[Barry] breathes life into every word ... Barry pulls it off beautifully. Her vivid writing means we feel Allison’s pain, her hunger, and her relief whenever she does eat some food ... The resolution is full of satisfying twists. The suspense works because it’s intricately tied to Allison’s emotional journey. The ending is unexpected but doesn’t seem far-fetched, mainly because Barry’s masterful writing forces us to suspend our disbelief ... a scintillating debut.
... a promising debut ... Because Freefall is a suspense novel, more drama than 'will she or won’t she get home' is required. The author delivers ... Initially, Allie’s voice is effectively conveyed through short, staccato stream-of conscious bursts ... But after only a few pages, Allie disappointingly morphs into a straightforward first-person narrator ... Had the author been able to maintain Allie’s terse inner monologue through her present struggles, the tone of the entire novel would have been intensified and enhanced ... Some readers may grow impatient or feel manipulated by the pace while others may be intrigued by the slow leak of information. If readers stay with the book they will be rewarded; the ending resolves the essential issues and, as an added bonus, provides an unexpected and satisfying twist.
Written in a fast-paced style, each chapter offers new twists as motives are brought to light and secrets that Allison struggled to hide are revealed. Barry’s debut novel will keep readers guessing to the end, and fans of Lisa Jackson and Lisa Scottoline will enjoy this thriller written with a focus on family relationships.
Barry’s novel effectively utilizes emotional investment, along with well-paced action, shifting perspectives and rising tension, to pique readers’ curiosity about what happened to Allison before --- and what will happen next. Few readers will anticipate the book’s surprise twist (though more than a few may quibble with how it plays out), and the big conspiracy that underpins the plot is all too plausible. Despite the emotional potential of the narrative, Maggie and Allison at times seem detached from the reader’s emotional response, too driven by their own purpose and drive to give the reader something more visceral to latch on to ... certainly satisfied my hankering for a survival novel --- and it also will keep many a thriller fan up late at night, too.
Readers that are looking for a lightning-paced read, with a mother/daughter relationship at the core, will find a lot to like. Maggie and Ally’s alternating chapters create urgency, and Barry does a particularly great job with Maggie, a woman who is suffering debilitating grief, but finds strength and purpose in finding the truth. This one will keep readers turning the pages, and there’s even a nifty twist in the final act.
With Freefall, Barry, a pseudonym for a former publishing industry insider who now lives in Maine, delivers an assured thriller with a crafty structure. Although the novel leaves a couple of matters unresolved, and Allison’s behavior occasionally seems to reflect not a plausible course of action but narrative necessity, readers will gladly surrender to the crusty, unflagging Maggie and see her through her ordeal. Personality-wise, she has less in common with Jessica Fletcher than with fellow fictional Maine widow of a certain age Dolores Claiborne, who would have at least pretended to appreciate the promenade of condolence casseroles that Maggie Carpenter receives from neighbors and later dumps in the trash.
Uneven ... Barry’s meditations on mother-daughter relationships and female roles add much-needed dimension to an otherwise shallow plot full of predictable twists and surface-level emotion. Still, this psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Claire Mackintosh.
lthough the setup of Barry’s debut novel is clever and her concluding twist surprises, the plot feels underbaked, and scenes from the point of view of 'The Man,' Allison’s nameless, faceless pursuer, prove more tedious than thrilling ... Barry makes some keen observations regarding female identity and personal empowerment, but her characters lack verisimilitude, which undercuts the novel’s drama.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
