Run for Your Life by C.M. Sutter

Only batting .500 this year for reading good fiction. This one tipped the scale down to the .500 mark. This book features justice and revenge. It’s a police procedural that promises to be a “heart stopping thrill”. And on the Amazon sale page boldly proclaims that fans of James Patterson and Michael Connelly will love C.M Sutter. I’m a fan of both and I did not love, nor even like this book. There was nothing heart-stopping about it. I’m failing to understand how this book has over 8000 reviews and averages over 4 stars. I rated it two stars and felt generous at that.

Homicide Detective Mitch Cannon works for the Savannah, GA police force. Early on, his sister is kidnapped. More kidnappings happen. All this seems like we’d get a good story. Here’s the main problem. This book is the first book from this author, I believe, and it reads like the first draft of the first book. There is no depth to this book. After reading the entire novel, I could not physically describe a single character other than gender. It takes place in Savannah, which is rich in historical significance and dripping with ambience, yet we get none of it. I’m a minimalist when it comes to description, but this book had no description, not of characters and not of places.

The dialog is stilted. We get half the story from the character’s mouths. They have long conversations telling the reader what’s happened and what is going to happen.

The police procedure seems wonky to me, but I don’t know Savannah’s police department, so I can’t really comment on it. But the one thing I’ll say, once it was established that it was Mitch Cannon’s sister that went missing, in most police departments, he would be immediately removed from that case. This case had more than that one personal connection, therefore it’s unlikely he’d be let within a hundred yards of it.

I don’t know if C.M. Sutter has read James Patterson or Michael Connelly. If not, she should. And she should read Ed McBain for tips on dialog. John Connolly for tips on character and setting description. I don’t know if subsequent books improve, but because this one was so unready for prime time, I’m not going to read another one to find out.

As for content. Some profanity. No sex. And no graphic on-page violence.

Here’s our current 2023 rankings:

1. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
2. Several Deaths Later by Ed Gorman
3. Citadel (Palladium Wars Book 3) by Marko Kloos
4. Fireplay by Steve P. Vincent
5. Nowhere Safe by Kate Bold
6. Run for Your Life by C.M. Sutter

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