Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Runner
SERIES: Success #3
AUTHOR: Thom Collins
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 126 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2022
BLURB:
An Olympic hero faces his longest run – to make up for the past.
Alex Schaefer is a sports journalist and commentator at the top of his game. He hosts a successful weekly podcast has just written the biography of a world class football player. With his career on an upward trajectory, Alex has never been busier. There is no time in his life for love or romance.
Ethan Bower was used to success. As a British sprinter, he won a host of silver and gold medals at the Olympics, European and Commonwealth championships, and spent over a decade at the top. Persistent injuries brought Ethan’s career to an abrupt halt in his mid-thirties. Now he has to start over again. Trying to get his foot in the door of athletics commentary and presenting isn’t easy.
Ethan and Alex have history. Eight years ago, at the height of Ethan’s success, Alex was chosen to ghost write his autobiography. An experience they would both rather forget. Ethan hated what Alex wrote about him; a fact he’s made very public. When Ethan attends the launch of Alex’s latest book, they meet again for the first time in years and something becomes apparent to both of them – they have each improved with age. Now in their thirties, they are older and more mature.
Can they put the past behind them and their ambitions for the future to take a chance on each other now?
REVIEW:
Alex and Ethan’s first encounter wasn’t a positive one – it was an experience that made them enemies. But, years later, some things have changed – they’ve become experienced men.
The story started, then just as I was getting into it, it ended.
Did I enjoy it? – Yes.
Did it blow me away? – No.
Did it leave me with warm fizzies? – Kinda.
The Runner is book three in the Success series – and can be read as a standalone. A couple of characters cross over, but their backgrounds aren’t necessary to the current tale. Homophobia in sport is also another key element. The story is told in the third person, present tense from the viewpoints of Alex and Ethan. Technically it was good. Worldbuilding contains pockets of details where appropriate, which is an excellent way to form images without going OTT for a short story.
A sports bio on a famous footballer that came out of the closet is why Alex and Ethan cross paths again after so many years. The story was sweet and gave an account of how two men with a history meet after age and experience have done their thing. What made them incompatible previously changed, proving that there’s a time for everyone. Somehow, though, given the blurb, I expected more. I think the author played it a bit safe. For an arc where Ethan had seethed over an issue with Alex for years – the view of a good-looking bloke seemed to have him backtracking quicker than a hundred-meter sprint. However, Ethan’s lingering anger is cleverly used to add apprehension and quick conclusions. Still, I think the author could have been more daring with aspects of the storyline, such as expanding potential angsty bits. Though I understand that there are many readers who prefer quick resolutions in this area. I understand that this is a relatively short story, so time cannot be dedicated to complicated plots or more realistic timelines, but a few extra paragraphs could have added some of the emotional rollercoasters that I felt was missing.
As said earlier, The Runner was a sweet, competent read, but my heart rate hardly skipped a beat.
RATING: 
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