Terri Blackstock’s new novel is a well-paced page turner on justice, freedom, and the innate goodness of human beings even in the face of difficult situations.
In If I Run, Blackstock puts the spotlight on Casey Cox, a caring young lady who suffered a traumatic past when, at 12 years old, she discovered her father dead in what seemed to appear as a suicide. Thirteen years after her father’s death, she found his friend Brent murdered in his apartment. In a mission to revive Brent, the entire crime scene is now swimming in DNA, footprints, fingerprints which the crime scene investigators can easily track back to her. With a prior experience with injustice in the hands of the police, Casey decided to flee, leave Shreveport, and go in hiding. Meanwhile, Brent’s parents hires Dylan Roberts, a childhood friend of Brent, as a private investigator and work with the police to catch Casey.
The whole book covers Casey’s move from one town to the other running from the law, and Dylan chasing her from Oklahoma to a place called Shady Groove.
Written by a Christian author, this book also tackles faith in God but does it in a way that was not preachy and forced in the scene. Prayers and conversations on faith were seamlessly integrated in the scenes so they came out natural you can actually picture real, living individuals saying those lines.
This novel also brings to light the lives of people living with post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Blackstock successfully brought readers inside their pysches giving us the chance to see and feel their deepest thoughts, concerns, and worries. I think Blackstock made this book as a platform to initiate, if not continue, mainstream discussion on PTSD.
Obssessive compulsive disorder or OCD was another conditioned illustrated in one of Dylan’s encounters and it did briefly explain that such condition is not born out of the blue, but as a result of previous events that has a strong impact on the life of the person with OCD.
I haven’t read that many novels which open tackled these discussions. Blackstock’s move to incorporate these in If I Run’s storyline is a step in bringing forth awareness and subsequently, more discussion on these conditions.
What I further like about this novel is that it turned an ordinary plot into a book that explored the depths of the main characters – Casey and Dylan – and gave readers sneak previews of the characters that we will soon meet in the succeeding books. This was done elaborately, with attention details, and careful writing resulting to a book that was not hurriedly finished for the sake of publication.
I started reading this novel tabula rasa, without any knowledge of the author or even the summary of this book. I wanted to experience it immediately. After four hours of straight reading – interrupted only by my four-month-old child’s cry for milk and diaper changes – I was able to finish it but hungry for more details and looking forward to the sequel.
Yes, this is a trilogy!
I am giving this novel nine out of 10 stars. This was my first time to encounter Blackstock; our first “meeting” did not disappoint. I was combing through the final pages of this novel when I saw her other works and my eyes were drawn to The Moonlighters Series or the trilogy of the three sisters working as investigators.
Should be interesting.
If you’re open to meet a different author, read Terri Blackstock’s If I Run. It’s suspenseful enough to keep you reading way past your bedtime but light enough to make you learn valuable lessons after you check that it’s already 4:00 a.m. and you still have to catch some sleep.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from Litfuse Publicity Group for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write positive reviews. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”.
