You're already familiar with the drill by now. The opening episode of any Harlan Coben show typically follows a predictable pattern: a myriad of seemingly unrelated characters and plot threads that gradually weave together into a dense web of emotional drama. "Run Away" is no exception. "Seeing is Believing" serves as an introduction to the essential elements and, of course, the relentless drip-feed of mystery, sometimes enhanced by slightly obnoxious flashback inserts and home-video interstitials. Whatever works, really.
Don't worry – you're not expected to keep track of everything right away. There's a lot of stuff here that's meant to be understood later, with much more context. I won't spoil anything that happens down the line, since there's no fun in that. But I'll group everything together into sections to make it easier to follow as we go. Don't say I never do anything for you.
At the heart of "Run Away" lies Paige Greene. You can tell right away because she's in the flashback cold open, wearing a Lanford University jersey and meeting up with a hooded guy while experiencing flashbacks of the same guy beating someone to a pulp. We'll uncover the significance of this in a few hours.
The important thing is that a year later, Paige is missing. She hasn't seen her parents, Simon and Ingrid, for six months, and has been kept on a tight leash by her abusive boyfriend, Aaron Corvell. She's a drug addict, and Simon, particularly, is desperate to save her from her circumstances and bring her home – if only he could find her.
With the help of a shady character named Dave Divine, Simon does manage to catch Paige as she's busking in a local park, covered in bruises and visibly strung out. But the nearby onlookers assume Simon is trying to kidnap her. When Aaron goads him, Simon beats him up in front of a fitness YouTuber and becomes social media's flavor of the month. Paige disappears once again, and Simon is arrested. Jessica Kinberg, a hotshot lawyer sent by his business partner sister-in-law, Yvonne, manages to spring him without much fuss, but his other daughter, Anya, isn't thrilled about his newfound fame.
Let us take a moment to diverge from the main narrative. While all this is unfolding, private investigator Elena Ravenscroft is juggling two cases simultaneously. One of them is deeply personal; she's lurking around a vegan café, keeping a watchful eye on the owner for reasons that, for now, remain a mystery. But the other case is undeniably connected to Paige, even though the connection isn't immediately apparent.
Elena has been retained by a wealthy man named Sebastian Thorpe to find his missing 21-year-old son, Henry. Henry has had minor troubles with drug-related offenses in the past and has never been fond of Sebastian's much younger new wife, Abigail. Although Henry is adopted, he was close to Sebastian's first wife, Gretchen, and his problems stem from her death when he was only 11. On the way to the initial meeting, Elena had already instructed her tech-savvy mother-in-law, Lou, to ping Henry's phone, and received no response, suggesting it has been destroyed. Not a good sign.
Lou's next task is to trace the anonymous account that left a comment on one of Henry's Instagram posts, reading, "Can't wait to see you next week." This isn't revealed until later in the episode, but I might as well reveal now that the comment was left by a dummy account belonging to – all together now – Paige Greene.
"Run Away" Episode 1 also introduces us to Ash and Dee Dee, two fresh-faced assassins who are working their way through a kill list given to them by parties as yet unknown. These two will get more focus later, but for now, their relationship and motives are deliberately ambiguous.
They're dangerous, though. Their latest victim is a guy named Kevin, whom Ash corners in his garage and forces into sending a suicide note – via text, this being 2026 – before executing him and staging the scene to look like he took his own life. Dee Dee had previously warned him to make sure each method of murder was different from the last, so we can safely infer that they'd rather their killing spree didn't look like a killing spree. More on these two later.
In no time, Aaron's brutal murder and mutilation are discovered, with his throat slashed and three fingers missing. Once again, Paige is nowhere to be found. It's safe to say that the detectives, Ruby Todd and Isaac Fagbenle, immediately suspect Simon to be the culprit, to the point where they embarrassingly pick him up during Anya's parents' evening.
Simon doesn't help his case by insisting that he's glad Aaron is dead, but he also maintains his innocence. In an ill-advised attempt to prove it—and find Paige—he and Ingrid decide to snoop around Aaron's now-crime-scene apartment late at night. They're interrupted by Cornelius, a neighbor who was supposedly friendly with Paige and has a key to the apartment.
Cornelius saw Paige two days before Aaron died, covered in blood and bruises, leaving the block. He directs Simon and Ingrid towards her dealer, Rocco, for whom Aaron was a runner. They go to see him, but before they can explain who they are and what they want, they're interrupted by a man named Luther, who seems to recognize them. Frightened, he pulls out a gun and shoots Ingrid. Simon screams as another shot goes off.
Welcome to another thrilling Harlan Coben novel. I wouldn't mind joining in.
