Review of Running Scared

[Sarah J Callen]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Running Scared" by Benjamin Bradley.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Running Scared by Benjamin Bradley takes readers into a cold case from over a decade ago. When a body is found at a summer camp in a small town, old memories resurface for former campers, including the lead detective. Alternating between the past and present, the book unravels a story of teenage angst, buried secrets, and sinister motivations. Will they be able to push past their personal pain and find justice for the victim?

This is a riveting mystery that is paced excellently. Running Scared begins by dropping the reader right into the action. There's very little exposition; instead, we are given each piece of the puzzle as we go along. Bradley brilliantly knows when to share information with the reader and when to leave us guessing. Each chapter ends with some additional clue that leaves the reader questioning what happened and who is guilty. Every flashback is purposeful and strategically sheds light on the characters and the mystery as a whole.

As I was reading, the characters in Running Scared felt like real people, not just characters on the page. Every one of them is flawed and haunted by something from their past. We also get to see the complex motivations of each character and the role they played in the crime. Because we get to see many of them as teenagers or college students, it was fascinating to see how aspects of their character changed over the years. These are well-thought-out, three-dimensional characters that I felt like I knew well by the end of the book.

My biggest complaint about Running Scared is the number of typos that I found. This book would benefit from an additional round of proofreading. Stylistically, the writing is filled with fragments, which I did find distracting at times, though not all readers will be bothered by that.

I give Running Scared a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. It is structured very well and paced perfectly. The way the mystery unfurls made me want to keep reading—I wanted to be able to solve the case! To my delight, the ending of the book is very satisfying. I did not give this the full 4 out of 4 due solely to the number of typos and grammatical errors I found.

I do recommend this book, especially for those readers who enjoy a good mystery. Running Scared has solid characters and plenty of twists and turns to reel you in and keep you guessing.

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Running Scared
View: on Bookshelves

[Amy Luman]

It's too bad that a novel with such a good storyline has so many errors. Hopefully these will be fixed.

[abstactlemon]

You described a perfect story for me, but I values prose and writing style over anything else in a story. I will not be picking this up but thanks for a great review.

[Summer Henrietta]

I like the use of flashback employed by the author for better understanding. This review kept me engaged.
Nice one.

[noelhope]

Running Scared gives a thriller series vibe. The cold case, haunting secrets and threatening situations. The review is great.

[Junior Gesuka 1]

This book was set in both the past and present, which led to a really interesting style of writing. I liked hearing both aspects of the story, as all parts can be important in a mystery. However, I could not get into the characters and that made the book really hard to read. The ending did have a good plot twist if you’re someone who enjoys an ending you might not see coming. I would recommend reading this is you’re a fan of mysteries, running, and/or summer camps!

[NetMassimo]

This seems like an engaging mystery with well-structured plot and characters, so I hope the author does another round of proofreading to make it excellent. Thank you for your great review!