Given the untenable number of books I own, I have instituted a few reading rules. The first I call the one and done. If you’ve ever done any online dating, you have probably heard the term: it refers to a common occurrence when there is not enough chemistry to merit seeing each other again. In other words, no second date. It’s all very practical: why waste time when the fundamentals aren’t there? I take the same approach to authors. For the most part, I rarely read the same author twice.
There are some exceptions. There are a handful of authors – Harlan Coben, Anne Tyler, Anne Lamott, Armistead Maupin – I have read nearly a dozen times. I click with them and often can’t resist the next title. There are still others – Jodi Picoult, Ann Patchett, Glennon Doyle – whom I have read two or three times.
Overall, though, I read an author once and move on. Why? With so many books to choose from, I like to cover as much ground as possible. There are so many writers working hard and hoping to find readers that I feel a community obligation to assist. Publishing is becoming increasingly brand-driven and I want to resist that.
Every once in a while, I break my own rules. Call it a cheat read. Sometimes I find a new writer I like enough to read twice. Such is the case with this week’s author, Jessica Barry.
Last summer, a boring Saturday was transformed when I discovered her book Don’t Turn Around.
In it, Cait picks up Rebecca under cover of night and drives her from Lubbock to New Mexico. In alternating chapters, we learn about the two women. Rebecca is married to a local politician who became an alt-right hero after he spoke out against a #metoo outing. Cait wrote a blog that went viral about her sexual assault.
As the woman drive together, we learn they are being tailed. Someone doesn’t want them to get to New Mexico.
I was instantly drawn into the plot, which is well-crafted and ripped from the headlines. As the tension of the drive builds, the backstories of Cait and Rebecca snap into place.
With an author this skilled, I couldn’t resist reading her again. Her first novel, Freefall, establishes what I now think of as Barry’s type scenarios. Like Don’t Turn Around, this one focuses on two women, and switches back and forth from their perspectives. She skillfully builds tension until it is impossible to look away.
Maggie is a widow living in Owl’s Creek, Maine. She is estranged from her adult daughter, Allison, when she learns that the private plane she was on has crashed in the Rocky Mountains. Unbeknownst to her, Allison has survived the crash and is struggling to find help. She is also being pursued by someone who wants to kill her.
The narrative shifts back and forth between Allison’s harrowing circumstances and Maggie’s investigation into her daughter’s secret life.
Like Don’t Turn Around, Freefall is a tensely plotted story with just enough twists. I genuinely rooted for Allison to triumph over her circumstances and be reunited with Maggie.
Time will tell if Jessica Barry maintains my interest. But for now I will be watching for her next book.
Books Smitten 