NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books, thanks so much for the ARC! WOW I love Black Crouch as an author - his books make me think, feel ad sweat. Once I got into this book, the time FLEW by. I actually couldn't put it down. This isn't typically a genre I gravitate towards (post-apocalyptical) but I'm glad that I was able to read this one.

Thank you so much, Netgalley, for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Following a family of four who flee their hometown in the middle of the night due to massive killing sprees taking place in the US and Mexico, Jack, his wife Dee, and their two kids Naomi and Cole, must embark on a journey where safety is a mystery and fear is hiding around every corner. It's a story akin to works like "The Road" and "The Last of Us" making us witness and reconcile with what one would do to keep their family safe under any circumstances.

While this, in theory, is a really amazing plot, I felt like a lot of it fell flat for me. I didn't find the story to be very original, and a lot of the comparisons I was making while reading were far more enjoyable than this read. I don't think it was poorly written, but I wasn't exactly attached to any of our characters, so the stakes felt low. It was very short and fast in my experience, and I would still recommend this to those who want something fast and entertaining to hold their attention.

Run by Blake Crouch is a gripping, high-octane thriller that plunges readers into a terrifying post-apocalyptic scenario where survival hinges on speed and trust. Crouch excels at maintaining relentless tension, and his brisk pacing keeps the pages flying. The emotional stakes feel real, particularly in the portrayal of a fractured family forced to flee across a devastated America. While the plot occasionally leans on familiar tropes and the character development can feel rushed at times, the sheer intensity and cinematic quality of the narrative make it a compelling read. A solid 4-star thrill ride for fans of fast-paced dystopian fiction.

Thank you @Netgalley for my #gifted digital copy of Run in exchange for an honest review.

“There is no decent place to stand in a massacre.”

One family escapes their town as much of the population seems to be affected with some sort of condition. Those who have it are going on massive murderous rampages. The power is out, the internet is out, and every person is a threat.

The family of four drives around a lot, looking for safety and evading randos who just want to kill for seemingly no reason.

I loved Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter and enjoyed Pines, so I was excited for the chance to read one of his first novels with its re-release and new cover.

The premise of this story is great. Feels like The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, basically a zombie apocalypse except no zombies. Being an early work, it makes sense that the dialogue felt kind of fragmented and I didn’t feel particularly connected with the characters.

The pacing was fast, and I finished this in one day! I was never bored. However, I wanted the family to do more than just constantly encounter the same kind of dangerous people. It needed something to set it apart from those other storylines that are similar. Starve, run, fight off violent people, starve some more.

Overall, this was the start of Crouch’s voice, and it’s neat to see how his storytelling has evolved.

Thank you, NetGalley and Blake Crouch for this eARC! Blake Crouch is truly one of the masterminds of writing and designing suspenseful plots.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Run in exchange for my honest review. I always appreciate the chance to check out new thrillers, especially when they are by Blake Crouch. While this one definitely kept the pages turning with its quick pace, a Crouch signature, it just didn't quite grab me the way his more recent books have. I found myself wishing for a bit more depth with the characters, and the story, While exciting, didn't have that same intricate, mind-blowing quality I've come to love in books like Dark Matter and Recursion. It's a solid read if you're looking for something fast-paced, but personally, I think his later work blows this one out of the water.

I really enjoyed the suspense and edge-of-your-seat feel that this book had a moments. However, most of the book felt incredibly slow and the I didn’t care for the characters. I didn’t find myself rooting for them like in other Blake Crouch novels.

thank you to netgalley & ballantine books for this digital copy!

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY ↡
🔪 apocalyptic thrillers
📕 fast-paced action
🫣 gory plots

REVIEW ↡
i have such a love/hate relationship with this book. i was hooked by the suspense of the story and needed to know how everything would resolve, but it was also so dark and disturbing!! this was my first and probably last apocalypse-type thriller. it was extremely stressful and certain details were very gory. but blake crouch definitely knows how to write a compelling novel that will keep you hooked!! i wish the ending had more closure and details to explain the rollercoaster i had just read about LOL. but overall it was definitely well written and a crazy ride!

Kept me entertained and engaged - I think the book was just the right length, anymore would have made the story tiresome. Ending was a little meh, but overall, good for a quick, page turner!

The Run by Blake Crouch is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller with a strong sense of urgency. The plot moves quickly, keeping you engaged, and there are some solid twists along the way. It’s an entertaining and satisfying read for fans of high-stakes suspense.

