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Running On Instinct
 
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Running On Instinct [Hardcover]

N. M. Luiken (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 6, 2001
Mary would do anything to get away from the Selector, a murderer with no conscience, no remorse, no flaws . . . and no flesh. Merely a phantom from her nightmares. But her dreams seem so real.

April has a major-league crush on Gavin. Unfortunately, he loves her cousin, Bethany . . . until he's framed for Bethany's murder.

Peter may be only twelve, but he's got a dangerous temper, the kind that seethes and burns beneath an icy exterior, waiting to be unleashed.

Penny is eight months pregnant, barely able to get around. But she can't shake the feeling that she must run, she must get away. Her husband thinks she's crazy until their next-door neighbor pulls into the driveway and takes out his rifle.

Four seemingly disparate lives, each torn apart by violence and danger, inexorably drawn together by fate and circumstance. Unless they can unravel the mystery of a barely remembered nursery rhyme, they'll have little chance to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clumsy prose and mundane effects sink this horror debut by Canadian writer Luiken. Even the villain of the tale, the ruthless "Selector," is a penny-ante figure, content to pester a handful of plain and very talkative folks from Alberta. Rarely seen, he dominates others via dreams and mind control in his self-created task of "culling the herd," i.e., winnowing the world of lesser and handicapped individuals. This smacks of the ruthless eugenics of the Nazi era, and in fact the Selector is "a supremacist. The Naziest Nazi of them all." Opposed to the Selector are a handful of valiant if humble psychics who belong to a group calling itself the Kithkin Klub. Sensing imminent danger, they are forced to go on the run with confused companions in tow. Their only hope, it seems, is to decipher an old nursery rhyme, which holds the key to the Selector's evil power. Finally, they unite to face gun-toting and mindless minions of the Selector and, at last, their potent opponent himself, in an anticlimactic denouement. Clotted with awkward similes "like sending an electric current through a dead frog" and further plagued by senseless descriptions a highway is "smooth and flat, made for driving" Luiken's novel will deflect even the hardiest of horror fans.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (July 6, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312873441
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312873448
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,055,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully complex and intriguing, May 31, 2002
By 
This review is from: Running On Instinct (Hardcover)
Having read Luiken's recent YA novels, Violet Eyes and Silver Eyes, I was curious to see how her first novel aimed at adults would turn out. I wasn't disappointed.

The story focusses on a group of people with psychic powers, or Talents, known as Kithkinners. As it begins, some of them know each other, and others meet and interact as the story progresses. Penny, married with a three-year-old son and eight months pregnant, knows she has to get away. She doesn't know why, but her Danger Instinct is telling her she must. Her husband, after an unusual encounter with a neighbour, trusts her instincts. April is babysitting for Kirsty when her cousin's boyfriend, Gavin, shows up at the door, injured and on the run from the law. Genevieve is haunted by dreams of the Selector, and after a man using his words shows up and tries to kill her, she knows she has to leave.

Their paths cross and the secrets to their identity lie in a simple nursery rhyme that they remember from their childhood. The talents they have will eventually save them from the monstrous Selector and his minions.

That's making the story sound cliched and predictable, but it's far more complex than that. Although other reviewers have argued that the novel is incoherent, I found it to be one of the most wonderfully woven-together stories around. Everything just clicked into place. It's a story about instinct, love, trust and terror. A worthwhile read, to say the least.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing Thriller, August 23, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Running On Instinct (Hardcover)
Luiken's first adult book is a winner. She has a wonderful ability to weave a complex plot, combining many elements to produce a fascinating novel. The story hits the ground running and doesn't let up until the last sentence of the last page. If this is any indication of what Luiken can give readers, it's a great start!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars none, July 14, 2001
By 
Gary S. Potter (mount Pleasant, SC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Running On Instinct (Hardcover)
Luiken's first novel is an extraordinary novel of suspense and psychological thriller; terrifically paced and shocking. For those who enjoy the early work of Dean Koontz and Michael Slade, Running On Instinct is a novel you won't want to miss...Gary S. Potter Author/Poet
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