Overall: 🐢🐢🐢
Storyline:
Writing Style:
Character Development:
Enjoyment:
“Our job is to stand up for our beliefs, cling to them no matter what, and wait for our redemption.”
If I Run by Terri Blackstock
The Story:
Casey knows the truth.
But it won’t set her free.
Casey Cox’s DNA is all over the crime scene. There’s no use talking to police; they have 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.
Key Elements:
Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, On The Run, Murder, Cop, Fugitive, Contemporary, Crime
Others in Series:
Book 2: If I’m Found
Book 3: If I Live
Why This Rating?
Here is a story that is full of What ifs! Casey is on the run for her life, while the rest of the world thinks she murdered her best friend. But there is a relentless PI heired by the grieving family to find out where she went and bring her in. The entire time time you are reading you can feel the tension of “Who will find her first?” Will it be Dylan, the PI who was a police in the armed forces, but discharged with PTSD after a tragic event, and was also great friends with the victim? Or those that are framing her and want to silence her for good? And then there is Casey. The woman who only wants the truth to come out, but has to run to stay alive long enough for that to even be a reality. Her biggest flaw and one that is cherished by everyone who gets to know her, she is far to much of a people person and places others far ahead her own skin. That might just bite her in the ass and land her on the chopping block from the very people she is trying to hide from.
Alright, I don’t usually do a recap like that, but this book had a lot of moving gears and I was a little blindsided with the amount of plots that this single book had. The gist of the plot(s?): a murder, to hiding, old murder case stirring up, starting a new life, new murder case in progress, missing persons case, bounty hunter action, solving one of the multiple cases, and back to running. You can see why I was a little confused as the story progressed. The writing was fine. It kept me hooked to the story and didn’t feel like it was trying to hard to keep things flowing nicely. Although there were parts that got super preachy and were a tad cringey with how thick it was being laid on there. Other than that, it was written at a fast pace and quite well.
I enjoyed the read and I might keep reading just to find out what else is going to happen. It was left on a decent cliffhanger. A “walk into the distance” kind of shot, with thoughts swirling around that we can read and see the determination build for the characters. It isn’t the worse one I’ve been left with. I can say that if I don’t pick up the next I would be fine and comfy with the way it left off.
Time to get lost in the next story!
