See How They Run by Tom Bale – some nightmares you can’t wake up from…

Book number six in the 26-books-in 52-weeks challenge has to be a book written by a man. So, not exactly a narrow field there then.

I read books by male and female authors. I always have – and I’ve never really paid much attention to the gender of the writer. My fiction choices nowadays come mainly from the contemporary and crime genres and both male and female authors are on my favourites list. But choosing just one – and it’s a female author next – is difficult.

So I decided that for this category (and the female one) I’d choose an author who is new to me and in a genre I wouldn’t normally read.

Hence I’m going for the psychological thriller See How They Run by Tom Bale as my Book Six. I was first attracted to/alerted to this book through the wonderful Book Connectors group on Facebook. Several of the book bloggers there were praising it. Indeed their enthusiasm was so great that my curiosity overcame my usual resistance to the manipulations of thriller writers.

I’m so glad I overcame my prejudices. Tom Bale is a talented storyteller and See How They Run was a great read. The characters were interesting, believable and well-realised, and the storyline was taut and well paced.

The suspense and the shocks persisted throughout and there were several hide-behind-the-couch and look-through-your-fingers moments.

WARNING – This book is NOT for:

• Those of a nervous disposition
• Reading when alone at night
• Reading at night if you (a) need to get to sleep at a reasonable time, (b) if you need to get to sleep

Here’s what the backcover blurb says:

How far would you go to save your family?

In the dead of night, new parents Alice and Harry French are plunged into their worst nightmare when they wake to find masked men in their bedroom. Men ruthless enough to threaten their baby daughter, Evie.

This is no burglary gone wrong. The intruders know who they’re looking for – a man called Edward Renshaw. And they are prepared to kill to get to him.

When the men leave empty handed, little do Alice and Harry realise that their nightmare is just beginning. Is it a case of mistaken identity? Who is Renshaw? And what is he hiding?

One thing is clear – they already know too much. As Alice and Harry are separated in the run for their lives, there is no time to breathe in their fight to be reunited. And with their attackers closing in, there is only one choice: STAY ALIVE. OR DON’T.

 My advice:

Risk it, live dangerously and read it!

See How They Run is published by Bookouture and is available as an ebook and audio