Don't Turn Around (Review) by Jessica Barry

Don't Turn Around (Review) by Jessica Barry.

Published 15th April 2021 in paperback by Vintage.

From the cover of the book:

TWO STRANGERS...

 DANGEROUS SECRETS...

 

THEIR ONLY CHANCE IS EACH OTHER.

Cait's job is to transport women to safety. Out of respect, she never asks any questions. Like most of the women, Rebecca is trying to escape something.

But what if Rebecca's secrets put them both in danger? There's a reason Cait chooses to keep on the road, helping strangers. She has a past of her own, and knows what it's like to be followed.

And there is someone right behind them, watching their every move...

*Named one of the New York Times top 10 crime novels of 2020*'

A novel like razor-wire...part chase thriller, part psychological suspense' AJ Finn, author of #1 bestseller The Woman in the Window

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Don't Turn Around is a hard hitter of a thriller about two very different women who find themselves forging a strong bond while on a clandestine road trip across country from Texas to New Mexico. Cait is a young, single Texan woman whose dream of becoming a writer has so far only led her to a lengthy stint as a bartender in the kind of cowboy joint that expects its female workers to be outfitted in daisy dukes and a stetson. Rebecca is a polished Californian woman, a few years older and married to an ambitious politician on the fast-track to the Whitehouse. Both of them are running away from something and hiding secrets that lead them into terrible danger on the lonely highway during their trip - the kind of danger that might end their lives.

This is a beautifully constructed pacey thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the timeline moves back and forth between the past and the present, from the points of view of both women, revealing their secrets and the connection between them as you go. But, as good a thriller as this is, it is also so much more! Barry uses this story to paint a fascinating picture of the way the tide has turned against the right of women to have say over their own bodies in parts of modern America in the wake of Trump's presidency, and the way the #MeToo movement continues to divide opinion. 

This book took me in unexpected directions, and became very emotive as I got deeper and deeper into the cleverly woven threads of the plot. I would be lying if I didn't tell you that much of this book made me furious, gave me a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach, and completely broke my heart, as we hear the stories of Cait and Rebecca. Yet, at the same time, Barry looks at the many different sides of the arguments around the issues in this book, through the other characters she introduces, particularly in a way that gives the reader insight into how ambition, unresolved trauma and religion might play a part in inciting conflict and violence too.

There is so much to talk about with this book, but to do so would drop many a spoiler, which I will not be doing in this review. I leave it up to you to discover Cait and Rebecca's secrets for yourself, and I promise you will not be able to put this book down once you begin to understand what Barry really has in story for you, dear reader. It's powerful, punch to the gut stuff, that shows how a talented author can get you thinking about important issues through the vehicle of a slick and well written thriller.

Don't Turn Around is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Graeme Williams and Vintage books for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Jessica Barrie is the author of her debut thriller Freefall, which has been translated into over twenty languages.

She is American and lives in London with her husband and her two excessively fuzzy cats, Roger and BoJack. She spends much of my time reading, writing, running along the Thames and trying unsuccessfully to remove cat hair from the furniture.