The basic premise of Blake Crouch’s “Run” is very simple. For some unknown reason, millions of Americans have become homicidal maniacs. Names of those to be hunted down next are broadcast on the radio. Jack’s name is read. What other possible action can he take? He gathers up his family and they run.
There is a theory proposed throughout the novel as to the cause of this hysteria, but it is only a backdrop to a non-stop desperate flight by Jack’s family by car and foot to Canada, where rumor has it people are unaffected.
Those familiar with Crouch know he never has been one to pull punches. The apocalyptic landscape in “Run” is appropriately brutal and lurid. Jack, his wife and two children are traumatized by a relentless barrage of savagery at every turn. But the members of this family are also fully developed characters and there is a realistic blend of conflict and camaraderie in their relationships that make you really care if they survive, thus making the violence more than just shock value.
The book has chapter breaks but they are not numbered or named, so it runs like one long story, similar to Scott Smith’s “The Ruins,” and both books have that same addictive, got to finish it fast quality.
I read the eBook version of this and it contains nearly one hundred pages of extras, including an interview with Crouch and excerpts from several of his books. It was a great deal.
I highly recommend this exhilarating thriller.
Purchase link for Kindle version:
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