Blue Running tells the story of Jet and Blue, two young women on the run. One is pregnant and seeking an abortion. The other is accused of a murder she didn’t commit. In a state where everyone, including children, is required by law to carry guns, and where abortion results in the death penalty for the mother, and where vigilantes shoot anyone who tries to cross the Wall, both young women are desperate to escape into America. Both will risk death to get out.
Blue Running is a timely and topical novel that addresses issues of feminism, nationalism, racial injustice, immigration, and gun ownership, framed through the intimate tale of two young women from different backgrounds caught in the system. Underlying these surface issues are their own personal struggles: histories of abandonment, gang violence, sexual assault, and individual agency.
A novel for both adults and mature young adults, Blue Running is gripping and addictive from the first page. Readers will cheer for Blue and Jet in their determined rush for freedom.
Lori Ann Stephens is a massive new talent in the literary fiction thriller scene. Her writing is sparse, fearless, and real. Blue Running pulls no punches. A fast-paced, page-turning, chilling book which looks unflinchingly at what the future could hold.
