Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me an advance readers copy of the book Run by Blake Crouch in return for an honest review!

This thriller reminds me of a zombie apocalypse story but what's even more frightening is that it's not mindless zombies coming after you. It's other human beings who still have their wits, memories, and a terrifying goal in mind. At the very beginning of this book, I was hooked. It was very fast-paced and brought you along on one family's attempt at survival in a world gone mad. People are coming to kill them but the targets don't understand why. I was so intrigued by this book, I found myself talking about it when I wasn't reading it. You become so invested in their survival that you go through the emotional roller coaster of fear/hope/defeat along with the characters. I was definitely more emotionally invested in this book than any other book I've read this year.

I realized that this is a re-release of Blake Crouch's first novel that he self-published over 10 years ago. I'm not sure if there were any changes made as I did not read the original release. Coincidentally, it was the first novel of his I've ever read and I'm so excited to read more of his novels after having such a great experience with this one!

Thank you Random House for letting me read this book.

I was hooked from the very beginning. This apocalyptic novel grips you from the very start and doesn’t let go until the last sentence. The pacing was great, the characters had depth and were complex. Even though the story wasn’t quite as unique and original, I still found it interesting and highly bingeable.

I liked the mystery behind the cause of the chaos. Crouch didn’t give much away which kept me enthralled. Even though this book was gruesome and down right disturbing, I still found it addictive and enjoyable.

I look forward to reading more from Crouch such as Dark Matter and Recursion.

If you make it to the Acknowledgments section of the book, you learn that Run is a novel Blake Crouch self-published in 2011.

I find it difficult to rate this book. It's hard to read someone's first novel after reading one of his recent books, like Dark Matter, because Run is not Dark Matter. I wish I had known this about the book before going in. I might have been more forgiving while I read it!

If you would like to peek back in time and read something Blake Crouch published in 2011, definitely read Run. It is fast paced and you will enjoy thinking about how far he has come as a writer.

However, don't go in thinking this is his next "new" book, because it's isn't, and you might be very confused, like I was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the Advance Reader Arc in return for my honest opinion.

This book was ok. Not my favorite Blake crouch book. It was a fast read. It had an interesting premise but the plot had barely anything to it.

Run
By: Blake Crouch

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Just like in true fashion Blake Crouch writing in RUN draws you in from the very first page!

An apocalyptic thriller that is terrifying and action packed literally until the end. An epidemic of rage and violence, a broadcast naming names for people to kill and tonight they called Jack Colclough. He has no idea why this is happening or how to stop it all he can do is RUN. The story follows Jack and his family try to survive!

It was so realistic! I felt like I was reading a script. Though the bones were good it fell flat for me. It was non stop high intensity with no real explanation. On the surface level the characters were annoying, it was hard to build a connection with them besides hoping they would survive. I can see some loving this but it wasn’t my favorite from Crouch. I will always recommend DARK MATTER (still need to watch the show) and RECURSION.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing group- B for the ARC for my honest review.

Have you read this? Do you have a favorite of his?

So, so good!! I read this a long time ago when Crouch self published it, and it's great that it's being published again! It's intense from page one, and never lets up. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Run!!! This is the perfect title!! This is also a COMPLETE adrenaline rush! Jack and his family leave for safety in the middle of a chaotic night. Where are they running to? What exactly are they running from? Massive killing sprees and bloodshed yes, but why? This is the best apocalyptic story I have ever read. From the first page to the last sentence, this is extremely fast paced, thrilling and relatable. Relatable? Yes! Jack is an ordinary dad with an ordinary family. I will admit, I had to take little breaks to catch my breath and digest certain parts, but that’s exactly why I am giving it all 5 stars!

I can't remember the last time I devoured a book in two sittings. RUN is that rare thriller in which emotions run deep and the characters are complex and fully realized: a mother and father, long at odds in their marriage, charged with saving their two children from unspeakable horrors.

In the wake of a solar flare, millions of upstanding citizens of the lower 48 have become vicious, capable of the most brutal crimes imaginable against their friends, their neighbors, even their own families. Much of the novel feels like a blueprint for the film CIVIL WAR, which came out more than a decade after RUN's initial publication. As the body count rises and the entire country goes to hell, the family keeps driving, climbing, crawling--starving, thirsty, and traumatized--in an attempt to reach the safety of the border. The stakes are clear from the word go, the challenges seemingly unsurmountable. Riveting. Sign me up to the Blake Crouch fan club.

I spent a whole night falling asleep and waking up to read on. Then falling asleep and reading again. This book absolutely terrified me, but also gave me peace and reassurance. I really don’t know how that’s possible with the subject matter this book has but it was accomplished. Going to have nightmares for weeks now.

Amazingly real, you can feel it as you read it. Frustrated with the characters, joy with the characters. You experience it as much as read it. Some of it was a bit much, harsh and cruel, but incredibly vivid and realistic.

My attention was held all the way through this exciting novel. The main characters felt real and I rooted for them to survive. The end of the family’s fight for survival seemed a bit abrupt after the intensity of the rest of the story. Blake Crouch knows how to grab a reader’s attention!

Run don’t wait to get the newest book by Blake Crouch when it releases on October 24, 2024. This short, quick read was self-published by Crouch in 2011 and is now being re-published by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and we are all the better for it.

