Off the Charts – run (Blake Crouch)

Ahoy there me mateys!  Me introduction to this author was the novel dark matter, which I highly enjoyed.  So when a local library had a copy of this standalone thriller, I snagged it.

While this novel was fast and fun it also felt rather average.  The plot of the novel is that normal American citizens are going crazy and homicidal.  One family, the Colcloughs, are determined to stay together and survive.  So they run.  I mean, I know that is the title, but basically they run the entire book.

The novel started off with an interesting prologue and then a lovely set-up.  Then of course the author messed with me expectations in a good way with some loverly plot twists.  And kept it up for about half the book.  Then the pace slowed down and became less interesting.  How many improbable situations can this family survive?  Apparently all of them.

The main characters Jack and Dee were both kinda stupid in the beginning in terms of their takes on life and each other.  Both did improve in the book which was nice.  The kids, Cole and Naomi, were portrayed rather well except that they were mostly used as narrative device to kept the parents focused.  I mean the kids slept through so much action it seemed absurd.  I wanted the whole family to contribute to the quest for survival.  I know Cole was seven but there have to be useful seven year olds.  I like to think that I was helpful at that end and not only a hindrance.

And the description for why the Americans went crazy was kinda lame.  However there was a twist at the end that I rather liked.  Overall it was a good reading experience and I am willing to read another Crouch book.  I just think this one was okay.

The author’s website has this to say about the novel:

Picture this: A landscape of American genocide…

5 days ago
A rash of bizarre murders swept the country…
Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected.
A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike.
A mass of school shootings.
Prison riots of unprecedented brutality.
Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.

4 days ago
The murders increased ten-fold…

3 days ago
The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace…

2 days ago
The killers began to mobilize…

Yesterday
All the power went out…

Tonight
They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours.

Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family. You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more.

You only have time to….

R U N

To visit the author’s website go to:

Blake Crouch – Author

To buy the book go to:

run – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

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