I thought this was a solid thriller! As a runner myself, I wondered how this would be engaging for 300 pages, because running can be pretty dull. So I was pleasantly surprised with how well paced this was. I think it had a few cheesy lines and moments, but the characters were likable and easy to follow. The end felt slightly rushed, but not enough to turn me off from the book.

I love the way this story makes you ponder just how much the body and mind can take. Our MC is an ultra runner and finds herself having to run from danger. I love that the author is an ultra runner themselves. It really made the effects of the plot line that much more believable.

#ad so much love for my finished copy @doubledaybooks #partner
& @prh.audio #partner for the ALC

🅡🅤🅝🅝🅔🅡 ❶❸
< @amymccullochbooks >
ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ

And oof! This author is just an amazing human - she used her real life marathon run in the Sahara desert as inspiration for writing this book. (Minus all the dying.)

“And, in his mind, diamonds are only made under extreme pressure. Otherwise they remain part of the dirt,” (p. 104).

Adrienne has just received a special invitation to one of the most selective marathons in the world. At first, she thought it had to be a joke - until she turned the invite over. What she saw on the back? It stole the breath from her lungs. She’s going to this race - it wasn’t a joke.

The race? Only ten people have ever finished it - and none of them were women.

Boone, the sadistic mastermind behind the event, has created a brutal, nearly impossible course. He’s not just the head honcho - he’s a twisted genius with a plan that pushes runners to their breaking point. And somehow, 34 runners have already dropped out before the race even starts.

But with half a million dollars on the line, what would you do to win?

Then there’s Stella - she’s here to document the race as a photographer. She also happens to be the race owner’s daughter… something she doesn’t like to advertise. Oh, and did I mention? She’s now engaged to Adrienne’s ex-husband. Yep.

Adrienne is Runner 13. The runner expected to either win it all - or crash and burn. And she has the number.

Let the race begin.

𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤:
The Pain Cave
The Sahara Shuffle 😂😂

Oof! The drama!! I devoured this book. It was an absolute blast to read. When I first discovered this gem of a book I knew I had to read it - and Amy DELIVERED. The setting? Perfect. The theme? Even better.

It entertains straight through to the jaw-dropping end.

🎧 I listened to the audiobook while following along, and let me just say - this is one of those stories you have to experience in audio! The narrators bring this to life. The podcast chapters were equally amazzzzing. Jill Winternitz and Sarah Durham deserve awards for this performance.

Netflix, Hulu, Fox - where you at?!
This book needs to be a movie or limited series. 🥳

TW:
Sexual assault
Cancer
Hit & Run
Suicide

Big fan! Dang. It was such an action-packed book from beginning to end. Think the Barkley Marathon, but make it a 200+ mile stage race with the racers being as intense as those who run Western States. The race director, Boones, is known to be nutty and changes up his races randomly to keep his runners on their toes. Kind of like Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell.

Adrienne is sent an invite to "Hot & Sandy". a 250-mile ultra marathon stage race set in the Sahara Desert, hence the sand. At first she thinks it's a joke, because the invite also includes a big reason to race and win. The answer to who was driving the car "that" night. She finally gives in and registers for the race. When she shows up she gets her bib... 13. If you are superstitious or if you ride bikes number 13 isn't always the best of numbers. But in Boone's race a bib 13 means you are his pick to win. The atmosphere quickly turns into complete chaos when a body is found and the situation is deemed suspicious and this is even before the first stage.

The book is told in two different POVs; Adrienne and Stella. With a few podcast transcripts thrown in there to add in the flair. Both Adrienne and Stella have secrets, both are tough as nails, both are tied together but they just don't know all of it yet.

Runner 13 is filled with suspense, scandals and secrets. I freaking loved it. Amy is an ultra runner herself and I could tell that she has experienced some of the details (not the murder) that happens when you are pushing your body to the brink. I remember when I was seeing hallucinations during the night of my 101 miler, you really do believe it is real.

what a great mystery to figure out who was killing all of the runners . Loved the twist at the end. Loved that it was told in Adrianne and Stella point of views. Stella dad was interesting and behind the race. Thanks netgalley

One things about Amy McCulloch is that her settings will always deliver! I loved her last two thrillers because the setting is such a huge part of the plot- and this book is exactly the same. There is just something so eerie about being on your own with no one around to help! McCulloch knows how to write a thriller that’ll just suck you in.

I really enjoyed this!! I love how knowledgeable Amy McCulloch is about the locations and physical trials she puts her characters through. It makes me want to start running ultras (but not that badly...). Runner 13 flew by, and I loved the quick pace and the multiple POVs as we moved through the events of the race. My only wish is that the killer reveal was a bit more developed, I think I would have liked a bigger twist.

