Run (The Hunted: Book One) [Kindle Edition]

Patti Larsen (Author)

Book Description

****WINNER of the 2012 PEI BOOK AWARDS for FICTION****

Sixteen-year-old Reid thinks life is back to normal. His sister Lucy pulls herself together and cuts him free from a year of foster care. She promises to take care of him, that her new boss and her new life are what they both needed to start again. Until Reid is taken in the middle of the night, dumped in a wild stretch of forest far from home with no idea why he is there. Lost and afraid, he learns to run from the hunters who prowl the darkness, their only pleasure chasing down kids like him. And killing them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patti Larsen is a middle grade, young adult and adult author with a passion for the paranormal who writes a great deal of horror for someone who is afraid of the dark. She lives on the East Coast of Canada with her very patient husband Scott and four enormous cats.

Product Details

• File Size: 381 KB
• Print Length: 264 pages
• Publisher: Patti Larsen Books (August 17, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005HZJX9W
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,752 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite read of the summer! August 22, 2011

By Kirstin

Format:Kindle Edition

I was there in the dark with Reid, scared to look in case I saw a dead mangled kid, or worse, a hunter. My heart banged against my ribs harder than was comfortable. I imagined sounds, saw ominous shadows in the post-midnight dark of my room. Reid didn't stop running, I didn't stop reading. I devoured Run in one sitting and thought of little else for days but when I'd be able to get my hands on Hide. If you liked The Hunger Games, Run could be your favorite book of the summer.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Run Reid Run October 7, 2011

By Marina Scott

Format:Kindle Edition

BEWARE: this is the first book in the trilogy, and as such, the book does not answer a lot of questions at the end.

Background:

Reid, a sixteen year old boy, wakes up in the middle of the night to find himself ...in a moving van. He does not remember much from the night before. All he knows is that one moment he goes to sleep at his sister's new house, and the next - he is in a van, kidnapped.

His situation is getting worse by the second. Reid is dropped off in the middle of the woods and left alone. But what seems like possible freedom is, in fact, a cruel game where the rules are simple: run or be killed. Hunters, supernatural cannibalistic creatures, prowl the darkness of the woods, hunting down, killing (and eating) children just like Reid.

To survive this hunt, Reid must run, fight, hide and hope that he will outsmart and outrun the creatures.

What I liked:

1. Run Reid run. The action is intense. The pace is amazing. The title of the book is RUN and believe me, you will run along with Reid. All the way to the last page. My advice: read it when you have a long evening with no plans ahead of you because you will not want to do anything else but read.

2. Twists and turns. Don't make a mistake thinking that you know where the plot is going. You will be disappointed at yourself. It is a high voltage read, so don't guess, don't predict just run read.

3. Reid. I love how fast (almost instantaneously) Reid switches into a survival mode and fights for his life with the wisdom of a grown up. Anyone would definitely feel safe with Reid, a sixteen year old!

What I am not thrilled about:

1. Hunger Games reminiscences.... RUN's setting (children are forced to play a cruel game of survival) reminds me of Hunger Games. Was RUN inspired by Hunger Games? I don't know. But I definitely get the feeling that it could have been, and because of that, I wish the plot would be a little bit more original.

2. Female Characters. Along his run, Reid meets other children, who are, just like him, also being hunted. He makes friends and enemies. He also meets girls. I was a little hopeful for some romance (I am a sucker for that) but there is none. Understandably, when your life is in danger, the last thing on your mind is romancing another survivor. I am totally okay with it! However, I am slightly disappointed with the female characters because not enough credit is given to the girls. Even though some of the girls manage to survive in the woods on their own for days, they come across much weaker than boys.

Conclusion: RUN is a very entertaining read.

Appropriateness: It is a young adult thriller but might be not appropriate for children under 16.

I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it. Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Non-stop action isn't always a good thing. June 10, 2012

By A.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When browsing through Kindle freebies, I came across this book. I read the summary and downloaded the book without a second thought.

The book is full of non-stop action. In some cases, that's a good thing but I found it to be a bit problematic for this book. It's literally all "Run. Run. Run. Run. Run." It moves the story along and keeps the reader hooked but there's nothing to "sink you teeth into." There's no meat to the story. Nothing is solved, nothing is explained. That stuff pisses me off as a reader. It really feels like the story is just the opening chapter to the series. I didn't like that. You need to have something rewarding in the book to get me invested in continuing with the story.

Because the story is moving full speed, the character development falls really short. I don't like anyone. No one feels real. They kind of feel like stock characters in a generic action movie. I don't care enough about anyone to want to continue with the series.

The bottom line? It's fine if you want something action-y but other than that the book was fairly average.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars No hunger games, and no ending March 15, 2012

By Original Larkin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was excited to read this book when people likened it to the hunger games but it doesn't even come close. The book is written in the third person and I found that I never really connected with the main character (or any character) in the book. The dialogue between characters is pretty juvenile and the characters felt flat and emotionless.

While I think the plot had potential, the book lacks execution. There are these beings - the hunters - which you learn very little about in the book. The plot has very little suspense and didn't make me want to keep reading and reading, overall the plot didn't really go anywhere. The absolute worst part of this book is that it abruptly ends and there is no resolution what so ever (I guess it is left for the sequels). It feels like the author wrote one long book and randomly decided to end it part way through and call it a book. At least in a series like the hunger games, the end of each book brings some resolution and closure.

The book also has several (extremely obvious) grammatical errors and I found it worse than many of the other Kindle books I have read. Overall I thought the premise of the book was good but I really wouldn't recommend it, and don't intend to read any of the subsequent books even though I would like to know how the story turns out. Honestly, I'm surprised by all of the extremely positive reviews of this book - it is what made me read this book in the first place.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A YA Thriller to rival Hunger Games August 19, 2011

By Kimberly Kinrade

Format:Kindle Edition

Reid is finally reunited with his sister after the death of their parents and a stint in the foster care system. But before he has time to celebrate, he is thrust into a dark world of terrifying killers who hunt and kill kids like him.

Can he run fast enough to escape this fate? Will he figure out what's happening before it's too late?

This is a riveting thriller with more to come from prolific author Patti Larsen. If you love great prose, great characters and an awesome story you will love this book. Watch out Hunger Games, Run is here!

More About the Author

Sign up at http://bit.ly/pattilarsenemail to be the first to know when a new book comes out! No spam, just new releases :)

My official bio reads like this: Patti Larsen is an award-winning middle grade and young adult author with a passion for the paranormal. But that sounds so freaking formal, doesn't it? I'm a storyteller who hears teenager's voices so loud I have to write them down. I love sports even though they don't love me. I've dabbled in everything from improv theater to film making and writing TV shows, singing in an all girl band to running my own hair salon.

But always, always, writing books calls me home.

I've had my sights set on world literary domination for a while now. Which means getting my books out there, to you, my darling readers. It's the coolest thing ever, this job of mine, being able to tell stories I love, only to see them all shiny and happy in your hands... thank you for reading.

As for the rest of it, I'm short (permanent), slightly round (changeable) and blonde (for ever and ever). I love to talk one on one about the deepest topics and can't seem to stop seeing the big picture. I happily live on Prince Edward Island, Canada, home to Anne of Green Gables and the most beautiful red beaches in the world, with my very patient husband and four massive cats.