An earnest thriller in the vein of Grisham, “The Runaway” kicks off at pace and accelerates without any slack. A simple enough tale – a boy in a family under witness protection runs away and a host of corrupt company heads and killers chase him – is made human by a surprisingly large roster of in-their-heads characters, good and bad, old and young. Thompson writes smoothly and without literary flourish but with an ease that facilitates a fast, enjoyable read.