Don't Turn Around by Jessica Barry

The riveting follow up to Jessica Barry’s debut Freefall—a controversial, of-the-moment thriller about two women fighting for their right to live.

322 miles of road. 6 hours. 2 strangers. 1 killer. Too many secrets.

Midnight. Cait Monaghan and Rebecca McRae are on a desolate road that slices through the New Mexican desert. They've never met before tonight. Both have secrets to protect. Both of their lives are in danger.

When a truck pulls up fast behind them, they assume it's punk teenagers or run-of-the-mill road rage, but it soon becomes clear that whoever is driving the truck is hunting them for sport—and they are out to draw blood.

As the miles unspool and the dangers mount, the pasts they've worked so hard to keep buried have come back to haunt them. Someone wants one of them dead. But which one? And given the lives the two women have been leading, that someone could be almost anyone.

If Cait and Rebecca are going to survive, they'll have to learn to trust one another—and themselves. But trust is a costly business, and they’ve both paid the price before. . . 

TITLE: Don't Turn Around

AUTHOR: Jessica Barry

PUBLISHER: Harper Books

PUBLISH DATE: June 16, 2020

FORMAT: Paperbook

PAGES: 320

My Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

    

“She could see the edge of town up ahead. Just one last building, and then a return to the cold emptiness of the desert.”

Two strangers Cait and Rebecca, are on a midnight trip across Texas to New Mexico. They both have secrets and as the ride progresses, they’ll both feel as if their past is catching up with them. Cait, the driver is a journalist who’s doing her best to escape the judgement of the online community judging her for a night with a popular singer while Rebecca, the wife of a powerful politician getting ready to run for the senate, struggles with a deeply personal issue and the constant scrutiny of the public. Both women have more in common than they know. If I say too much more, I’ll risk spoilers and I don’t want to do this! It's best to go into this story as blind as possible.

The plot is tight and twisty, thrilling and suspenseful with alternating points of view, mostly between Cait and Rebecca but there’s a few more key players. It also goes from past to present, which works beautifully in the telling of the story. The characters are emotive and sharp, beautifully well-developed, and the relationship that grows between the women is empowering and powerful.

Don’t Turn Around is a story that is so much more than a thriller or suspense, Ms. Barry addresses delicate often divisive subjects with great poise and elegance. I really enjoyed every aspect of this story and Ms. Barry is an author that will be on my auto-read from now on.

Thank you to Harper Books and Jessica Barry for gifting me with a copy in exchange for my review.