Red Run

by Kami Garcia

Everyone in the Louisiana backwoods knows never to drive down Red Run at night, especially Edie. Her brother was murdered by the ghost that haunts the road -- a ghost Edie is hunting.

Suspense and Southern gothic meet in this modern ghost story, where nothing is what it seems.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Short Stories, Fantasy, Ghosts, Fiction

Nook

First published November 15, 2012

About the author

Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. She is the coauthor of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series, which has been published in 51 countries and 37 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. In 2013, Beautiful Creatures released as a feature film from Warner Brothers. Kami is a cofounder of the YALLFEST kid lit book festival and the author of five solo novels, including her Bram Stoker Award-nominated novels Unbreakable and Unmarked (THE LEGION series) and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos. Kami’s first graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven, with artist Gabriel Picolo, is the first book in her TEEN TITANS series for DC Comics and the adult series JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY, from DC Black Label.

Find Kami online at kamigarcia.com, on Facebook @KamiGarciaYA, and on Twitter and Instagram @KamiGarcia.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inhalt: Kami Garcias Inspiration zu "The Legion - Der Kreis der Fünf" Der Red Run führt nirgendwo hin - außer in den Tod. Das weiß jeder, allen voran Edie. Seit ihr Bruder dort vor einem Jahr qualvoll sterben musste, hat sie nur noch ein Ziel: das unheimliche Morden zu stoppen ... "Red Run" von Kami Garcia ist eine fesselnde Kurzgeschichte, in der nichts ist, wie es scheint. Nachdem sie die Geschichte geschrieben hatte, ließ sich die Autorin von ihr zu ihrem neuen Roman "The Legion - Der Kreis der Fünf" inspirieren. (Quelle: lovelybooks.de)
Wann kann ich es lesen: Die Geschichte ist die Inspiration zu The Legion – Der Kreis der Fünf. Ich selbst kenne dieses Buch nicht und habe nur eine Leseprobe dazu gelesen. Die Geschichte ist eigenständig und es ist egal, ob ihr The Legion schon kennt oder nicht. Sie hat nichts mit der Handlung dieses Buches zu tun.
Meine Meinung: Über dieses Buch bin ich bei iBooks auf einer Stöberrunde gestoßen. Das Hauptbuch sagte mir gar nichts aber Cover und Klappentext haben mich in den Bann gezogen und so habe ich Red Run kostenlos heruntergeladen und konnte mich dann beim Lesen auch überzeugen. Die Geschichte in sich ist geschlossen, super spannend und sorgt für Gänsehaut. Man wird direkt ins Geschehen hineingezogen und durch spannende Szenen und Plot Twists so sehr gefesselt, dass ich mir nach dem Lesen gewünscht habe, es gäbe ein ganzes Buch über Edie und ihre Erlebnisse.
Bewertung: Moderne Ghost-Story trifft unerwartete Plot Twists. Red Run von Kami Garcia ist der perfekte Appetithappen auf The Legion und absolut lesenswert. Dafür gibt es 5 von 5 Füchschen.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good story. Certainly one to remember. It's not as scary as to seeing a real woods in the night. There wasn't much to go on w Edie besides her murdered brother, her goal to capture the ghost with the ghost catching machine her two friends built from within their garage. I like how Tommy was described as being friendly (for a ghost), helpful and casual not giving away that's he's a ghost up front.

[Natrina Felan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While extremely short, I actually really enjoyed this.

[J.A. Belfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review will probably be short because there’s only so much you can say about a short story. However, I did enjoy this one. I’m not sure if the author intended it to be 100% creepy, but whilst the creep-factor was there, especially with the even-toned and understated way in which it was written, I also found it quite fun.
What can I say? I laugh my head off at Supernatural, and pretty much all the TV shows I watch consist of some kind of scary supernatural being, so I’m a bit of a tough nut.
Anyway, I read this one over breakfast—just the right length for not taking up too much of my working day—and I instantly felt a connection with the MC, which is tough to achieve in a short, and was automatically interested in hearing the tale—the legend—behind Red Run. And sure enough, the story 100% suckered me in and made me believe it, which means I totally didn’t spot the twist before it happened. And I love a good twist. And I must have liked the characters because I know I didn’t want it to end there, that I wanted to continue on down that road in the car with them to see what happens next. The only gripe really was that the reveal and how that was wrapped up seemed slightly rushed to me. That’s my only complaint. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable read.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Twas delightfully creepy and mysterious. A very enjoyable little read that left me wanting to know more -- not in a this-feels-unsatisfyingly-unfinished kind of way, but rather in a this-is-cool-and-I-wish-it-were-longer kind of way.

[Jeni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short, but very good! Kami Garcia manages to tell a full and engaging story in the time it normally takes an author to create a vivid setting, and it holds your attention from beginning to end. If I wasn't already a fan of her work, Red Run would have made me one.

[Doreena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic story!