For some reason I thought this was a new book so I excitedly requested it but come to find out my best friend read it almost a decade ago. I can certainly see why people love this book however it just wasn't my favorite. It was too much of a wild ride for me that ended up feeling repetitive in a way. I'm also really picky about books with apocalyptic/crazy town vibes. That being sad I thought it was decent, just not my fave of Crouch's books.

This book is very quick and easy to read. A apocalyptic thriller, each chapter is filled with intensity. I love Blake Crouch's other books so this one was a disappointment for me. I did want more from the characters, however I did enjoy the high stakes survival elements.
The story kicks off with something strange happening to the population, and suddenly this family need to go on the run to save their lives as the population is on the hunt for them.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. After reading and living Dark Matter, Recursion and Upgrade, Blake Crouch has become an auto-buy author for me. One of my favorite things about his books is that they are tense from beginning to end. That was mostly true of Run, though there were some slower moments where the reader could catch their breath. It wasn't my favorite BC book, but overall the tension was there, making this a quick, exciting read.

This book was more horror than I normally expect from Blake Crouch, utterly terrifying.

Jack Colclough and his family are living a nightmare. Suddenly the world has gone crazy and murders are happening everywhere. Jack and his family leave their home to escape death. After they have been on the road for a couple of days, Jack is wondering if that was the best option. This family goes through so many horrific things. Bravo!

This is a fun, fast, terrifying novel. I flew through "Run," which at times left me reminding myself to breathe.

For the most part, author Blake Crouch keeps the lead characters in "Run" - the unfortunate Colclough family - moving through a chaotic world where half the population seems to have gone insane with rage.

Father, mother, daughter and son fight to find a peaceful place to rest, narrowly escaping many dangerous situations as they deal with threats that are both internal and external. Parents Jack and Dee are reeling from pre-apocalyptic betrayal. Daughter Naomi, a teenager, is confused and frightened but is determined to survive. Son Cole is young - too young to understand what is happening and why, and his point of view provides a lens through which readers can imagine how a child would deal with the fallout of a major global catastrophe.

At times, "Run" can feel a little repetitive. You wonder just how many times the Colcloughs can scrape through a difficult, life-threatening situation. But Crouch manages to pull it off well, if a little strenuously. Despite its few faults in plot and character development - Jack and Dee feel like caricatures, while their children are well and fully formed, a strange turn that I usually find the other way around - "Run" is a fun and gripping read.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞.”
—𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐧

Rating: 2.75/5 ⭐️⭐️✨

Pub Date: 10/22/24

*Thank you @NetGalley and @randomhouse - Ballentine for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: Jack his wife Dee, and their two children are forced to go on the run after a strange event causes people to go mad and murderous in this apocalyptic reissue of one of this author's first novels.

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲:

*Apocalyptic Settings
*Short Chapters
*Graphic Details
*Popular Zombie Shows

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

Im a fan of the short chapters Ive noticed this author prefers. I was completely drawn in from the start and compulsively kept reading. The detailed writing makes it easy to imagine what the author is trying to portray. The storyline itself didnt have much of a point to it though and I found the incessant descriptions of the family's travels to be monotonous. There wasn't a huge climax to the story either. The ending was ok, but not my favorite.
With all that said, I know this was one of Crouch's first books and its obvious his storytelling has improved since.

#runbook

I was not able to read this book and review it before its publishing date but now that I read it I have given it 5 stars.

As a Blake Crouch fan, I was very interested to read one of his older works. This book had some of his trademark fast-paced writing, which starts right from the get go and doesn't slow down throughout. I do love a good apocalyptic sci-fi, especially when it kicks off right at the beginning of the mysterious event. So that kept me pretty plugged into the story as Jack and his family flee their home in search of somewhere safe to settle. The story does get a bit graphic at times, but does a great job of showing the high stakes nature of their journey and how little you can trust each of the characters that they interact with throughout. If you are a seasoned Blake Crouch reader, you can tell that this book is pretty underdeveloped from a character standpoint. But it is an easy, enjoyable read.

Big thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blake Crouch almost always writes hits and this one was no exception. I could not put this one down! An older title, that was reissued, I am so glad the publisher did that because it was one I couldn't find and had wanted to read. You will be hooked by the plot, action and non-stop thrills.

I really liked this book! The mystery kept me hooked, and I enjoyed trying to figure out why the characters were acting the way they did. The family's decisions were interesting to follow, and there were surprising twists along the way. The story was well done, and I had a great time reading it.