Carl Deuker is the author of the suspenseful thriller Runner, published in 2005. Deuker has written several award-winning novels centered around sports, but sports aren’t at the forefront in Runner. Chance, the teenage main character, likes to run, but he doesn’t engage with running as an organized sport. His main concerns are his dad and money, and in a challenging post-September-11 landscape, Chance deals with themes like Escape From Hopelessness, The Intense Pressure of Money, and The Suspicious, Dangerous World.

Content Warning: The novel features a parent with alcohol dependency, fatphobia, and anti-Muslim prejudice.

This guide refers to the 2005 Houghton Mifflin edition of Runner.

Plot Summary

Chance Taylor is a senior at Lincoln High in Seattle, and his school marks an early anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Mr. Arnold, Chance’s World Issues teacher, brings in Brent Miller. When Chance was a freshman, Miller was a senior. Their dads fought in the First Gulf War (1990-91) and deal with alcohol addiction. Chance and Miller hung out until a fight between their fathers ended their friendship. Miller is in the army and wants to fight in the Iraq War (2003-11). He talks about patriotism and dying for his country. Chance thinks he sounds like an awful actor in a horrible movie.

Melissa, another student in the class, questions Miller about his knowledge of the Middle East, and Miller admits he hasn’t studied the countries he might be invading. Other students scorn Melissa’s activism, but Chance sticks up for her. They used to run cross-country together, and Chance was the only person she couldn’t beat. Melissa is starting a newspaper, and she wants Chance to write for it.

Chance’s parents divorced when he was young. His mom, a frustrated artist, felt like she was “dying” with Chance’s dad. After staying around for a while, she abandoned him, and now Chance lives with his dad in their small sailboat, the Tiny Dancer—the name comes from Elton John’s song “Tiny Dancer” (1971).

Chance’s dad spent the summer working as a janitor in an apartment complex for retired people, but he just lost his job. On the weekends, Chance washes pots at a restaurant. If his dad doesn’t find a job, they won’t have enough money for boat fees and necessities like food.

In World Issues, Melissa continues to fight with Arnold over September 11-related topics, but Chance can only think about money. Melissa doesn’t have to worry about money. Her dad is a “hotshot” lawyer, so she’s affluent. Melissa’s dad and Chance’s dad were best friends in high school, and Melissa says her dad can give them money. Chance rejects her offer—he’s not a “beggar.”

To clear his mind, Chance runs—it’s the one activity he likes—he practically runs the same route every day. A man who works at the marina—the “fat guy”—notices and says he can get Chance “easy money”: All Chance has to do is run his route with a backpack. He’ll stop by a maple tree in a rocky area, and if he sees a package, he’ll put it in the backpack. He’ll then put the backpack in his locker in the utility room (where people in the marina shower, use the bathroom, and wash their clothes), and someone will take the package from the backpack. Package or not, Chance will earn $200 a week.

Chance knows the job is illicit and makes him a part of some kind of drug smuggling, but he needs the money, so he quits his job washing pots (where he made around $7 per hour after taxes) and becomes a “smuggler.” With the new income stream, Chance can pay for everything and have extra money to hang out with Melissa.

Chance attends a meeting at a cafe for her newspaper, and the other teens there are affluent and discuss prestigious colleges and the possibilities of a terrorist attack in Seattle. When Melissa publishes the newspaper, she considers it a failure and doesn’t release another issue.

For an extra $100 a week, Chance agrees to keep peculiar red packages in his boat. Chance thinks they might be plastic explosives, but the “fat guy” tells him they’re gems hidden in Spackle or Silly Putty. The packages accumulate, and the “fat guy” says someone will pick them up on May 1—the start of the busy boating season.

Chance’s dad spots the “wad of bills,” and he becomes suspicious of Chance’s job. Melissa’s house overlooks Chance’s running route. She sees Chance looking around the rocks, and she becomes suspicious. To keep Melissa from harm, Chance lies to her and pushes her away. Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the riskiness of his illicit job, Chance plans to quit “smuggling,” leave his dad, and join the army.

The “fat man” ostensibly drives his car off the bluff and dies. People assume he died by suicide, but Chance suspects murder. People break into Chance’s boat, looking for the red packages, but they can’t find them. Chance’s dad sees the mess, and Chance explains. His dad opens the packages––they’re plastic explosives. He sends Chance to Melissa’s dad, who contacts authorities. In a helicopter, Chance helps the authorities locate the boat. His dad gets the boat away from the crowds and subdues one of the terrorists before the boat explodes, killing Chance’s dad.

Melissa’s dad encourages Chance to tell the authorities everything he knows. As long as he cooperates, he won’t go to jail. His dad is a hero, and the authorities don’t want to put a hero’s son in prison. Besides, there are better ways for Chance to atone for his conduct. Melissa’s family offers to house Chance and pay for his college education, but Chance doesn’t want their life to become his life. He has separate goals and hopes. He’ll pursue them and remain true to himself and the memory of his dad.