My Five Word TL:DR Review: Constantly Moving and Tension Packed

I had a good time with Run.  This is actually my first book by this author, although I do own others, and in some ways I dare say this makes it easier for me to love this one because I’m not comparing it to what I’ve already read or holding it up to some very lofty expectations.  I went into this completely in the dark, I had no idea what the story was really about and I think this was something else that also worked out well for me.

As you may imagine from the title this is a story of a family trying to flee to safety.  There is constant movement with this story and the characters (and reader) gets little chance for a breather.  In fact I found myself hoping that the author would cut his characters a little slack – but he didn’t.  Anyway, let’s work back and see what’s what.

I will say that I just went back to check the description for this one and if you still haven’t read it – I suggest you don’t do so.  I found this so much better going into the read with no preconceived notions.

With that in mind I’m going to be very cagey about the plot.  Yes, this is a family on the run trying to survive.  They’re not the only ones and they have no idea what’s going on.  Likewise, as a reader you’re equally in the dark and discovering things on the fly as this family try to stay one step ahead of what’s coming for them.

This is such a tense story.  It’s the type of survival story that keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what comes next.  I won’t lie, there is violence here and death aplenty, it comes with the new territory, but, at the same time, there are moments where you can see this family coming together and in fact that’s one of my favourite aspects of the story.  This family, over the duration of this story, and everything that the author puts them through, definitely achieve massive character growth.  This is a family that comes together in their time of need.  Before everything hit the fan they’d been on the brink of giving up the ghost.  Now, I’m not saying that with hindsight they’d wish this disaster onto themselves in order for their relationships to survive, but, the way they react and grow during the story made for addictive reading.

I liked the characters, which also helps.  Like I mentioned, as the story begins they’re certainly not the perfect family, the father is the last person you’d expect to become your hero and yet all of them step into new shoes and adapt. Sometimes accompanied by a bit of screaming and crying and other times by starvation and thirst.

In terms of crticisms.  Well, sometimes it doesn’t pay to question the whys and wherefores too deeply but instead roll with the punches and go where the story is trying to take you. I was, without doubt hooked to this from a very early point in the story and so I didn’t look too finely at the plot or any potential plot holes so can’t really say whether they were present or not.  I think the ending felt a little hasty which was perhaps my only real issue.

Overall, this was very entertaining and definitely the sort of story that I think would make a great adaptation to the big screen.  I’m now really looking forward to picking up some of my already owned books by this author to see how they compare. Any suggestions where to start always welcome.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars