disturbed cult leader whose back story has interesting depth.
As usual, the writing is beautifully descriptive and atmospheric; the author especially caught the essence of vibrant urban Seattle, the wild but scarred beauty of Northern California after its wildfires, and the rugged forests of the rural Northwest.

I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy their mysteries well-written, with plenty of action and with some serious contemporary issues to be considered as the story unfolds. I am looking forward to Mark Edwards’ next work!!

A huge thank you to Thomas & Mercer Publishers, and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Two years ago, Scarlett vanishes whilst visiting her brother Aiden. He blames himself and has never stopped looking for her. Leads come and fizzle out, sightings turn into dead ends. He has almost given up... until... one day he gets a massage from a woman who is convinced she has seen his sister. She was on a train and saw a woman being chased across a forest clearing. She tells all to Aiden and he drops everything to check out the woman's tale... Alighting from the train close to the sighting, he finds himself in a strange sort of town. Unfriendly locals, and a sheriff who would rather he just left town. Which is what he starts to think is the only option, until he meets Lana...
And that's all I'm saying as it all goes a little weird and it's best to discover it in all its glory as the author intended. Suffice to say that, if you have read this author's previous books, you'll know that you'll be in for a very wild ride...
This is one of my favourite authors and he has never failed to completely bowl me over with each and every book he has released. Until this one. Which, although I enjoyed, just lacked a certain something that all his other books have, in spades. It's probably more me than him, but usually his books are so on the nose that they tend to terrify me along the way. Maybe it's the subject matter, the direction that this one goes in, the one I can't expand on due to spoilers, that just didn't resonate with me as much as previous books have done.
The characters were good and, on the whole, easy to connect to / emote with along the way. The plot was well crafted, and executed with no superfluous waffle or padding. The story ramped up with appropriate action all the way until we reached a rather unexpected but satisfying end. A wee tad over the top and maybe a smidge implausible, but satisfying nonetheless.
All in all, although not as good as previous books have been for me, it will no way put me off jumping on his next book as soon as I can get my mitts on it.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I love Mark Edwards, he is one of my favorite authors. I've absolutely loved every other book he's written, and I wanted to love this one just as much, but I just couldn't stay connected while reading it.

It was definitely missing his usual thriller/creepy vibe that so many of his novels have. I am going to listen to the audiobook version when it comes out to see if I like it more with a narrator telling me the story.

Thank you Mark Edwards and Netgalley for the advanced copy! I look forward to reading Mark's next book.

Another rollercoaster ride with this new story from a favourite author is coming out next week.

Cold cases are really interesting to read and watch and in this case, the author has brought up so much more than just the investigation of a missing person.

The emotions and frustrations are felt right from the beginning. The first chapter grabs you in when a woman watches through the window of her train how a young girl is chased by a man in a wood. From here on, everything goes upside down.

Aiden is the missing girl's brother, and he’s been looking for her for over two years. When he finally gets a notice that she might be in a small town where everyone seems to be afraid of anyone.

The police won’t help him and while everything looks like a dead end again, something swifts. He meets Lana, a woman that nobody believes but sometimes, when you lose hope, you know to give a chance to anyone even if it might not lead to anything concrete.

This is another page turner story that many readers will enjoy.

🆓📖Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy.

I received this ARC via NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

This but wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it a good way!

You travel along with Aiden as he try’s to find his sister a couple of years after she went missing in Seattle and I was so shocked at how the story unfolded I didn’t see any of it coming tbh but I was pleasantly surprised.

The start drew me in when you read about Francesca sitting on a train wide awake looking out of the window while everyone else is asleep, I wish you got to find out more about her or if she became involved a little with finding Scarlett that my only little niggle about the book.

Two years ago, on a trip to Seattle to visit her brother Aidan, fifteen-year-old Scarlett vanished into thin air. After years of false leads and dead ends, Aidan has almost given up hope. But then a woman sees a girl running for her life across a forest clearing in Northern California. She is convinced the girl is the missing Scarlett. But could it really be her?

Heading south, Aidan finds a fire-ravaged town covered in missing-teenager posters. The locals seem afraid, the sheriff won’t answer any questions and it looks like another dead end – until a chance meeting with returned local Lana gives Aidan his first clue. But as they piece together what happened, Lana and Aidan make deadly enemies. Enemies willing to do anything to silence them - and to protect the terrible truth about what is really going on in the forest...

