Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published by: One More Chapter
Publication date: 29th May 2026
Content warnings: death, murder, rape

Other books by Jackie Kabler:
The Revenge Plot | The Life Sentence | The Vanishing of Class 3B
The Murder List | The Happy Family | The Perfect Couple

“Every step could be your last.”

Oh Jackie, you have absolutely nailed this!! 🤩 Easily one of my favourite books of the year so far. It’s rare you get a thriller these days where every single one of your predictions turns out to be wrong, where your theories are quickly ruled out. I was left completely baffled by a series of brutal murders by a serial killer targeting runners, right up until that gloriously satisfying ending, and it was utterly fantastic. With ten million runners as potential victims, how do you stop a serial killer? I am so thrilled to be sharing my review of Run For Your Life by Jackie Kabler!

About the book

What if the most dangerous thing you did this weekend was go for a run?

On a bright spring Saturday, hundreds gather in a park as usual for their weekly community 5k run.

An hour later, one of the runners is dead.

The next week a runner training for a 10k event dies. And then another, a half marathon runner…

The police are baffled. The pattern is the same, the deaths can’t be coincidental. Is there a murderer picking off victims one race at a time?

Ten million adults are regular or occasional runners.

Ten million potential victims.

With the next event just announced, as you reach the start line you might just have to run for your life…

The beginning

Wow, with an opening sentence like that, you just know the book is going to be good. And that fantastic opener turned into to one of the most intense, horrific first chapters in the history of first chapters! Short and sharp. But oh so impactful. I was instantly invested! Thirty-year-old Victoria Dunn collapses at a 5K park run and is pronounced dead at the scene. Detective Inspector Livvy Lacy and Detective Sergeant Noor McCarthy are on the case, and when a postmortem reveals something very odd, it’s clear this death is bigger than they thought. Then Jacob Bailey, off on his weekly 10K run for charity, is attacked and left for dead, his brutal injuries making me wince. It’s clear these deaths are connected when a small sticker with a number and a tick is found on both of these victims. Someone has targeted them. Like they’ve made a list and they’re working their way through it, one murder at a time. It was terrifying, quite frankly, and it already had me thinking about this killer, their reasoning. Was this killer targeting random runners? Or did they know these victims personally?

“They’re tight, the running community. They rally round each other, you know? Hurt one, and you hurt them all. They’re scared, and now they’re getting angry.”

There was definitely a pattern emerging here. A 5K runner, a 10K runner, and then, Ryan Jonas, training for a half marathon, is drowned in someone’s garden pond. Did that mean the next victim would be a marathon runner? I could feel the countrywide panic as more details about these cases emerge. It felt so realistic and intense. The ‘runfluencer’ community were looking out for one another, warning each other of who could be lurking and reminding each other to stay vigilant. Already, this put me off running alone for life, not that I’m a runner anyway… good excuse though, innit?! As much as I enjoyed reading from the victim’s POVs and the POV of DI Livvy Lacy, I loved the chapters from the killer’s perspective. I always love a killer POV! Nico’s chapters were a little creepy and had me thinking he led a very normal life, a life no one would expect a serial killer to have. I had a little theory starting to build at this point, but it was still very early days. There are a lot of characters named in the book, but many of these characters only get one or two scenes, so it isn’t overwhelming!

The middle

We meet Martha, another runner who has seen the news. She’s training for an ultramarathon. Is she in danger? Could she be next? There was such a buzz around these murders by this point, but the police can’t catch a break. Every potential lead is a dead end. They can find no connections between these victims. None. Why the hell were they targeted? It’s clear that, for Livvy, this case is bringing back the pain of losing her husband. He was also a runner, and died in a tragic accident while on a run himself. There’s a strong desire to catch this killer, to bring them to justice for runners who had tragically lost their lives. When a new link is discovered that takes these detectives to Ibiza, it seems this could be it, but EXCUSE ME. There were excellent little red herrings and twisty bits that made my head spin! I loved how when I thought I had a theory in my head, it was shut down, or the plot took an unexpected turn. It was just fantastic and I was enjoying every single second I spent with this book. Theorising with Livvy and Noor soon became one of my favourite things to do while reading this!

“There will be another death, she knows it. She can feel it. But who, where, how even? All they can do is wait. And then hope, desperately, that this will be the one he screws up.”

