Book Review: Runner by Parker Williams

Title: Runner
Author: Parker Williams
Release Date: July 28, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

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Matt Bowers’s life ended at sixteen, when a vicious betrayal by someone who he should have been able to trust left him a shell of himself, fighting OCD and PTSD, living in constant fear and always running. When he buys a remote tract of land, he thinks he’s found the perfect place to hide from the world and attempt to establish some peace. For ten years he believes he’s found a measure of comfort, until the day a stranger begins to run on Matt’s road.

He returns every day, an unwelcome intrusion into Matt’s carefully structured life. Matt appeals to the local sheriff, who cannot help him since the jogger is doing nothing wrong. Gradually, after tentatively breaking the ice, Matt begins to accept the man’s presence—

But when the runner doesn’t show up one day, it throws Matt’s world into chaos and he must make the hardest decision of his life.

3.5 Stars!

Sometimes it's hard to read a book about someone suffering from PTSD. I myself have been dealing with PTSD for well over a decade and while I'd like to think I have it under control, every once in a while something or someone comes along and sends me into full on panic mode. So I can totally relate to Matt and what he feels like when his carefully constructed life gets thrown out of order. When you feel like you have no control you will do anything to get it back and sometimes it's with things like your space, your belongings and the things around you. I felt sad for Matt at first because for someone so young to develop his issues to that extreme seemed so unbelievable and unfair. However, as the story progressed I found myself upset for him because he obviously needed help bad. He should not have been as bad off as he was (it seemed a tad overboard for the incident that brought it all on). Of course, it's easy to say that since it's fiction. Who am I to say things can't be that bad, especially since I can barely drive on the highway without having a panic attack (I'm pretty sure I'll be unable to even attempt to drive on the freeway in a few years at the rate I'm going).

I liked Matt, I really did but I'm not going to lie and say he didn't bug me sometimes. I empathize with him but I also find myself frustrated by him as well. Charlie was very likable, too, however, sometimes I found him pushy. Although maybe he needed to be pushy and sometimes harsh with Matt, because it seemed to work.

I liked them together and thought they made a sweet couple. But there were a few moments they felt off as a couple. It may have been the slow pace of their intimacy (completely understandable). Or it could've been the sex scene which was awkward to me and not at all sexy (Mainly because it was a kind of teaching moment. However, in many ways I guess that made it all the more realistic).

I definitely have to say that the book was well written and thought out. I have nothing bad to say about the writing or the premise of the story which I found very interesting.

***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***