Amy McCulloch just rocketed right up my must-read ladder with Runner 13! I really enjoyed her previous two offerings but have to admit a book centered on running was sort of "meh" in my mind. If you know me, I refuse to run even if being chased, let alone in the Sahara dessert. But I trust Amy so far, and this was GREAT!! We have two really well written female leads and I loved both of them. Adri is an ultra-marathoner. Yes, it's a thing. They run in extreme conditions for up to hundreds of miles for, get this, FUN!! Yeah, who knew? Well, Adri hasn't raced in seven years due to an accident involving her son and an incident involving a coach. Stella is involved in the sport through her sister Yasmin, a runner who died. Yasmin's death is related to this same coach. Stella blames Adri. There is more to Stella's involvement than that, but no spoilers. Adri receives an invitation to race for about two-hundred miles in the Sahara Desert with the prize being answers to the incident involving her son from Boones, the mysterious person who "designs" this race. She reluctantly accepts and it is on!! Oh, and did I mention that Stella is newly engaged to Adri's ex-husband? Well Adri takes off through the Sahara and the bodies start dropping. Is someone out to make sure she doesn't finish? The setting is awesome!! Apparently, the author actually does or has done what she writes about so the descriptions come alive! Her previous books are set in extreme conditions, and those settings are characters unto themselves also! Oh, and I learned way more about how ultra runners can relieve themselves on the trail while running that I never asked for, but I'll just leave it at that! Well pick this book up for the storyline but stay for the atmosphere and vicarious run through the Sahara! You won't regret it! I am really hoping for more from Amy!!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Amy McCulloch and Doubleday Books for this much appreciated ARC! All opinions are my own!

If the Barkley Marathons had a dark twin, it would be Runner 13. A brutal ultramarathon set deep in the wilderness where the real danger isn’t just the terrain—it’s what’s waiting out there in the dark.

I loved the endurance aspect and how the physical and mental unraveling mirrored each mile. But while the concept hooked me, the execution didn’t quite push it far enough for me to rate it higher. Still, if you like survival thrillers with creepy undertones, this is worth the run. Would make a great audiobook during a long walk or commute!

Amy McCulloch books make you an adrenaline junkie just like her. Reading this, I felt like I experienced marathon running in the Sahara, when in reality I’d be out of breath jogging to my mailbox. You are completely immersed in this world, with its real-life references and veiled references (Boones=Lazarus Lake). And the coolest part is that McCulloch has lived all of this; her experience translates to the page.

The story itself moves quickly, paced by the race at the center of the novel. There are red herrings galore, and I personally found myself surprised several times. The two voices we encounter, Stella and Adrienne, are both thoroughly fleshed out, engaging, and you will find yourself rooting for both of them, even somehow when they’re against each other. I do wish that Mariam had been a bit less flat, as I felt that most of the male characters had more depth than her.

Overall, another great adventure/murder mystery from Amy McCulloch.

This was a fun easy read - a perfect vacation book. Adrienne Wendell returns to Ulta marathon racing to find out who tried to hurt her son seven years before. This book was an entertaining page turner. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

Amy McCullogh is truly skilled in writing nature thrillers where the environment is a character itself. I could feel the unrelenting heat and drought in this desert. I cannot wait for her next book!

4 stars // Finished in record time

This book is fast. Blink-and-you’re-at-mile-30 fast. “Wait—how am I halfway through already?” fast. I put it on and before I knew it I was emotionally trail running through mystery, drama, and just enough toxic pasts to keep me hooked.

There’s a lot going on here—dead sisters, suspicious coaches, tragic backstories, mysterious race invitations, and potentially a killer in the race. And somehow…it all works?? Messy, twisty, and exactly the kind of drama I want in a thriller. Even when I was mildly annoyed at how long we were dragging out the “what really happened” mystery, I still needed to know everything.

Also—AUDIOBOOK FANS. Run, don’t walk. Multiple narrators, podcast segments that actually sound like real podcasts (!!!), and great production. If you’re an audiobook girly like me, this one’s a good time.

No notes. Just vibes, speed, and maybe a slight fear of trail running now. Thanks Doubleday for the gifted ebook!

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I truly enjoyed enjoyed Runner 13. This was my first book by Amy McCulloch and now I will have to go back and check out her other works. About 15 years ago I read a bunch of autobiographies about ultra marathoners--I find them fascinating. I could barely survive a sprint triathlon and here were endurance athletes running for days with little help and lots of adversity.

Runner 13 is told in two POVs. Adri was a world class ultra runner who left the sport after she accused a beloved coach who then died. Also her toddler was injured in a hit and run. The other is Stella who is at the race as a photographer and who has a connection to Stella. Racers are getting injured and Adri is working overtime to win the race, protect herself, and figure out who hurt her son seven years ago and who is sabotaging the race. It was a very engaging read and I highly recommend it.

