#BookReview: If I Run by Terri Blackstock

Reviewer: Mary

I received a review copy

Summary:

Casey Cox’s DNA is all over the crime scene. There’s no use talking to police; they’ve failed her abysmally before. She has to flee before she’s arrested . . . or worse. The truth doesn’t matter anymore.

But what is the truth? That’s the question haunting Dylan Roberts, the war-weary veteran hired to find Casey. PTSD has marked him damaged goods, but bringing Casey back can redeem him. Though the crime scene seems to tell the whole story, details of the murder aren’t adding up.

Casey Cox doesn’t fit the profile of a killer. But are Dylan’s skewed perceptions keeping him from being objective? If she isn’t guilty, why did she run?

Unraveling her past and the evidence that condemns her will take more time than he has, but as Dylan’s damaged soul intersects with hers, he is faced with two choices: the girl who occupies his every thought is a psychopathic killer . . . or a selfless hero. And the truth could be the most deadly weapon yet.

Review:

Casey Cox doesn’t trust the police. After a traumatic childhood experience, she is convinced the authorities in her town are part of an illegal cover up. So when her close friend, Brent, is found murdered – with her DNA all over the crime scene – she feels she has no choice but to flee.

As soon as a murder investigation is underway, the police are trailing Casey as their prime suspect. But Brent’s parents have taken matters into their own hands, hiring one of Brent’s friends, Dylan, as a private investigator. Dylan is desperate to work for the police after being honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Command due to post-traumatic stress disorder. This is his chance to prove he is capable—until he learns more about Casey. Everyone who knows her vouches she could never commit murder, the evidence at the crime scene doesn’t add up, and Casey doesn’t fit any of the characteristics of someone who would kill a friend in cold blood. Add that to Dylan’s growing skepticism surrounding the police in Casey’s hometown and he soon finds that his mission to find Casey has become a mission to find the truth.

From the first sentence of this book, the reader is hooked. Constant dialogue provides deep character development and continuous progression. The alternating chapters between Casey and Dylan’s point of view offer a unique perspective of both the hunter and the hunted. Uncharacteristic of a typical murder mystery, it lacks gruesome details and foul language—proving you don’t need gore or detailed violence to thrill. Several twists and turns take this story to places you’d never expect—most notably when Casey meets Miss Lucy, a Christian woman who fearlessly shares her faith, and prompts Casey to ponder the existence of God. Miss Lucy also introduces Casey to the unsolved disappearance of her granddaughter, Laura. A fugitive desperate for hope, Casey immerses herself into Laura’s story vowing to find justice one way or another—it just might not be for herself.

5 stars