There’s a fourth attack. This time Kayla Muller, a marathon runner. BUT, she’s still alive. Only just, but there was the possibility she’d pull through. There was hope. And it was something that I, as well as Livvy and Noor, was holding on to. I really enjoyed another character we hear from every now and again; Monica. I was trying to place her in all of this, and it’s clear she knows the connection. She knows who is going to be killed next. She knows why. The build up was glorious and I was questioning everything and everyone all the damn time. The short chapters were really bloody working in making me read and read and read! No matter how hard I tried, I literally could not work all this out. Well, if the police couldn’t, then I’d have no chance, really! The suspense as the killer prepares for his fifth and final kill was off the scale. It felt daunting, and part of me hoped this time he would really mess up, that he’d be caught in the act. What would happen if he completed the final kill, got away with it, lived his life? I couldn’t bear the thought of it. An exceptional lead up to the final chapters!

The end

We learn who the fifth and final victim will be before it happens. Kane Butcher, ultramarathon runner. We read from Kane’s POV and the killer’s POV before the planned attack, and this build up was my favourite from the book so far. God, my heart was in my mouth. I think because we’ve heard from each of these victims individually before they’re attacked, it makes them feel more shocking, more personal, because we’ve gotten to know them a little. It was really cleverly written and I don’t think it’s something I’ve really seen before in a book with a serial killer. The detectives latch onto one small lead. A very interesting find that, even though completely baffling, could be the one. The small snippet of information they needed to finally crack this case. Everything started to unravel so perfectly, and when they finally learn of the final victim’s identity, the race was on (pun unintended, but nice!) to find which race he was running, and to get to him before it was too late. Before the Running Ripper struck for the final time. It was intense and I was loving it!!

“She realised, slowly and with growing horror, that the past was no longer in the past. That the past, as it so often does, had come back to haunt her.”

The twists! God, every reveal was so satisfying, every piece of the puzzle slotted into place with such precision that I felt like applauding every time! The truth was horrifying, and knowing why things had happened put an even thicker dark cloud over an already dark plot. It was a lot. My views on characters changed and I could not get enough of those ending chapters. They were so fast paced, that sense of urgency, the need to get to the end, was all-consuming. But even when the murders were over, there was even more to learn about the Running Ripper, the reasoning for those chosen victims, and oh my GOD, that ending! It was very satisfying. And even after finishing it, my mind was constantly revisiting it all. It’s just a bloody excellent thriller that you need to read! This is only my second book by Jackie and it’s my favourite, and one of my favourites of the year so far! If you love a book that will always have you thinking, with an unfathomable murder case that seems impossible to solve, this is the one. Hugely recommend for crime/thriller readers! An exceptional book!

Overall thoughts

Run for Your Life is quite the addictive, pulse-pounding read, and if you’re a runner, well… you might want to look away now 😅 Thirty-year-old Victoria Dunn collapses during a 5K, pronounced dead at the scene. Then another runner, brutally murdered while training for a 10K. Then, to the absolute dread of detectives, a half marathon runner is drowned. The pattern continues, yet every lead is a dead end. This serial killer, aptly named the Running Ripper, leaves nothing at these crime scenes. There are no clues, and no one sees a thing. Who is this serial killer, what is their motive, and how the hell can they be stopped?

This book was completely mind-boggling at times, and constantly bingeworthy. I loved the detectives on the case; DI Livvy Lacy and DS Noor McCarthy, driven women who were desperate to get to the bottom of the most bizarre case of their careers. Despite working tirelessly on this case, they have no luck. I loved following the tiny leads they had, and there were plenty of red herrings and little twists to keep us on our toes. Reading from the perspectives of the victims and the killer felt so immersive and was brilliantly balanced, and it made the whole reading experience so memorable. But this book is about so much more than the hunt for a serial killer. It’s about a decades-old dark, horrifying secret, a deep desire for justice. This book will have you questioning your morals and then some. The ending was truly excellent and incredibly satisfying, the perfect conclusion to a book that has been in my brain day and night. Clever, meticulous and just a damn good crime thriller!

Huge thanks to the author, Jackie Kabler, for my gorgeous signed copy, and Insta Book Tours for my place on the tour! You can grab your own copy of Run For Your Life on Amazon* or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following Jackie on Instagram for more updates!

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks so much for your support!

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