If you're hunting for a free PDF of 'The Crawl', I dug through the usual places and here's the short, honest take: it's only legitimately free if the author or publisher has explicitly released it as such. I checked the kind of things I always check — the author's website or newsletter, the publisher's sales page, and reputable library lenders — and most modern commercial titles aren't legally offered as full free
pdfs unless they're promotional giveaways or public-domain works.
That said, there are perfectly legal ways to read without buying a full-priced copy. Authors sometimes host free sample chapters or limited-time giveaways on platforms like Gumroad, or they'll share a free PDF with subscribers. Libraries (OverDrive/Libby/Hoopla/Open Library) often have
ebooks you can borrow, and Internet Archive can lend digital copies in some cases. If you find a PDF on a random file-sharing site, beware — those are often unauthorized and risky for malware or copyright trouble. I usually try the library route first, then look for an official promo or wait for a sale; it saves money and supports creators, which feels good.