“Run” is a thrill of a ride set in a post-apocalyptic America. After a recent celestial event, everyone in Jack and Dee’s western city seems to have lost their mind. Their friends and neighbors are being hunted down by mad men with guns, the streets are eerily empty and there has been a run on the grocery stores and gas stations. Desperate to get his family out of the city and to somewhere safe, Jack gathers what supplies he can, loads his family in the car and takes off with his petal to the floor. Met with danger at every turn, Jack and Dee soon discover that while being hunted and shot at can bring a family closer together, dying may not be the worst thing that can happen to them or their family.

Post-apocalyptic novels are one of my favorites genres and this is an excellent addition to the category. I am a huge fan of Blake Crouch and I was thrilled to receive an ARC of his latest release. Starting with Dark Matter, I have thoroughly enjoyed every Crouch novel that I have read and this was no exception. There is a reason he is a best-selling author; Crouch really understands human nature, emotions and motivation, and his ability to describe them so eloquently makes you feel like you are not just reading a book, but that you are part of the story. My heart was racing throughout this entire book and I did not want to put it down. My only issue is that the book was shorter than I would have liked; I could have happily read much more of this entertaining story. I am still thinking about this story days later and I miss the world that I was in while I was reading it. A big thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to read this!! You can definitely tell this was the authors earlier work, still great though. I can definitely see a movie made on it and I would absolutely go and see it!! He does a wonderful job creating original stories and this did have me hooked. I did feel that there was something lacking from the book however, it may be that it could have used more character description. Otherwise great read!

This novel felt like the early work that it was, but it was also compelling, engrossing, and a little too close to plausibility. A family is on the run together when some members of society suddenly start banding together and killing the "others." This would make a terrific, though violent, adventure movie.

Wow wow wow wow. Stephen King's "The Stand" meets "The Last of Us" makes for a phenomenal body of work. I have enjoyed all the books I've read by Crouch but this one probably had me more captivated than any of his novels.

Not only is the subject matter and storyline riveting, but the writing itself is masterful. His writing reminded me a lot of Stephen King's writing, which I think is the ultimate compliment I can bestow upon an author.

I loved this book. I started it at 8:30pm one evening as I crawled into bed after a long day... and then I never stopped reading it. I read this book until the wee hours of the morning. So, future reader, you have been warned. Do not start this book until you have your schedule cleared for the day so that you can read it all in one sitting, if you so desire (which you will desire.)

This book is a 10/10 for me and I'll be recommending it to everyone I know. Y'all better buy a copy as soon as you can because I'm going to buy them all out to send to family and friends.

Oh, and I've seen some 4-star reviews that dealt out the 4-star rating only because of "trigger warnings" as Crouch paints a gruesome picture of some of the deaths/action scenes. But to those reviews I say, "duh." Since when has an apocalyptic novel NOT contained imagery that isn't haunting? I'm a mom and I don't love reading aforementioned scenes but they're necessary to set the plot and to make your mind understand the true nature of what's taking place. So, yes... trigger warning for anyone who doesn't like graphic portrayals of what takes place in apocalyptic novels... but then again, you probs shouldn't read an apocalyptic novel if you're that triggered.

Thank you so much to the author and to netgalley for allowing me to read and review such a riveting novel. I loved it.

Anything Blake Crouch writes, I will read at this point! While Run wasn't quite as good as Dark Matter in my opinion, this book still had me on the edge of my seat and I blasted through it! I love a good dystopian world/survival horror. And I loved the mystery of why all these people suddenly went crazy and started murdering everyone, usually I would have sought more of an explanation but for some reason it really worked for me here. Some parts of the book were a bit repetitive, but overall a really great read!

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC!

You can tell this is the authors first book. There was a lot of action and some interesting characters but there was very little depth in creating the cause for the chaos which made it feel like any zombie or e post-apocalyptic book. I did enjoy the emotional journey of Jack and Dee and the moral issues around how to handle an infected son. Overall I would recommend reading if you are looking for a quick entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the early access.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this eARC. This was a twisty and wild ride per the usual with Blake Crouch. This is one of those books that sucks you in from the beginning and sticks with you at the end. A must read for 2024!

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and the author for this ARC of Run by Blake Crouch!

This book is anxiety on a page! It is a Thriller with a capital T! From the very beginning, you're thrown into a unexplainable event. Something has happened and now people are turning violently against each other, but not everyone is affected. We follow a family on the run, trying to find somewhere safe from all the madness. The things they see along the way are very disturbing and just awful. You want to have hope for them but as the story continues, there's not a lot of hope left.

There has not been a Blake Crouch book that I haven't enjoyed and that includes this book. I started this book back in 2017, when it was originally published, after reading the Wayward Pines series. I didn't make it too far in before I had to stop for my own mental health. The chapters aren't numbered and it's so easy to just keep reading and reading. You want to know what's going to happen next, you want to see if the family makes it. I have general anxiety and this book set it off back then. I knew and could prepare myself better this time, but reading it before bed was so hard! It has a very Walking Dead feel, people against people but no zombies or anything really supernatural.

I did take a star off just because it was very graphic in places I didn't feel like it needed to be. Small children or teens that are hurt probably didn't need to be described quite so much. So there is a definitely trigger warning for that kind of thing. The story is already gut-wrenching enough. It is a hard read but it's a good read.