What do you think?
Rate this book
Nola O'Grady #4
Love on the Run
Nola O’Grady is sick and tired of psychic squid-images following her everywhere, waving their tentacles and generally making nuisances of themselves. She and her partner, Ari Nathan, have a dangerous job on their hands, hunting down two criminals who have escaped into another level of the multiverse, the San Francisco of Terra Six.
Terrorists have turned parts of that city into a deathtrap—religious fanatics, yes, but from what religion? Nola suspects that the Peacock Angel Chaos cult lies behind the bombings and mass murders. As she gathers evidence, she finds herself face-to-face with part of her own personal past that she’d prefer to bury forever.
And by the way, just who is it that keeps trying to kill her?
Terrorists have turned parts of that city into a deathtrap—religious fanatics, yes, but from what religion? Nola suspects that the Peacock Angel Chaos cult lies behind the bombings and mass murders. As she gathers evidence, she finds herself face-to-face with part of her own personal past that she’d prefer to bury forever.
And by the way, just who is it that keeps trying to kill her?
328 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 7, 2012
4 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Katharine Kerr
69 books1,653 followersBorn in Ohio, 1944. Moved to San Francisco Bay Area in 1962 and has lived there ever since. Katharine Kerr has read extensively in the fields of classical archeology, and medieval and dark ages history and literature, and these influences are clear in her work. Her epic Deverry series has won widespread praise and millions of fans around the world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 27, 2012
I put off reading this for ages as it seems like this will be the last conventionally published book in the series. Shame on you traditional urban fantasy readers - I can't believe you prefer tramp stamps and vampires to this witty and mature series. The humour is dry, the characters are addictive, the book is pacy and beautifully plotted.
August 4, 2012
Love on the Run is the fourth Nola O'Grady adventure and, as they say, the plot thickens. From the first, these books have stood in my mind above the usual urban fantasy by the complexity of the world building. Nola is a paranormal investigator for the Apocalyse Squad, a branch of a super-secret agency; her sweetheart, Israeli Interpol agent Ari, is by no means mundane, and her large extended family is variously gifted and not always on the right side of the law on this and several other Earths. The multiplicity of parallel worlds remind me strongly of some of my favorite early Andre Norton science fiction novels, particularly the radioactive, gang-ridden version of San Francisco and the wet Venus with a single moon, home to intelligent, psychic squids. With each book, the universe has gotten larger, as new alternate worlds, new characters, species, and tensions have been introduced. Kerr is far too imaginative and thoughtful a writer to ignore the interwoven connections, implications, and nuances of even a "simple" story. As a result, each book elaborates established elements and introduces new ones. Now the threads are coming together, and we see the connections between Nola's eating disorder, Ari's childhood in a seriously warped New Age kibbutz, or why the Peacock Angel is a force of evil in one dimension but a power for good in another. The result kicks the story impact up exponentially. "Love On The Run" is the perfect title because the romance, although present and continuing to develop, has to take place in moments snatched while dealing with one escalating crisis after another.
January 5, 2014
Somewhat disappointing. I really enjoyed the first 3 books in this series with each one having its own discrete mystery/storyline to solve as well as adding layers to the complex world building and overarching story. Unfortunately this book fell short on the individual story and felt like something of a filler. We have the whole story supposedly about catching the Axeman who escaped at the end of the previous novel but this is not enough of a storyline for a the stand alone part of the book, and it effect only really took a couple of chapters. More time should have been devoted to moving along the peacock angel storyline. Also there was not enough of Nola's family. However, the main reason I give this 2 stars instead of 3 ( which is where I was heading until a certain event) is
March 21, 2022
Psychic secret agent Nola O'Grady & her Interpol colleague/fiance Israeli Ari Nathan must bring down a ring of inter-dimensional slavers while working out many family & personal problems.
September 28, 2012
This series just gets better and better! In the 4th installment of the Nola O'Grady books, Nola is yet again fighting back against the forces of Chaos and those who would harm her family.