I loved this story. It brings to mind lots of roads and legends in every town. The story was wonderfully written and the ending was great, but I would have loved for the story to be longer, but then it wouldn't be a short story.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*sigh* I want more lol

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met this author through her series 'Beautiful Creatures'. I read the whole series and really like her writing style. So when I saw this book I just had to give it a try since it was a bit different from the past paranormal that I have read from her. I new it was short, but I did not realize how short. It packed a lot of story and back story into just a few pages. I enjoyed its hint of terror and creepiness.

[jen ondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like reading kami garcias books

I liked this book it was a good but to short story it kept u wanting to read it. I really like kami. I really enjoyed. The supernatural series although i can't buy the last book yet i love that story as well

[Kimberly King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another banger

I first got associated with Kami Garcia by reading her novel Beautiful creatures. This short story sets the same masterful pace that leaves you unable to put it down.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Such a great short story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would love a full length novel. The characters pulled at my heart strings!

[Kayleigh Mathews (abountyofbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished quick enjoyable short story that I flew through. I am a sucker for anything supernatural. The ending I felt like was a bit rushed to be wrapped up but I still liked it. 4 stars.

[Lisa Gramling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kami Garcia

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little story of a girl and a ghost.
Had read previously as part of an anthology.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good story and well written but it was too short!

[Linsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet, as ghost stories go this wasn't especially eerie or scary. That said, there was a solid storyline and a nice little twist at the end.

[cassy · Rating 5 out of 5]

hejdjdh i shouldn't have read this at night 💀 but it was amazing dhsjhdhs

[Tanya Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not out down, read it in one day.

[Veronica Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Morgan Lovgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it!

This short story was really good! I have not read Kami Garcia’s work in a long time and I liked this. It was very spooky and intriguing; overall, good story.

[Tardisgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, very short. But great story!

[Ｇｈｉｔａ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the finest short story I've ever read.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very intrigued by this story. I need to read more in the series.

[Komal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, crisp and quick novella by Kami Gracia. It's a very short read, so you can't expect it to full of turns and twists but book kept me hooked till the last page to discover what could be the end of the story. It's more of something you can grab to read on the way. Nothing much serious and nothing bad. 3.5 star from me.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this short story. I knew it was supernatural, and I expected the romance side, since the author is part of the Beautiful Creatures creation, but I really entered into the stories world with no idea of what to expect. And luckily I was impressed - not overly so, but it was good enough to definitely keep my attention and approval throughout.

Red Run is about a girl who's brother was murdered by a ghost. Edie, after meeting a pair of 'ghost hunters' decides to drive down Red Run - the road where her brother and five other victims of the ghost were murdered - to bring her brother's killer to justice herself. But when she finds a boy on the side of the road, asking for a ride, can she trust him? Or is he the murderer Edie set out to find in the first place?

The writing was actually really good. There wasn't a particularly strong part of it, but each element was consistent with each other, so that the whole quality was really high. You don't often get authors who are able to write just as confidently in description as they are in speech and action - but Garcia masters each of them.
Honestly, there wasn't anything that really impressed me about the writing, but for a Young Adult novella it flowed very well and was among the best styles I've experienced.

I really liked the story. It was so original and I thought the plot twists and just the thoughts behind everything were really well created and presented. It was really engaging throughout, and I was trying to work things out while the plot was unfolding.
I liked the mystery element, as well as the supernatural/thriller genre. The romance was great, since there wasn't that much of it, but when it was included it was very relevant and I actually found myself encouraging it in my head near the end.
What I liked most was the fact that a reasonably 'typical' Young Adult author actually created a whole new story that tricked the reader into thinking one thing, and then revealed itself as something else.

Garcia used only three characters in the whole novella (excluding those that were merely mentioned), which in itself is impressive when taken into account how interesting and engaging the actual story was.
I really liked Edie as the protagonist. She's a very clever girl, but we can actually tell she is. In most books we're either told a character is clever or they demonstrate it every now and then. With Edie, you actually got the feeling she was a very clever girl, just in the things she did and how she did them etc. She wasn't the typical horror girl who falls for the devil or whatever and then screams until she either dies or gets rescued. Without even stating it at all in her writing, Garcia showed us that her character was very clearheaded, intelligent and 'masculine'.
Tommy was very believable, and I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not to (I did guess right in the end - woo!) which was a really good element to put into a novella like this. It involves the reader very quickly to get them engrossed in the plot as soon as possible.
There isn't much to say about the old man - only that I thought his part to play was needed and carried out very well.
I really liked Edie's friends too. I thought their inclusion was crucial, and I actually thought they seemed like nice guys.

The pace was what you would expect out of a typical story: calm start, that starts hinting at danger as we're given different snippets of information, which then morphs into real danger, and then the climax, followed by the final slope to the bottom and the end. I think this worked well in novella format because it made the story easier for the reader to relate to and let Garcia focus more on her characters and story.
There were slower parts, but they were still important to the story and actually quite interesting anyway. It also let us get to know Edie's character a bit more, since the cross-cutting of time frames made the reader feel like they're known her for longer than the main plot spanned as.

