You Can Run (Laurel Snow #1) by Rebecca Zanetti
Synopsis /
Laurel Snow wouldn’t call hunting a serial killer a vacation, but with a pile of dead bodies unearthed near her Genesis Valley, WA, hometown, she’ll take what she can get. Yet something about this case stirs her in unexpected ways. Like the startling connection she feels to Dr. Abigail Caine, a fiercely intelligent witness with a disturbing knack for making Laurel feel like she has something on her. Then there’s Laurel’s attraction to Huck Rivers, the fish and wildlife officer guiding her to the crime scene—and into the wilderness…
A former soldier and a trained sniper, Huck’s thirst for blood is rivalled only by his fierce pursuit of Laurel. He’s been burned by love, wounded by the government, and betrayed before, and to say he has trust issues is the ultimate understatement. Plus, he might be closer to this killer than anybody knows…
Once in the heart of darkness with Huck, Laurel must negotiate her distracting desire for him, her complex rapport with Abigail—and her mission to find a serial killer among a growing list of suspects and a danger that’s far too close to home. So close in fact, Laurel fears she will never find her way back to the woman she once was…
My Thoughts /
Laurel Snow: FBI Special Agent, profiler, with a penchant for serial killers.
Background: A child prodigy (starting college at age 11). Has an eidetic memory and multiple degrees. Has had a successful career with the FBI, prefers to work alone, finds social situations awkward - often missing social cues from those around her.
Character Traits: She’s described as being a little quirky (which is strange to me because in and of itself, you’re either quirky or not). She finds it difficult to relate to people. She has Heterochromia iridum, which is a condition in which the coloured part of the eye (iris) is multicoloured.
When the story opens, Special Agent Laurel Snow is at the airport waiting for her flight connection back to Washington DC when she receives a call from her mother, Deidre. Deidre is in a highly anxious and agitated state, she explains that Laurel’s uncle Carl is wanted by the local Sherriff’s office for murder. But not just ‘a’ murder, multiple murders. Laurel investigates murderers for a living, and, knowing her uncle, she knew he could not be involved, so she cancelled her flight to DC and arranged a flight to her home town of Genesis Valley, Washington. Ringing the Assistant Director of the FBI (also her boss and mentor), Snow was informed that multiple body parts, including three skulls had been found that morning by kids four-wheeling on a mountain called, Snowblood Peak. Three skulls? Snow was sure there was a murderer close to her hometown.
The race to find a serial killer has begun!
Yes’s:
🎉Strong female MC.
🎉Likeable and engaging supporting characters, with a special shout-out to local, Kate Vuittron and Dr Abigail Caine. The banter between Kate and our MC was on point; and Abigail Caine was hands over your eyes creeeeeepy. 🫣
🎉Overall the characters were well-written and the plot was entertaining.
🎉Pacing moved well and there were quite a few twists and turns.
🎉While I don’t really like the term ‘page turner’, the story is engrossing and hard to put down.
No’s:
❌Suspension of disbelief is required in some parts, and while this is not normally a ‘no’ for me, I did have a hard time believing that our MC would retain the services of a child to aid in her investigation.
❌As a character, it seems that Snow is only the sum of her parts, and by this I mean her eyes. Her Heterochromia is referenced a zillion times throughout the story, oh wait, I’m under-exaggerating - it’s more like ten zillion times - okay, okay, we get it, she has two different coloured eyes. I get that this becomes a major plot point later on, but by the time we get there I’ve zoned out due to the repetition.
Maybes:
🤔I like this one for the mystery and suspense element, but do we really need the romantic entanglement? Now I’m not a total cold fish, and the romance part of the storyline was ‘sweet’ and all (there was no rolling in the hay per se, only my eyeballs whenever Huck was near Laurel - he went from Captain Huck Rivers, fish and wildlife officer to Captain Huck Rivers, fierce protector); which of itself isn’t really a ‘maybe’ kind of issue, except when you come to realise that the person he was protecting was a badass FBI Agent.
Laurel grabbed him by the backpack, kicked him in the popliteal fossa, and dropped him to the floor on his butt, where he fell flat. She set the square heel of her boot on the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve in his upper thigh.
Book #1 done and dusted ✅. There are now 4 books in this series, so it looks like I have some catching up to do!