If I Run
A Novel of Suspense by Terri Blackstock
Review: Two compassionate characters are at the center of If I Run, a novel of suspense by Terri Blackstock.
Casey Cox is running for her life. When she was just 12 years old she found her father hanging from a fan. The police opened and closed the case as suicide, but Casey didn't believe it then and she doesn't believe it now, a decade later. She and her good friend Brent, a reporter, were looking into past records regarding the case. Brent thought he had found proof that Casey's father, a cop, was murdered. Before he could tell Casey, Brent was stabbed to death in his home and Casey found him. She tried to save him but he was already dead. She took the knife out of his chest, tried to clean up the mess, but it was too much. All she could think to do was run, leaving her DNA, foot prints from her bloody shoes and fingerprints. She didn't know who she could trust — certainly not the police. She had enough cash to get her away and maybe find a way to save herself and prove that she didn't kill Brent, but also to prove her father did not commit suicide but was murdered.
Dylan Roberts, a childhood friend of Brent's, was recently discharged from the Army after serving three stretches as a criminal investigator. A veteran battling PTSD, Brent's parents asked him to work with the police in finding Casey. Although they could not believe Casey would kill Brent, they wondered why she ran away, making herself appear guilty. Dylan wanted to examine the evidence the police had to understand Casey and where she might go, but the police were hesitant to show him anything regarding her life. Using his connections in the department, he was able to see the evidence the police had. He found that some of the information did not support that Casey had been the killer even though they had the DNA, blood samples, fingerprints, and the knife was found in her car, which was left in a hotel's parking garage. The more Dylan learned about her, the more her profile did not suggest that of a murderer. And the more he learned about some of the police involved in the case, the more corruption he found in the department.
Dylan finds Casey is and talks with her, but she's still suspicious. Will she have to keep running? Will Dylan be able to see that justice is done in both Casey's father's death and in Brent's murder?
If I Run is a gripping suspense novel. Both of the central characters are very appealing, engaging the reader in their common, yet respective differences, and what they are striving to achieve together but also in what they fear individually and as a team. The tension is palpable throughout and doesn't let up until the very end. A very strong faith-based suspense thriller, and highly recommended.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of If I Run.
Acknowledgment: HarperCollins provided a copy of If I Run for this review.
Review Copyright © 2016 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … Distortion Zondervan (Trade Paperback), March 2014 ISBN-13: 9780310283140; ISBN-10: 0310283140
Location(s) referenced in If I Run:
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If I Run by Terri Blackstock — A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Zondervan
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-33244-2
Publication Date: February 2016
List Price: $23.99

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Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
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