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Runaways: The Long Journey Home
No Mama. An abusive father. A hound dog for a best friend.
A victim of physical and emotional abuse at the hand of his father, ten-year-old Jake runs away from his remote Appalachian home in the dead of winter. He ventures into unknown territory with only his faithful companion, Hound, beside him.
The pair face freezing temperatures and near starvation as they travel through mountainous terrain, narrowly escaping Father as he tracks them with the very rifle he used to kill Sam and Mama.
Taken in by a kindly older couple, Jake discovers that he isn’t the only runaway. He looks to the clue in Mama’s necklace to reveal his true identity and give him a reason to trust.
When he hears about God’s unconditional love for him, he is confronted with the biggest decision of his life.
Will he run again, or face his father?
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- GenresFiction
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 3, 2016
21 people are currently reading
353 people want to read
About the author
Brenda C. Poulos
13 books79 followersBrenda Poulos is the Amazon Best-selling Christian Fiction writer of Runaways: The Long Journey Home, The Choice: Will's Last Testament, Simon Says, Truth or Dare, Tug of War, Cat's Cradle, Justice for Jessie, and Mending Fences.
When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2016, she began writing a series of non-fiction books for individuals with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. The series of interactive picture books, called I REMEMBER, began with I REMEMBER THE SEASONS, followed by I REMEMBER THE HOLIDAYS, and I REMEMBER BIBLE STORIES.
A former teacher and elementary school guidance counselor, Brenda is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is past president of Christian Writers of the West.
She lives in Henderson, Nevada with her husband, John. They have four adult children and eight amazing grandchildren.
Brenda has a beautiful new website you'll enjoy, www.brendapoulosauthor.com. She blogs on
http://www. spiritualsnippets.com, focusing on “Seeing Life’s Events in the Light of God’s Word”; and offers new writers encouragement on the craft of writing on http://brendapoulos.org
When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2016, she began writing a series of non-fiction books for individuals with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. The series of interactive picture books, called I REMEMBER, began with I REMEMBER THE SEASONS, followed by I REMEMBER THE HOLIDAYS, and I REMEMBER BIBLE STORIES.
A former teacher and elementary school guidance counselor, Brenda is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is past president of Christian Writers of the West.
She lives in Henderson, Nevada with her husband, John. They have four adult children and eight amazing grandchildren.
Brenda has a beautiful new website you'll enjoy, www.brendapoulosauthor.com. She blogs on
http://www. spiritualsnippets.com, focusing on “Seeing Life’s Events in the Light of God’s Word”; and offers new writers encouragement on the craft of writing on http://brendapoulos.org
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 12, 2018
THE LONELY PATH
ABUSE ABUSE is so morally incomprehensible on all levels. It exists in every society, it's mainly seen as a social norm in poor families, not true, ABUSE
doesn't discriminate. This story illustrates that we are to forgive the abuser, because he was abused as a child by his father. I don't accept this belief for abusers. We've heard of cases that lawyers have used this as a defense for those individuals who are on trail for murder. These abusers know how to use this defense to justify their actions.
Yes, the Bible said we should forgive those who trespass against..I can't..This character who was the abuser, murderer has caused so much hurt, dehumanizing of his son and there wasn't anyone to save this little boy. Jake suffered mentally and physically abuse from his father. I don't think he wanted Jake, and would use any excuse to abuse his son. A malignant narcissists, who thinks he's been betrayed by his wife and best friend. He treated his hound dog and a limbo wolf better than his son. There weren't financial problems, because he had murdered his uncle and stole his identification, and collected his government checks. This little boy was deprived of the basics, eating from a bucket of scrapes for the animals. He kept him isolated from all human contact that included his mother...This young boy has a long troubling trail trying to forget the past. His grandfather on his mother side didn't want to be held down because again he illustrates narcissistic attitude I'm to old to raise a young child. I I was to enjoy my old age....
ABUSE ABUSE is so morally incomprehensible on all levels. It exists in every society, it's mainly seen as a social norm in poor families, not true, ABUSE
doesn't discriminate. This story illustrates that we are to forgive the abuser, because he was abused as a child by his father. I don't accept this belief for abusers. We've heard of cases that lawyers have used this as a defense for those individuals who are on trail for murder. These abusers know how to use this defense to justify their actions.
Yes, the Bible said we should forgive those who trespass against..I can't..This character who was the abuser, murderer has caused so much hurt, dehumanizing of his son and there wasn't anyone to save this little boy. Jake suffered mentally and physically abuse from his father. I don't think he wanted Jake, and would use any excuse to abuse his son. A malignant narcissists, who thinks he's been betrayed by his wife and best friend. He treated his hound dog and a limbo wolf better than his son. There weren't financial problems, because he had murdered his uncle and stole his identification, and collected his government checks. This little boy was deprived of the basics, eating from a bucket of scrapes for the animals. He kept him isolated from all human contact that included his mother...This young boy has a long troubling trail trying to forget the past. His grandfather on his mother side didn't want to be held down because again he illustrates narcissistic attitude I'm to old to raise a young child. I I was to enjoy my old age....
