Karen Cleveland is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst, a pedigree that has filled each of her books with credibility and realism. Her latest release, YOU CAN RUN, is a true rollercoaster ride of a novel that kicks off immediately with a heart-pounding event and never lets go until the very end.

Jill Bailey is a CIA analyst, and it’s her job to vet sources who wish to work with the CIA and the U.S. government. One day she decides to take her lunch break in her car and check in on the daycare camera where she can watch her young son, Owen. She is alarmed when she does not see him and almost immediately receives a phone call from an unknown number. What she hears would strike at the heart of any parent: We have your son.

"The final third of YOU CAN RUN is a non-stop series of events that utilizes all of Karen Cleveland’s counterterrorism training. She also has some nice plot twists up her sleeve, including a big one that she reveals on the novel’s last page."

Believing it to be a scam, Jill promptly calls the daycare and is told that Owen was picked up earlier by her brother, who is actually in Singapore on business. Now, realizing that the mystery caller has her child, she needs to find out what they want. When they call her back, the only thing they request for Owen’s safe return is that a potential CIA source named Falcon be passed through the vetting process without any question. Even though the potential terrorism implications of such an act are immeasurable, Jill can only focus on getting her son back. So she complies, and Owen is safely returned.

Jill is warned never to breathe a word about this to anyone, not even her husband, Drew, and that they would know if she did. This entire situation so unsettles Jill that she just wants to remove herself from any future threats. As a result, she walks into her boss’s office the next day and turns in her resignation. She tells Drew that she is ready to step away from the job and spend more time with their son. It is at this point that Jill is completely horrified by a note she finds in Owen’s crib: YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE.

At this point we are introduced to the book’s dual protagonist, investigative journalist Alex Charles. It’s four years later, and Jill and her family have relocated to Florida to start life anew. It’s not long before Alex and Jill will be thrust together. Alex is working on a potentially huge story involving Falcon, and that path will eventually lead her to Jill. Jill begs Alex not to go to press because she fears for the safety of her family, which now also includes her young daughter, Mia. Alex and Jill agree to work together to try to learn what they can about Falcon and the threat he might pose.

The final third of YOU CAN RUN is a non-stop series of events that utilizes all of Karen Cleveland’s counterterrorism training. She also has some nice plot twists up her sleeve, including a big one that she reveals on the novel’s last page.