Run [Tapa blanda]

This book is a thrill-ride and a half! I can't take credit for the quote that Blake Crouch is a "cross between Stephen King and Cormac McCarthy," but after reading "RUN," I have to thoroughly agree with the assessment!

Like King, Crouch writes about real people in extraordinary situations, but more like McCarthy, his prose can be beautiful, poignant and even sublime. Make no mistake, this is a thriller, but there are some scenes in this book so scary you may just check the locks on your doors. This book starts off at a "run" and it just doesn't stop. I stayed up late into the night reading faster and faster to find out what was going to happen to this immediately sympathetic and potentially doomed family of four.

Crouch's characters are very human and very real, and he masterfully weaves often grave and contemplative themes with breathless action. There is deep meaning here, but you don't have time to stop and think about the weight of it until the very last page of the book. Crouch takes you on a ride you just can't get off, and you don't want to - you have to find out what's going to happen!

I was completely swept into the story and found myself at turns terrified, touched and exhilarated along with the Colclough family. Just when you think it can't get any worse...it does. And then it does again. And then... oh then. I can't tell you anymore. What are you waiting for? Buy this book and read it! Now! You have no idea the thrill ride you're missing!

DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS are the two books that introduced me to Blake Crouch - they completely blew me away. The two that follow, the sweeping novel ABANDON, and roller coaster ride that is SNOWBOUND, are equally great.

RUN however takes Blake's storytelling to another level completely. Like before he managed me to care for the main characters, and like before he doesn't pull punches. The difference this time is that while the ensuing mayhem is all encompassing, the affects of that mayhem focus primarily on a family of four. While reading I quickly became part of that family, ran with them on their search for safety, cheered when they found shelter, was shocked when things turned from bad to worse, and was deeply moved by the outcome.

DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS were my favorite novels written by Crouch so far, in part because they introduced me to him. But RUN has achieved what I thought impossible. It is now top of my list, and like DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS I expect to read RUN numerous times... Highest recommendation!

Run barely gives the reader time to breathe before it takes off, following Jack, Dee, and their two children, Naomi and Cole attempting to avoid the targets on their backs, get out of Albuquerque, and find refuge and answers. The family faces challenges to their unity and their sanity as they journey from the New Mexico highways to the Rockies. The killers are patrolling the roads in a convoy of vehicles. Any run-in with strangers could mean meeting an ally, or fighting for survival. The truck needs fuel and oil. The family needs food and water, and a plan - all of which are in short supply.

Crouch puts his characters through a barrage of tests, offering them just enough rewards and peace to set up their next challenge. They face gunmen, dogs, starvation, freezing to death, and sometimes each other, as they struggle to find a path to survival and hope for a future. He creates fantastic visuals that capture the sheer beauty of nature, and also the horrific impact made as the packs of killers slice their way through these pictures. He offers description that can only come from a person with knowledge of these cities and mountains. He accomplishes this without being too wordy and distracting from the action and emotion of the scenes.

Crouch paints scenery just as easily as he paints agony. He has a fantastic talent for connecting readers with the pain of his characters, good and bad alike. Run accelerates like an avalanche; building slowly at first, then overwhelming readers once it gains momentum. The book offers a good "slow burn" for a while, but continues to amplify in intensity and action. Run begins with Jack's struggle as an estranged husband and a challenged father. His everyday concerns become trivial. Sports scores and celebrity news are long gone. Instead, he has to learn what kind of man he is under the hood, in the river, and in the wild. The stakes aren't some office fantasy football pool. Failure means dying, and the deaths of his family.
Run is like taking 28 Days Later, The Road, The Road Warrior, and elements of Resident Evil as a recipe for one suspenseful cocktail. Crouch balances the action with emotion every step of the way. Readers will be pulling hard for Jack and his family; a normal family dropped into a world of unimaginable dangers. The story is incredible. The characters are inspiring, and the whole thing reads like a modern-day action/thriller that is impossible to put down.

Crouch puts the ColClough's through unimaginable hells; upholding his reputation as one of the best suspense writers available in 2011. Run makes the readers range from uncomfortable to downright scared as the author reveals just enough to keep them up in bed, turning each page and awaiting the next horrific event.

The eBook offering from Amazon includes an interview with author Blake Crouch, as well as excerpts from his first four novels; Desert Places, Locked Doors, Abandon, and Snowbound.