This isn't my first Mark Edwards read so I had high hopes of an engaging, nail biting read. Did I get one?

Yes and No - the no is because the subject of why Scarlett had gone missing was not my cup of tea - however this didn't stop me from reading it.

Mark has a great way of writing in such an easy to read way the chapters speed by and there's twists and turns aplenty! Each chapter ends you wanting to find out what happens next and before you know it it's 3am and you have 4 hours before you need to be up.

The characters were well developed and each one had flaws even the "good" ones.

As I said this wasn't based on a subject I would normally pick up and it was clear that Mark had really thought about the content and lots of research and detail had been used.

Thoroughly recommend.

I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘No Place To Run’ written by Mark Edwards in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Englishman Aiden Faith arrives in Eaglewood when he learns that his sister Scarlett who’s been missing for the past two years has been seen in a clearing running away from a man. Aiden visits the clearing where his sister was spotted by a woman on a train and speaks to people in Eaglewood hoping they’ll remember seeing her, but he gets the feeling that although some people recognise her they aren’t telling him the truth.

‘No Place To Run’ is a well-written thriller with lots of action, suspense and intrigue, that starts off well and keeps me involved in Aiden’s search for Scarlett, but then it becomes so far-fetched with scheming characters, brain-washing and cults that the story feels too unbelievable to be taken seriously. This is so different to other thrillers I’ve enjoyed reading by this author and I’m afraid to admit I lost interest halfway through with no desire to continue reading. I’m sure I’m in the minority as from reading other reviews this book is well thought of, so I apologise that this is one of those novels that does nothing for me.

Another by Mark Edwards. I was looking forward to this. It started off strong and I was turning the pages quickly. Unfortunately though, I soon found myself struggling. The storyline turned from something really promising to something that was too far fetched for me. It took me a long time to finish this book due to this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC Of this book in exchange for my honest review.

No Place To Run is my first introduction to author Mark Edwards and I'll be honest the story wasn't quite what I was expecting. Nevertheless, I found it to be a very engaging thriller, and the premise was certainly an interesting one.

Furthermore, it does start off with a bang as a seventy-five-year-old widow travelling back home to Seattle witnesses an incident out of the window of her train involving who she believes is a young girl called Scarlett who has been missing for two years.

And when Scarlett's brother Aidan learns of the sighting, he immediately sets out to search for her in the town closest to where she was last seen. But its a town that's used to missing teens and one where the locals aren't keen to help. That is until Aidan comes across Lana whose also there searching for a missing sibling.

Yet, their presence and questions soon put them in danger and as a game of cat and mouse ensues the action really heats up, and with flashbacks to Scarlett's visit to Seattle two years earlier and a few twists along the way. This was an enjoyable read.

But it didn't quite get my adrenaline pumping or have me desperate to turn the pages and find out what was going to happen next.

I went into No Place To Run almost completely blind, so I was pretty surprised when soon the story took a turn I was not expecting and that, although not my favorite kind of plot, still made a really entertaining read.

When a woman aboard a train see a young girl being chased alongside the tracks by a man, she immediately recognizes her as Scarlett Faith, a young girl that went missing two years before. After contacting Scarlett’s brother, Aidan, he will go looking for her and will have the help of Lana, another woman looking for her missing brother.

The opening scene was fantastic! It got me immediately hooked. What looked like a case of a missing teen soon turned out to be a much more complex plot of which I will not say much to not spoil it for you.

From here the plot turned into a more action packed kind of story with several “oh, sh*t!” moments that kept the story moving forward at a rapid pace. The atmosphere was not creepy per se but it kept turning more tense as we learn details about the conspiracy Scarlett got involved with. The author certainly dived into some serious topics, but I would have like some more depth in some of them.

Both Aidan and Lana came as likable characters, especially Lana, in their dogged search of their missing siblings, and the dynamic between them was really good.

Although it was a really engaging read, overall it was a bit far fetched and over the top for me. I also missed a bit more tension in the resolution. For the predicament he was in, I thought Aidan had it a little too easy at the end.

No Place To Run is more action than psychological thriller, and despite being different to the other books I’ve read by him, the writing was so good that it managed to kept me engrossed in the story despite the theme not being my favorite, hence the 4 stars.