December 31, 2017
Beautifully written and utterly tragic, this story will pull at your heart strings.
The theme of abuse makes this hard to read but awareness of the cycle of abuse where a victim goes on to be an abuser is important to understand and is written well in this book.
There is a spiders web of connections between the main characters in this book and the development of the relationships between them is well written and poignant. The connection between Jake and Hound never failed to make me smile.
Well worth listening to.
The narration did a good job, I wasn't totally sold on the character voices but the delivery was well done with a good pace and natural sounding phrasing.
I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
The theme of abuse makes this hard to read but awareness of the cycle of abuse where a victim goes on to be an abuser is important to understand and is written well in this book.
There is a spiders web of connections between the main characters in this book and the development of the relationships between them is well written and poignant. The connection between Jake and Hound never failed to make me smile.
Well worth listening to.
The narration did a good job, I wasn't totally sold on the character voices but the delivery was well done with a good pace and natural sounding phrasing.
I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
November 3, 2025
Great fast read.
Sometimes, a persons actions set off a domino effect.
A man, who was a veterinarian, accidentally killed two little girls. He went to jail for it.
Escaped from jail, talked a young woman to leave with him.
She did, and they got married. They had a little boy.
But the wife had an affair with her best friends husband. The man, furious killed his wife and his former buddy.
Took out his anger on his son.
Son ran away.
His father did other bad things.
Son found people who loved him, and his dog.
Sometimes, a persons actions set off a domino effect.
A man, who was a veterinarian, accidentally killed two little girls. He went to jail for it.
Escaped from jail, talked a young woman to leave with him.
She did, and they got married. They had a little boy.
But the wife had an affair with her best friends husband. The man, furious killed his wife and his former buddy.
Took out his anger on his son.
Son ran away.
His father did other bad things.
Son found people who loved him, and his dog.
February 28, 2021
Runaways is a very poignant story with a beautiful climax of redemption and grace. I found myself caring about what happened to the characters. It was an easy read with many twists and turns to keep a fast pace. This revealing story shows how abuse can take a person’s power away, turning anger into rage. I would highly recommend this book. Bonnie Johnson
February 28, 2016
I appreciated receiving a copy as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
The story was well-written, although some of the segments could have been further developed before ending abruptly. I liked the interchange of characters as the story built throughout each chapter.
The theme of abuse, while disturbing, is all too real for too many children. Showing how this cycle continues as children become parents was also an important point in the story. This theme was developed nicely as the backstory continued throughout the book. Some of the character interactions were a bit simplistic or coincidental, and the ending seemed rushed to get everything completed. This was a disappointment since the rest of the book built nicely to a climax.
I agree and applaud the theme of redemption, but it felt more forced than need be. The prescriptive references to Christianity diminished the main point of forgiveness for me. I understood the references since I was raised in a Christian faith, but many religions teach forgiveness and the concepts could have been expressed without this. I would recommend the book with these caveats.
The story was well-written, although some of the segments could have been further developed before ending abruptly. I liked the interchange of characters as the story built throughout each chapter.
The theme of abuse, while disturbing, is all too real for too many children. Showing how this cycle continues as children become parents was also an important point in the story. This theme was developed nicely as the backstory continued throughout the book. Some of the character interactions were a bit simplistic or coincidental, and the ending seemed rushed to get everything completed. This was a disappointment since the rest of the book built nicely to a climax.
I agree and applaud the theme of redemption, but it felt more forced than need be. The prescriptive references to Christianity diminished the main point of forgiveness for me. I understood the references since I was raised in a Christian faith, but many religions teach forgiveness and the concepts could have been expressed without this. I would recommend the book with these caveats.
January 27, 2016
This would actually be closer to 3.5 stars. This story about a boy who decides to run away from his abusive father is well-written and intriguing, but was a little bit out of my comfort zone because of the descriptions of the abuse the author includes. They were, at times, a little more than I wanted to read, and, in my opinion, a little edgy for Christian fiction. The story holds the readers interest, and I am very glad I persevered; I really liked the ending. The theme of God's forgiveness and grace certainly came through clearly, and the realistic descriptions earlier in the book probably made the conclusion even more amazing.
I won a free copy of this book from the first-reads giveaway program, but was not required to post a positive review.
I won a free copy of this book from the first-reads giveaway program, but was not required to post a positive review.
July 19, 2018
Forgiveness
I gave this book 5 stars because I could not put it down once I started reading I was completely captivated! The little boy survives terrible abuse at the hands of his father, who has done so many other unspeakable acts....will he ever be able to forgive him for hurting him along with so many other people that he has grown to love?
I gave this book 5 stars because I could not put it down once I started reading I was completely captivated! The little boy survives terrible abuse at the hands of his father, who has done so many other unspeakable acts....will he ever be able to forgive him for hurting him along with so many other people that he has grown to love?
December 6, 2016
Too many name changes, CONFUSING !!!
December 20, 2016
Great plot that held me to the end... Brenda is an amazing writer
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews