Terri Blackstock: If I Live

By Kelly Bridgewater

THE HUNT IS ALMOST OVER.

Casey Cox is still on the run after being indicted for murder. The hunt that began with her bloody footprints escalates, and she’s running out of places to hide. Her face is all over the news, and her disguises are no longer enough. It’s only a matter of time before someone recognizes her.

Dylan Roberts, the investigator who once hunted her, is now her only hope. Terrifying attempts on Dylan’s life could force Casey out of hiding. The clock is ticking on both their lives, but exposing the real killers is more complicated than they knew. Amassing the evidence to convict their enemies draws Dylan and Casey together, but their relationship has consequences. Will one life have to be sacrificed to protect the other?

With If I Live, Terri Blackstock takes us on one more heart-stopping chase in the sensational conclusion to the If I Run series.

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My Thoughts:

Not that long ago, I wrote a blog post about why suspense authors can't carry the suspense over one book. Television shows do it every season, so why can't books do the same thing. Terri Blackstock took the idea of a suspense that carries over three books, and I have loved them all.

The plot moved very fast with the final conclusion to Blackstock's If I Run series, If I Live. Just like the previous two books, Casey Clark was on the run from the law and didn't know who to trust. I really enjoyed following and getting to know Casey as she star lighted in three different novels. In If I Live, just when I thought the novel was completed, Blackstock threw a twist in the plan and made Casey and me struggle a little more to that moment of happiness. I really enjoyed that. This third book was worth waiting for. I stayed up really late finishing the book in one day. It was great.

Through the entire three novels, I watched as Casey finally learned to trust God and give all her struggles over to him. She learned to lean on him and see his movement in her dire situations. Her transformation story was really cool to watch. Blackstock's ability to dig deep into what it really means to hunt and surrender to God stroke a cord with me.

Dylan is a huge character in the final book. I think he gets more air time in the If I Live than Casey does. He works really hard to free her, so he can spend the rest of his life getting to know her. He was a strong, honorable man of God. I liked him as a hero. He grew on me.

The romance developed over the three novels, and I liked how Casey and Dylan had to learn to trust each other and started to fall in love with each other by the end of the series. I really enjoyed how Dylan didn't want to rush the relationship at the end because he understood that relationships that start under dire circumstances might not last. He wanted to take it slow and get to understand the real Casey. That was realistic.

Overall, If I Live by Terri Blackstock is a fast-pace thrilling ending to a three book suspense series with an admirable heroine and a hero worth waiting for. I really enjoyed this series. Now I need to sit down and read all three of them in a row to fully grasp the story.  Fans of Lynette Eason, I believe, would love this series. I really hope more suspense writers create a story that lasts more than one novel.

I received a complimentary copy of If I Live by Terri Blackstock from Zondervan Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars