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The Running Girls by Matt Brolly Book Review and Analysis

Blog and Video Description: In this episode of the Mattacritic, I will be reviewing and analyzing the book called Running Girls by Matt Brolly, which is on Amazon, you can access this book on Kindle, audiobook, paperback, and CD. The book is published by Thomas & Mercer. The story will start off with Frank Randall being convicted of murder of his wife and once he returns, he is expected of murder when Grace Harrington is murdered and is killed in the same way his wife Annie Randall is murdered. The community of Galveston, Texas has not forgiven him for this murder. They will not let him forget this murder. This story will have a Fugitive feel to it as if anyone has seen the Fugitive, Dr. Richard Kimble gets convicted of murdering his wife. It is what people think, but not everything is as it seems. This is not the case in that movie and is not the case in this book. I will give you my rating at the end of this review. I hope this episode will inspire you to read, watch, and learn.



Hello everyone, welcome to the Mattacritic. This is Matthew Hemenway. In this episode of the Mattacritic, I will be reviewing and analyzing the book called The Runing Girls by Matt Brolly, which is on Amazon. You can access this book on Kindle, audiobook, paperback, and CD. The book is published by Thomas & Mercer. The story will start off with Frank Randall being convicted of murder of his wife and once he returns, he is expected of murder when Grace Harrington is murdered and is killed in the same way his wife Annie Randall is murdered. The community of Galveston, Texas has not forgiven him for this murder. They will not let him forget this murder. This story will have a Fugitive feel to it as if anyone has seen the Fugitive, Dr. Richard Kimble gets convicted of murdering his wife. It is what people think, but not everything is as it seems. This is not the case in that movie and is not the case in this book. I will give you my rating at the end of this review. I hope this episode will inspire you to read, watch, and learn.

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As was mentioned before in this review, Frank Randall was convicted of murdering his wife, Annie Randall. Frank returns from prison to Galveston, Texas. He had to go through Houston, Texas to get to Galveston, Texas. Frank does not have the key to his old house, and he tries to get in, but it is locked after all these years. He looks for the key, but Warren Campbell, the retired police chief of the Galveston police department is there, and Warren has his former deputies who are retired as well beat up on Frank Randall. If Laurie Campbell had not shown up, Frank Randall would have been beaten to death. Laurie Campbell is married to Frank Randall’s son David. She is Frank Randall’s daughter-in-law and Warren Campbell’s granddaughter-in-law. If you are asking, Annie Randall was Warren Campbell’s daughter. This makes Warren Campbell, Frank Randall’s father-in-law. One can understand why Warren Campbell would be harboring bad feelings toward Frank Randall, since he blames him for Annie Randall, his daughter being killed and believes Frank Randall had something to do with it. As was mentioned before, Frank Randall will appear to be the killer, and not everything is what it seems in this story. This is like what happens in The Fugitive, that starred Harrison Ford back in 1993. I mentioned that movie in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and in the Season 1 Review of Gotham Knights, it is hard to believe that movie is now 30 years old. Dr. Richard Kimble like Frank Randall was convicted of killing his wife, but he is not responsible for that death. He was trying to resituate his wife back to life after she was killed by the one arm man in that story. His search for the one arm man is what drives Dr. Richard Kimble.

David Campbell took his grandfather’s Warren Campbell last name, because he was furious with his father Frank Randall for taking his mother Annie Randall away from him. This is understandable because if your own father was responsible for killing your own mother, you would want to be free if anything that reminds you of him, this includes his last name. If someone had this happened like it did for David Campbell, someone would do the same thing as David Campbell did. David is married to Laurie Campbell, and yes Laurie Campbell is a detective for the Galveston police department.

Laurie Campbell will be assigned to the Grace Harrington murder when Grace Harrington was murdered after she was left in a running position very similar to Annie Randall. This causes the community and the police department to believe that Frank Randall is responsible for her death. Warren Campbell is furious with Laurie Campbell for not letting him and his former deputies in not killing Frank Randall. Warren Campbell believes if they did that, then Grace Harrington would not be dead. This should not be the case; one does not get to invoke vigilante justice. This does not give a person the right to be judge, jury, and executioner. Every individual deserves the right to reasonable doubt before jumping to conclusions. The reason there are investigations is so that the police can find the evidence they are looking for. This is why police departments have detectives to help them in cases where they need to be solved.

Laurie Campbell will meet Tilly, Grace’s girlfriend. She will meet Sandra and Glen Harrington, Grace’s mother and father. This will cause Tilly to be mad to find out that her girlfriend Grace Harrington is dead. Tilly will blame herself and tell Laurie if she and Grace were not arguing, Grace would still be alive. Laurie Campbell tells Tilly; you cannot think like that. It is not your fault. One cannot know what will happen, and it does not do one any good to live in what-if scenarios. This is true, I am guilty of that myself. I wonder if I had done this differently, this would not have happened. It is hard to tell yourself to think differently because we all believe we can do it differently. Tilly will tell Laurie Campbell of Mia Washington, who was Grace Harrington’s girlfriend before. Tilly was afraid Grace Harrington would have gone back to Mia Washington and that is why Grace Harrington went for a run, and this gives the killer the opportunity to kill her.

