... a true rollercoaster ride of a novel that kicks off immediately with a heart-pounding event and never lets go until the very end ... The final third of You Can Run is a non-stop series of events that utilizes all of Karen Cleveland’s counterterrorism training. She also has some nice plot twists up her sleeve, including a big one that she reveals on the novel’s last page.
Cleveland turns in another excellent performance with this fast-paced, tense, and downright scary thriller ... There’s a lot to like here: the characters are robust, the story is well constructed, the dialogue zings along, and there is that strong sense of verisimilitude that you often find when an expert writes passionately about his or her own field. It’s worth noting, too, that the book never gets bogged down in minutiae: Cleveland understands that readers don’t need to see a whole lot of technical details and wall-to-wall research on display. Nicely done.
Cleveland weaves technology, motherhood, and spydom’s skullduggery into a taut, alluring web. Acclaimed for fiendishly clever plotting, she whips up the story to a breakneck pace, then rewards readers with a knockout ending.
Cleveland plunges the reader into a terrifying world of shifting alliances, action, and intrigue. Fans of strong, decisive female characters will find much to like.
The novel lacks the deeper technical language and action of Tom Clancy or the literary bleakness of John le Carré, but there’s enough espionage to satisfy the casual reader of spy fiction, even down to some unexpected twists in the ending. Two strong, resilient women working together to save the world? Yes, please.
