witnesses the event to go insane. (This same plot device was used over a half-century earlier by John Wyndham in his classic sci-fi novel, The Day of the Triffids.) Those who witnessed the aurora soon developed an overwhelming urge to kill those who hadn’t. The affected see glowing lights around others like them, so they know the precise people they must kill. Within a few days, mass chaos overwhelms the entire country as both affected and normal people arm themselves to the teeth and begin shooting at each other. Those who are not affected form armed camps or try to make their way to Canada, where the aurora did not appear.

Although the author sketches the backstory over the course of the novel, most of Run focuses on the Colclough family. Jack is a college professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and wife Dee is a doctor. (Her profession is handy in treating the various wounds and injuries people suffer throughout the book.) Along with 14-year-old Naomi and seven-year-old Cole, they pile into their Land Rover and head north. Fortunately, they have plenty of supplies at home, such as water jugs and backpacks, which come in handy on their journey.

Most of the book comprises a series of repetitive and largely forgettable encounters the Colcloughs have with affected and a few normal people. They go around or through roadblocks, dodge gunfire, and outrun pursuing vehicles. Then, a few pages later, almost the same sequence of events occurs. When they run out of gas, they either siphon more from abandoned vehicles or get a new ride. They find convenient refuge off the main highway in fully stocked cabins or vacation rentals. When an armed group of the affected chase them, the family has to climb a tall peak to get to the other side and safety.

I’m sure that if this type of disaster occurred, any survivors would go through a similar gauntlet to get to safety. And I’m sure each hostile encounter with other people or nature would be a harrowing experience. However, the Colcloughs’ journey soon becomes monotonous for the book’s readers. During the quieter portions of the journey, Jack and Dee talk to each other, but readers learn little about them other than the precarious state of their marriage. The couple was on the verge of divorce, with Dee seeing her affected lover just before the family fled. Anyone who has read a similar survival story can guess how the family’s peril will affect the couple’s marriage. Readers learn even less about the Colclaughs’ children, who become complete cliches. The various outsiders they encounter are virtual nonentities, with one exception I won’t spoil near the book’s conclusion.

What makes Run so frustrating is that several of the family’s encounters are potentially interesting. They meet groups of normal people, including a cultlike group, who have sometimes adopted extreme measures of self-preservation. They also meet a few individuals, including a pilot, who help them during their journey. Each encounter has intriguing possibilities the author should have explored in more depth. Unfortunately, most of them end abruptly and, often, violently as the affected are constantly hunting down normal survivors. I would have enjoyed learning more about the individuals and groups the Colcloughs meet, but the author rushes through the descriptions.

The author saves the worst for last. Run has a definitive ending, but it makes no logical sense. Previous events in the book don’t suggest the ending is possible, much less plausible, given what happened before. Most readers will view it as a complete copout. I can’t describe the ending further without spoiling it. However, it struck me as the result of an inexperienced writer choosing the easy way out of a fictional world over which he had lost creative control.

In writing Run, Blake Crouch may have been influenced by post-apocalyptic works such as Stephen King’s The Stand. However, King took over 1,000 pages to establish his characters and show the pandemic’s progress. Blake Crouch does neither. He wisely avoids lengthy information dumps, but the glimpses he gives of the rapid progress of his dystopian events don’t always follow. I can’t imagine many people staying up late at night to see a lightly publicized “northern lights” show in the sky or that they could organize so quickly and efficiently to track down the unaffected. The author also relies on far too many convenient coincidences to keep his story going.

Run has several good action and suspense scenes, most occurring near the end of the book. The author also creates intriguing scenarios for what might happen in the wake of a catastrophe like the one portrayed in the book. (I was reminded of some communities that spring up throughout the various Walking Dead series.) However, he doesn’t allow sufficient space in the book to develop his ideas in depth. What shows up on the printed page is often repetitive and boring. I think this book could be turned into a good limited TV series or be effective if expanded. However, in its current state, Run has too many of the typical flaws of an inexperienced writer.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own