NO PLACE TO RUN

SYNOPSIS

Two years ago, on a trip to Seattle to visit her brother Aidan, fifteen-year-old Scarlett vanished into thin air. After years of false leads and dead ends, Aidan has almost given up hope. But then a woman sees a girl running for her life across a forest clearing in Northern California. She is convinced the girl is the missing Scarlett. But could it really be her?

Heading south, Aidan finds a fire-ravaged town covered in missing-teenager posters. The locals seem afraid, the police won’t answer any questions and it looks like another dead end―until a chance meeting with returned local Lana gives Aidan his first clue. But as they piece together what happened, Lana and Aidan make deadly enemies. Enemies willing to do anything to silence them.

Only one thing matters now: finding Scarlett―even if it kills him.

Título: No place to run

Author: Mark Edwards

Publisher: Amazon Publishing

Publication date: June 21, 2022

Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people.

He has sold 4 million books since his first novel, The Magpies, was published in 2013, and has topped the bestseller lists numerous times. His other novels include Follow You Home, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Because She Loves Me, The Hollows and Here to Stay. He has also co-authored six books with Louise Voss.

Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Mark now lives in Wolverhampton with his wife, their children and two cats.

Mark loves hearing from readers and can be contacted through his website, www.markedwardsauthor.com, or you can find him on Facebook (@markedwardsauthor), Twitter (@mredwards) and Instagram (@markedwardsauthor).

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I went into No Place To Run almost completely blind, so I was pretty surprised when soon the story took a turn I was not expecting and that, although not my favorite kind of plot, still made a really entertaining read.

When a woman aboard a train see a young girl being chased alongside the tracks by a man, she immediately recognizes her as Scarlett Faith, a young girl that went missing two years before. After contacting Scarlett’s brother, Aidan, he will go looking for her and will have the help of Lana, another woman looking for her missing brother.

The opening scene was fantastic! It got me immediately hooked. What looked like a case of a missing teen soon turned out to be a much more complex plot of which I will not say much to not spoil it for you.

From here the plot turned into a more action packed kind of story with several “oh, sh*t!” moments that kept the story moving forward at a rapid pace. The atmosphere was not creepy per se but it kept turning more tense as we learn details about the conspiracy Scarlett got involved with. The author certainly dived into some serious topics, but I would have like some more depth in some of them.

Both Aidan and Lana came as likable characters, especially Lana, in their dogged search of their missing siblings, and the dynamic between them was really good.

Although it was a really engaging read, overall it was a bit far fetched and over the top for me. I also missed a bit more tension in the resolution. For the predicament he was in, I thought Aidan had it a little too easy at the end.

No Place To Run is more action than psychological thriller, and despite being different to the other books I’ve read by him, the writing was so good that it managed to kept me engrossed in the story despite the theme not being my favorite, hence the 4 stars.

Thanks to FMcM associates for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.