I was so excited to have received Runner 13 by Amy McCulloch.
This psychological thriller will keep you glued to the pages.
I was hooked from the beginning!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

As a runner (a regular one, not an ultramarathoner), I was so excited to see a thriller written around running. From start to finish it felt like I was on the edge of my seat and thankfully I had the whole day to read so that I didn't go to bed worrying about what would happen to the characters! McCulloch is an ultramarathoner herself and does an incredible job of helping us regular runners understand all the emotional and physical strain placed on your body by extreme miles. The plot twists and turns will keep your heart beating as fast as the runners running the race of their lives.

If The Hunger Games and Into Thin Air had a love child and set it loose in the Sahara, you'd get something like Runner 13. I picked the book up expecting a twisty thriller and got that plus an ultra-marathon through hell. And, I loved it.

Amy McCulloch knows the terrain—both physical and psychological. The 250-mile race across the Sahara is grueling, and she makes you feel every blister, every grain of sand, every ounce of heat. Pain here isn’t just physical—it’s tied to memory, regret, and guilt. The race strips everyone bare, especially Adri, the protagonist, who’s not just running through the heat but from a scandal that scorched her career years ago.

As a runner—one with absolutely no desire to go beyond a marathon—McCulloch had me reconsidering. Her writing on pain, obsession, and endurance is so visceral, so raw, that even the idea of the “pain cave” (which sounds like a horror movie setting) starts to make a strange kind of sense. She captures the mindset of endurance athletes with unnerving precision—but you don’t need to be a runner to get pulled into it.

The race itself feels like a confessional. You meet the other competitors, but more importantly, you watch Adri slowly unravel. There’s something about extreme physical suffering that forces honesty—maybe more than anyone wants. The threads of endurance and reckoning twist tighter with each checkpoint.

And then there’s the killer.

As runners start dropping out—some from heat, others under more suspicious circumstances—you realize this is also a locked-room mystery, just stretched across endless dunes. That blend of psychological thriller and survival epic reminded me of the Hunger Games, but with a grown-up edge. The runners are isolated in a hostile environment, stalked by someone who doesn’t want anyone to finish. The mental and physical toll, combined with the constant threat of death, echoes the arena in Panem. And if Into Thin Air showed the peril of Everest’s cold indifference, Runner 13 trades it for the Sahara’s blistering hostility, where one bad decision could be your last.

And, yes, some plot points do stretch believability. But let’s be honest—this is a story about a 250-mile death race in the desert with a killer on the loose. Hyper-realism isn’t exactly the priority, nor should it be.

If you’re looking for something fast-paced, psychologically sharp, and deeply immersive, Runner 13 hits like a sandstorm: sudden, disorienting, and impossible to ignore. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself Googling ultramarathons afterward. If so, my advice? Trust no one, hydrate often, and maybe skip the desert death race.

Adri (Adrienne Wendell) used to be an elite ultramarathoner before she took a break after a scandal and the tragic loss of her child. Now 7 years later, when she receives a personal invitation to run in the Hot & Sandy race, she decides that it is time to lace up her sneakers once again. The competition is a grueling 5-day 250 mile trek through the Sahara and whoever gets first place wins a prize of half a million dollars. But this is going to be the toughest race Adri has ever competed in. The host of the race is a sadistic man named Boone who has some tricks up his sleeve to get the runners adrenaline going. This race will test not only Adri's endurance, but also her life.

Runner 13 is a tense and gripping thriller full of twists and a fast-paced "just one more chapter" type of vibe. With a multiple POVs, pieces of the story are laid out and you are drawn in deeper trying to figure out what had happened in the past to lead everyone where they are now. One highlight is definitely the atmospheric setting. McCulloch has taken her experience as a runner and funneled all that knowledge into making the race in the Sahara as authentic as possible! Runner 13 nails the suffocating heat, and the mental grit of long distance desert running. If you are looking for a gripping, atmospheric, and utterly relentless read, look no further!

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy McCulloch, and Doubleday for this ARC! Publication date is July 1st 2025.

An addictive thriller story. Read through this in less than a day waiting to find out who the killer was. Plenty of twists and turns as well as an interesting main character.

3.5
Runner 13. A pretty cool (by that it's actually hot in the Sahara Desert) book all about a major 250 mile races through the desert in Morocco. Loved the backdrop and the concept.

Adri has big goals to complete the exhaustive race and starts of strong, but soon she realizes that there's a killer in the desert and things continue to go awry. What is happening and how does she avoid the worst case scenario-being murdered?

If you read Breathless, I'm going to assume you'll feel similar about this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the gifted e-arc of this book.