Here is my unapologetic disclaimer: I love Katharine Kerr's works. At least everything that I've read, anyway. I don't think I've ever been disappointed. There, I've said it. Maybe I'm biased, but I really LOVE this series. I can't get enough of Nola and Ari! It's a fun adventure with a lot of serious thought-provoking themes and ideas. The book doesn't take its vague genre seriously, and the frequent mention of psychic squids makes me giggle. I love it at the end when Nola gets so tired of seeing them that she orders calamari and eats it in front of the apparitions, making them nervous, and then blows the squid-smell at them until they go away. HI-larious!
THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT
After someone tries to kill Nola's sister Maureen on the night of Nola's engagement party, she is thrust into further danger on the deviant world levels. Traveling between One, Three and Six, Nola and Ari investigate the collapsing of the gates, the murder of a TWIXT agent, and Maureen's ex-boyfriend who has a vendetta against her for leaving him. Trying to balance her family's outrageous problems, her relationship with Ari, and all the action on the deviant world levels could make a normal person go nuts. Nola, on the other hand, sure knows how to handle herself.
I did a beta read of this book before it was published, and there were definitely some noticeable changes and improvements. I appreciate knowing how Cam and everyone else know that their Nola is dead. It was heartbreaking to see them realize that our Nola was not the same person, and yet Cam's denial was more genuine this read. The timing problem for me, where I wasn't sure how long a time span this was all happening in, was fixed and definitely made much more sense. Now I can see it takes place over a period of a few weeks, as opposed to what I couldn't tell were days or months.
Overall, this is yet another fantastic installment of a great series I can't get enough of. I highly recommend it to all fans of fantasy, urban fantasy, even mystery. It has just enough action, romance, humor, and thoughtfulness to get you through. If you haven't read from the beginning, start with License to Ensorcell.
Here is my unapologetic disclaimer: I love Katharine Kerr's works. At least everything that I've read, anyway. I don't think I've ever been disappointed. There, I've said it. Maybe I'm biased, but I really LOVE this series. I can't get enough of Nola and Ari! It's a fun adventure with a lot of serious thought-provoking themes and ideas. The book doesn't take its vague genre seriously, and the frequent mention of psychic squids makes me giggle. I love it at the end when Nola gets so tired of seeing them that she orders calamari and eats it in front of the apparitions, making them nervous, and then blows the squid-smell at them until they go away. HI-larious!
THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT
After someone tries to kill Nola's sister Maureen on the night of Nola's engagement party, she is thrust into further danger on the deviant world levels. Traveling between One, Three and Six, Nola and Ari investigate the collapsing of the gates, the murder of a TWIXT agent, and Maureen's ex-boyfriend who has a vendetta against her for leaving him. Trying to balance her family's outrageous problems, her relationship with Ari, and all the action on the deviant world levels could make a normal person go nuts. Nola, on the other hand, sure knows how to handle herself.
I did a beta read of this book before it was published, and there were definitely some noticeable changes and improvements. I appreciate knowing how Cam and everyone else know that their Nola is dead. It was heartbreaking to see them realize that our Nola was not the same person, and yet Cam's denial was more genuine this read. The timing problem for me, where I wasn't sure how long a time span this was all happening in, was fixed and definitely made much more sense. Now I can see it takes place over a period of a few weeks, as opposed to what I couldn't tell were days or months.
Overall, this is yet another fantastic installment of a great series I can't get enough of. I highly recommend it to all fans of fantasy, urban fantasy, even mystery. It has just enough action, romance, humor, and thoughtfulness to get you through. If you haven't read from the beginning, start with License to Ensorcell.
November 30, 2022
I've enjoyed how this series has evolved into a reality-hopping, alternate earths psychic thriller; the shifted earths helps distinguish it from other urban fantasy stories involving psychic/magic detectives and it's really opened up the possibilities for where the stories could go, and gives Nola's sidekick/bodyguard/boyfriend/partner a better role in the whole affair.
So of course, it seems like this series is dead. Just as it's been getting more interesting.
The paranormal romance aspects of the series have been fairly well shelved by now, but there are still a few of those notes. I certainly don't mind the lead characters being horny for each other, but I'm not entirely sure that where this series works best. It's also a little disappointing how poorly Kerr has used Nola having an eating disorder as some kind of character flaw or Ari's anger management as being almost a quirk rolled off a chart. (Kerr used to write articles for Dragon Magazine, so she certainly knows RPG tricks)
The book and series are at it's best when Nola and Ari are getting themselves in trouble, using psychic tricks to unravel crimes and take down the bag guys. I'll miss seeing them do it, but after 10 years it seems unlikely we'll see them again, even though the series is well set up for 2-3 more books.