Sandra and Glen Harrington have a strained relationship to say the least. They are both wealthy, but wealth does not make them happy. Glen likes young girls as the story will show here. He is suspected of having relationships with girls around Grace Harrington’s age. The police will find out that he has been having these relationships for a long time. Glen Harrington likes them young. He is 49, and the girls average around 18, 19, or 20 years old. It is not illegal, but it makes it scary. It is not unheard of as there is a congressman that had a relationship with a girl that is 17 years old. That makes it statuary rape, where that is illegal. Glen is at the edge of that, but he has not broken any laws there. It does make it suspicious since his daughter is dead. The story will reveal that Glen Harrington had a relationship with his daughter Grace’s old girlfriend of Mia Washington. Grace ends up finding this out.

Another person to be concerned about in this story is Maurice Randall, Frank Randall’s older brother in this story. Maurice Randall asks his brother Frank Randall to live with him at his church. Frank is hesitant to do this, but he decides to do it as he is tired of being alone. He was alone in prison for 16 years and figures he could use the company. Maurice Randall used to beat his brother Frank Randall after their father beat Maurice. Frank was the retaliation of Maurice since this happened when they were kids. Maurice feels guilty for that. He becomes a pastor. Frank tells Maurice that he did not become that way even though their father was an abuser. Maurice tells Frank that he is sorry and wishes that he did not do this. Maurice thinks Frank killed his wife, but Frank tells him he did not do it. This is true, he did not kill Annie Randall, his wife, and he is not responsible for killing Grace Harrington that had been found recently murdered.

Neil Mosley is the attorney for Maurice Randall and represents Frank as well after Frank gets suspected of killing Grace Harrington. He points out, if you do not have any evidence to keep Frank here in jail, you must let him go. Neil Mosley is the wildcard of this book. The reader will believe there is nothing wrong with him, but there is more to meet the eye with Neil Mosley. Neil Mosley has a secret past, and the reader will discover the past once the story progresses.

Laurie Campbell is struggling with losing her daughter Milly. She was pregnant with her husband David Campbell’s child. Milly ended up being a stillbirth. This can cause married couples such as David and Laurie Campbell to get divorced, but they endure this. Laurie believes that David is having an affair with another woman, but she finds out that he is not. This woman is part of a grief circle that helps people deal with grief such as losing her child. That is not their only problem as David is still mad at his father Frank Randall for killing his mother Annie Randall, and like most people in Galveston, Texas, he believes his father killed Grace Harrington. Laurie Campbell wants to see the good in Frank Randall, and she cannot believe as old and feeble Frank Randall looks, there is no way he could have killed Grace Harrington. This also makes David upset with his wife Laurie Campbell. David believes his dad Frank Randall is manipulating his wife Laurie Campbell into believing he is not capable of this. The reader will find this is not the case as the book progresses.

There is a hurricane that will happen in this story. Yes, if you are asking, hurricanes are common in Galveston, Texas. Hurricanes such as Ike and Rita caused a lot of damage in Galveston, Texas. It happens a lot to say the least. Laurie Campbell will have to not only have to solve the case, but she must deal with a hurricane which could slow her down, and she is afraid the killer will get away, if she does not figure out what the killer’s endgame is. She wants to know, what is the motive for killing all these people in the 16-year period the murders happen in this story.

As not to be revealed, nothing more will be revealed here. It does bring the reader to the climax of the story. It is not clear if there will be another story, but it does not mean the author could not write another one.

I will give you, my rating. I give The Running Girls a 10 out 10. It was fun, but it keeps the reader guessing. The book does a great job of having the reader create theories in who is responsible for the death of these victims. The killer is motivated by something. These murders are not random but premeditated. The killer looks for making a particular person pay. As was told in the movie, The Fugitive, Dr. Richard Kimble is accused of killing his wife, and he must figure out who did this. The motive is there to frame him because the killer worked for the doctor that wanted to get the drug approved that had issues in the clinical trials that were being done in the hospital that Dr. Richard Kimble worked at. This shows the point I was making is that nothing is not what it appears to be. The cases in both stories need to be looked at very carefully, and a good detective looks at all angles. They do not jump to conclusions. Both stories prove that evidence lies and cannot always be trusted, and I also point this out in Gotham Knights Season 1 that I reviewed recently on this channel. It is good that this story comes with an audio version because if a person travels that is a plus.

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