I would recommend Red Run to anyone who likes supernatural thrillers with some mystery and a tiny bit of romance. It's a reasonably easy read and I really enjoyed it since I found it engaging, original and suspense-driven.

[donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a quick fun read. Love ghost stories.

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kami Garcia kannte ich bislang nur von den "Caster Chronicles", die sie zusammen mit Margaret Stohl geschrieben hat. Da ich bei ihrem neuesten Werk "The Legion" noch sehr unsicher war, ob ich dieses Buch tatsächlich lesen möchte, habe ich mich zunächst für die Kurzgeschichte "Red Run" entschieden. Diese hat zwar an sich nichts, bzw. kaum etwas mit "The Legion" zu tun, allerdings hat diese Kurzgeschichte sie erst dazu inspiriert, um "The Legion" überhaupt zu schreiben.

Nun, meine Erwartungen waren nicht allzu hoch, allerdings war ich direkt von dem wunderschönen Cover fasziniert, sodass ich mich am Ende dann doch auf die Geschichte gefreut habe und ich muss sagen, dass mir diese sehr gut gefallen hat. Zugegeben: Bei der geringen Seitenanzahl kann man nun nicht den ganz großen Knall erwarten, wen es um die Darstellungen von Figuren geht, allerdings muss ich sagen, dass dies der Autorin hier mehr als gelungen ist. Mit dem "Red Run", einer Straße, auf der es spuken soll, ist ein genialer Ort geschaffen worden, der spannender nicht sein konnte und bei mir für Gänsehaut gesorgt hat. Die Dialoge zwischen Edie und Tommy waren interessant und gut durchdacht, sodass die gesamte Geschichte sehr schlüssig ist.

Erzählt wird die Geschichte aus der Sicht von Edie, die im letzten Jahr ihren Bruder verloren hat. Dieser starb auf dem "Red Run" in ihrem Armen, nachdem er angegriffen wurde. Da es heißt, dass es auf der Straße spukt, ist es für alle nur schlüssig, dass auch der Geist der Mörder sein soll. Zusammen mit zwei Freunden, die sich gerne als Geisterjäger bezeichnen, möchte Edie den Geist aufspüren und vernichten, jedoch ist nicht immer alles so, wie es am Anfang erscheint.

Stellenweise hat mich die Geschichte aber auch an die Serie "Supernatural" erinnert, bei der es eine Folge gab, die fast identisch verlief. Ich muss aber zugeben, dass mich dies kaum gestört hat, da ich den Plot sehr mochte. Ich fand besonders Edie unglaublich interessant und hoffe, dass man sie vielleicht sogar in "The Legion" erleben darf, da sie eine Menge Potential besitzt.

Das Cover ist wunderschön und passt sehr gut zur Beschreibung des "Red Runs". Die Kurzbeschreibung ist tatsächlich sehr kurz gehalten, schafft es aber dennoch, so viel zu verraten, sodass man weiß, worauf man sich bei dieser Geschichte einlässt. Toll gemacht!

Insgesamt ist "Red Run" eine mehr als gute Kurzgeschichte, die voller Spannung und Geheimnisse steckt. Auch wenn die Geschichte nur indirekt etwas mit "The Legion" zu tun hat, habe ich mittlerweile große Lust, auch diesen Roman zu lesen und freue mich über viele weitere Bücher von Kami Garcia. Wer spannende Kurzgeschichten mag, wird diese Geschichte lieben.

[Alysa H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm kind of hoping that this short story is secretly a preview for a new series, because as a stand-alone it's good but not great. It's well-written, sure, and makes me want to see what happens to the characters next, but - how do I put this? - it's not remotely as original as it thinks it is. Taking the "ghost passenger" urban legend and trying to add a fresh spin is all well and good and this story does it as well as any, I suppose. Eh. (Other reviewers have compared it to a particular episode of Supernatural, and that's apt for me, as well.) Also, it wasn't as atmospheric as I'd anticipated, and could have taken place in Anytown, USA. There was nothing really to tie it to its supposed Bayou location.

This next bit doesn't color my review, but I feel the need to mention the fact that I bought this on Amazon - for my Kindle - and nowhere on the Amazon listing is it indicated that the story was previously published in the collection Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions - a collection which I purchased in hardcover upon its original 2011 publication, but had not yet read. I just happened to pull it off the shelf immediately after reading "Red Run", while looking for more short stories, only to roll my eyes at the ToC when, lo and behold, I saw "Red Run" there.

So basically, I paid for this so-so story twice. It's not like I paid a lot, but I feel kind of PO'd that the Amazon listing trades on the impression that it's an e-Exclusive. I'm very happy to have this story in Enthralled; it actually sits more comfortably in that context than it does as a Kindle Single.

ETA 2017: It also appears in Beyond the Pale! So for me, that's three separate encounters now...

[Tawnya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a ghost story that is similar to “The Lady in White” stories. There was a nice twist at the end.