What do you do when the past catches up to you?

‘I LOVE YOU. I JUST NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT.’

When Congressional staffer Ben Walsh receives this cryptic text from his wife he initially doesn’t think much of it.

But while waiting to hear from her again, Ben discovers that the text came an hour before a shooting that occurred along her daily running route. Veronica won’t pick up her phone, and when she doesn’t return home, he knows she is somehow involved.

If she isn’t one of the victims, then where is she, and what did she know?

While Ben searches for his wife, he stumbles upon another violent death, with clear connections to the shooting. The police name Veronica as their main suspect, and when more evidence suggesting his wife’s involvement appears, even Ben has to reconsider what he knows about her.

Unbeknownst to Ben, a killer from Veronica’s past stalks his family, with his own reasons for wanting to find her. What Ben does know is his best chance at saving Veronica, and keeping her out of prison, is finding her and the truth before the police-or this killer-do. But what if the truth is even more deadly than he could imagine?

Run is the first published novel by Matthew Becker, an American mathematician who currently lives with his family in Tashkent where his wife is a US diplomat. It has been published by Aethon Thrills, the recently set up Thriller division of Aethon Books which specialises in SciFi and Fantasy books predominately aimed at the youth and young adult markets. I was grateful to have the opportunity to read Run in advance of publication.

At the outset we meet Ben and Veronica, a successful couple in their thirties with a young family. We learn of their aspirations and we meet some of their friends. Very quickly their busy but pleasant life is shattered when Veronica disappears after sending a cryptic text message. Ben is understandably distraught, causing him to wonder just who he was married to. He is also desperate for help to find her but just who can he trust?

The central narrative is told in the third person, mainly following Ben but also follows his friend, Jeremy, the investigation team and other more shadowy characters. There are also chapters written in the first person detailing the back story of “The Girl”. Most of the characters appear believable. For all his experience I found Ben a little naïve at times but maybe that just reflected his desperation. A storyline that I found most compelling was that of “The Girl”. Whilst we should not condone her actions I am aware that across the world there are countless young people who have limited behaviour choices.

True to his background Matthew Becker uses his mathematical knowledge as a clue, leading Ben towards the truth. There is a tense and lively episode following which the whole story is explained. Yes there were a few surprises but also several outcomes that I had anticipated – perhaps I was supposed to.

The end of the book suggests that there could be more to come from some of these characters and the publisher’s website describes the book as Run Book 1 so one or more sequels could be on their way.

All things considered I found Run a good read. I have awarded four stars.

Matthew Becker is a mathematician, and formerly worked as part of the national Covid-19 response. He has a doctorate in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology.

Matthew currently lives with his wife, a U.S. diplomat, and their two children in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. An avid thriller reader, he loves stories with dense, twisted plots and emotional gravitas.