So of course, it seems like this series is dead. Just as it's been getting more interesting.
The paranormal romance aspects of the series have been fairly well shelved by now, but there are still a few of those notes. I certainly don't mind the lead characters being horny for each other, but I'm not entirely sure that where this series works best. It's also a little disappointing how poorly Kerr has used Nola having an eating disorder as some kind of character flaw or Ari's anger management as being almost a quirk rolled off a chart. (Kerr used to write articles for Dragon Magazine, so she certainly knows RPG tricks)
The book and series are at it's best when Nola and Ari are getting themselves in trouble, using psychic tricks to unravel crimes and take down the bag guys. I'll miss seeing them do it, but after 10 years it seems unlikely we'll see them again, even though the series is well set up for 2-3 more books.
February 11, 2018
From Magnolia Reviews: Three Petals
While I still enjoyed the intricacy of the setting and the overall creativity of the book, it started to feel heavy in this story. I also had issues with Nola's personality, but I still liked this book so I will recommend it.
Read the full review on Maggie's website: http://magnoliareviews.weebly.com/rev...
While I still enjoyed the intricacy of the setting and the overall creativity of the book, it started to feel heavy in this story. I also had issues with Nola's personality, but I still liked this book so I will recommend it.
Read the full review on Maggie's website: http://magnoliareviews.weebly.com/rev...
September 13, 2012
I didn't think this one was the best out of the series, but it is indeed a nice addition. I thought Nola O'Grady shows her growth as a character in this installation. She is no longer denying that she has a painful disorder, nor does she shy away from it. Ari Nathan also shows his strengths have grown as Nola's partner (romantic and professional). That being said I thought the plot was kick butt.
Nola and Ari do quite a bit of traveling between the dimensions in this novel; hunting down the dread Axe Man and his psychotic daughter.
Major --->
Nola and Ari do quite a bit of traveling between the dimensions in this novel; hunting down the dread Axe Man and his psychotic daughter.
Major --->
January 25, 2015
Kerr always writes great characters. Nola O'Grady and her family are wonderful, complex characters that you want to learn more about. At least I do ... I read the rest of the series earlier and was waiting for the library to get this one. Unfortunately, DAW dropped this series, so writing the next installment is probably not high on Kerr's list. Worth reading if you enjoy mystery or urban fantasy - or Katharine Kerr. Keeping my fingers crossed that the series is picked up soon by a publisher!
Read
June 23, 2014Best parts were the ones relating to the main character's family drama. The deviant world levels and her job and life with her partner was just too all over the place for me in this series. Very confusing and kind of glad I'm through with it as well. Definitely a big time recommendation for those that love and live for sci-fi reads in a big way.
September 10, 2012
Another urban fantasy set in San Francisco - set in several San Franciscos in fact. Parallel worlds/multiverse stories have always fascinated me, and while this has far fewer swords than Moorcock, the characters are vivid and the adventures kept me up far later than I planned to read.
September 1, 2012
Crosstime fantasy, readable.
August 25, 2012
LOVED IT!!!!! So excited that the story continues. Can't wait for the next one in the series!!!!
October 17, 2012
I wanted to like Love on the Run more but I had a hard time staying interested in the story. Maybe I will reread it when my life is less stressful.
July 4, 2013
I love this series. I really hope there will eventually be more.
Read
March 23, 2013Any word on #5? There's a break in the publication pattern set up so far (Feb + Aug 2011, Feb + Aug 2012), and this one leaves some open questions.
September 26, 2013
Fun, and far fewer annoying abbreviations. Sad that there are no more of these out yet.
December 28, 2013
Where will the next squid turn up
January 21, 2014
This is not Katharine Kerr at her best. It's still pretty good, but the plot is getting more convoluted as the series goes along and it doesn't always seem like it's going anywhere.
November 16, 2014
Interesting theme, nicely complex characters, believable world-building and a nice touch of humor.
March 25, 2015
Really enjoyed this; things seem to be coming together nicely. I hope the next one is out soon!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews