Runner by Ashton Lattimore

e-ALC, 13:26:43
Narrated by: A’rese Emokpae & Ashton Lattimore
Release Date: July 28, 2026
Published by: Books On Tape
Read from: July 29-30, 2026
Stand-alone
Source:  PRH Audio App (I received this ALC from the publisher and their app. I also received an ARC and a hardcover from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing
For Readers of:  Adult, Audio, Historical Fiction, Literary, Own, Own Voices, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction

     In this gripping, emotionally-layered novel set in Prohibition-era Martha’s Vineyard, a young woman from a Black seafaring family plunges into the dangerous world of rum-running to save her home and uncover the truth about her father’s death.
     Martha’s Vineyard, 1923. The sea is a gift that keeps on giving to Lena Jameson’s father, Earl, a fisherman turned successful rumrunner who’s built up a small fortune smuggling liquor from offshore ships to thirsty customers back on the island. But when Earl and his entire crew are lost in a mysterious shipwreck that some whisper was no accident, his loved ones are left reeling and penniless—and Lena, who’d been on the cusp of heading off to college in Boston, sees her future slipping away.
     Desperate to save her family and her own hopes of escaping their small town, Lena decides to take over Earl’s rum-running business. For a crew, she ropes in Walter, her roguish big brother who leans too hard on the bottle, Sam, her steadfast local boyfriend who wants to keep her tethered to shore, and Dee, a glamorous young woman summering in the Vineyard from Boston, who offers Lena a glimpse of the future she still wants for herself—and who’s keeping an explosive secret.
     The foursome takes off on a journey from the quaint, colorful streets of Oak Bluffs through gangland Boston and down to the jazz-filled clubs of Harlem in its early Renaissance, all in search of quick money—and the truth about the shipwreck. But as buried secrets rise to the surface and the temptations of the glittering underworld pull Lena in deeper, soon everything she’s fought to protect hangs in the her heart, her family, and her place in a world quick to condemn women who dare to want more.

*MY THOUGHTS*

When I was offered this book, I had no idea that I would learn as much as I did from it. All my life I’ve known what a moonshiner is, but I hadn’t heard of a rum-runner. I went to do some digging and not only learned about running, but also some information on my very own family. This was a great read.

Ok so the thing about this book that stood out to me was the “rum running.” So a rum-runner is “a person or ship engaged in bringing prohibited liquor ashore or across a border.” Lena Jameson has taken over the task after she loses her father while he’s out on the seas. She wants nothing more than to save her family and the future she thought she had. She brings in a few more people to complete a crew, to get the quick money that her family was used to. But of course that caused too many eyes and the stakes were way higher as a Black woman. I was so interested in how Lena was doing this, I had to look into my own family history. My mom told me that my great-grandfather was a moonshiner and she had many “uncles” who were his boot-leggers. If you didn’t know, moonshiners were “a person that made or sold illegal whiskey, typically opening hidden stills in rural areas, like Appalachia during the night to avoid law enforcement.” And boot-leggers are “people who make or sell, or transport goods illegally, most famously alcohol during the Prohibition era.” I know they’re not the same thing, but they all worked in the same type circles. This helped me understand what the pressure and the danger was. (No I didn’t go through it, but her story scared me like she was my family.) And man it was a lot higher with her being a Black woman AND them being on the seas.

I loved the mystery that came up in this too. It was crazy that it even came up. I wasn’t expecting it. I thought nothing was wrong lol I realized who it was a couple chapters before she did. It was disappointing af tho. not the mystery, but who it was. For this to be a literary historical fiction book, this mystery was done really well. You won’t guess it unless you read a lot of thrillers/mysteries or if you were paying hella close attention. And let me just say, when they realize who it was and they catch that son of a snitch, that scene was BAD. ASS.

The characters in this were also bad ass. Ain’t no way Lena was supposed to survive the events in this book. But she defied all odds and didn’t let anyone stop her. I really was impressed by everything she did. I think one visit to the bar would have scared me senseless lol I loved seeing her think only of herself and the money just like everyone else. The only thing that broke her was the thing at the end, but I didn’t count that because it broke me too actually LOL

This was really good. I learned about my family and I learned more about history in general. I hope y’all pick this up so you can see why I’m impressed. Black women, we will do anything to take care of the people we love and this book, tho not actually about this shows it indefinitely.

Overall, I give this