If I Run by Terri Blackstock Review

Posted by abakersp in Mystery/Suspense / 0 Comments

I love thrillers. They grab your attention, keep you on your toes, and make it impossible for you to do anything else other than read! I knew I wanted to give this series a try after reading another Terri Blackstock book. I hope to read If I’m Found in the next few weeks! But for now, I’ll share my love for this book.

If I Run by Terri Blackstock

Purchase your copy here!!
About the Book

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’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 truthThat’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.

My Perspective

I think we are automatically programmed to think that those who run are guilty, without really giving it a second thought. Terri Blackstock may change this line of thinking with this thrilling tale! After the first chapter you will be hooked, and once you really get into the storyline, you just may change your mind about Casey. I found myself reading and reading until I finally came to the point where it described her reasoning in detail. And even then I couldn’t stop. I had to find out how the story ended! Spoiler alert – there is a cliffhanger here! The next book in the series is a MUST!

Ms. Blackstock is a masterful story teller. The POV of Casey and Dylan were perfectly mapped out. Dylan’s persistence and ability to stick to the facts made him the easily likeable hero. He was perfect for Casey’s story, and I don’t think another character type would have brought as much excitement to the story. In addition, Casey needed Dylan. She needed someone who would see her for who she really was/is. I loved all the little add-ons that were added to Casey’s storyline. Little blurbs that let you know Casey was just a person, a person who still had a heart and a willingness to help others. This made her character relatable and more believable.

Perhaps the best part of the book to me was the way Ms. Blackstock incorporated the gospel. You will not finish reading this book without knowing about Jesus and God’s love. It can be so difficult to weave this message in seamlessly and Terri did it beautifully. I hope it will speak directly to readers hearts!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 About the Author

Terri Blackstock

 Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.

In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham’s readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she’s written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.

Besides entertaining her readers, Terri tackles issues that she hopes will change lives. Her recent book, Predator, was inspired by her experiences on Facebook and Twitter, and her concern that people posted too much personal information about themselves. The book deals with an online predator who uses social networks as his playground. She hopes the book will change readers’ online habits. Her New York Times best-seller, Intervention, was inspired by her own personal struggles with a daughter on drugs. In the book, a mother hires an interventionist for her drug-addicted daughter. But on the way to treatment, the interventionist is murdered, and the daughter disappears. Barbara, the mother, sets out to search for her daughter. Terri modeled Barbara after herself, and poured many of her own emotions and experiences into that character. As a result, many families experiencing drug addiction have written to thank her for telling their story and giving them hope.

Other recent books include her stand-alone novel Shadow in Serenity, and Vicious Cycle (Book 2 in her Intervention Series). She’s also known for popular series such as the Restoration Series, the Cape Refuge Series, the Newpointe 911 Series, and the SunCoast Chronicles series.

Terri has appeared on national television programs such as “The 700 Club” and “Home Life,” and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.

Tell me reader friends, what was the last thriller/mystery that you read??