🚗🛣️👀 "Don't Turn Around" 👀🛣️🚗 (2020) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Harper (June 16, 2020)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0062874861

ISBN-13: 978-0062874863

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“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 …”

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Harper/Harper Collins, for this advanced review copy. A positive review was not required and all words are my own.

The author of this novel uses a pseudonym so I don’t know if I’ve read other works by her. I have not read her first book (under this name) – “Freefall”.

I enjoy good suspense novels, preferably clean, but occasionally I’ll select something that isn’t so “clean” based on the premise. The premise of this stood out to me, particularly as I know most of that stretch between Texas and Arizona. And, to be honest, driving it at night is a horror story all its own. Naturally, I was interested.

While this is similar to the author’s first novel “Freefall”, “Don’t Turn Around” is a standalone novel. Both have heavy “social” themes to them.

“Don’t Turn Around” focuses on abortion, domestic violence, safety of social media, internet shaming, and doxxing (someone’s information given out for revenge). It also has political tones to it that are obvious. There are strong feminist themes in this story, which is told from multiple points of view (POVs). The language can be coarse and rough at times.

Cait is more or less a “driver” to take Rebecca somewhere that Rebecca’s influential husband can’t know about or wouldn’t approve. It is with great urgency that Rebecca get where she needs to be. And, it’s fairly apparent early on as to what the appointment is for. The why is clearly established in a way to make Rebecca a more sympathetic character and to add some humanity to the situation.

Yet, on their journey there is someone stalking them on that lonely, desert highway. But, who is the person after – Cait or Rebecca? Both know someone with a motive to see them fail. The who is not established, until the end, which made this a “have to keep turning the page” type of read. The “why” is a bit murky though. There are references to an anonymous article that Cait wrote after a violent sexual encounter with a celebrity and this is where the internet and victim shaming comes into play. The “Me Too” theme is quite prevalent in this book as well. The mystery is still left at the end as to the “why”.

The short, quick chapters are not numbered but rather “named” as to the POV Ken, Jake, Patrick, Adam are by their name and the “timeline” can be easy to figure out, but not obvious. “Years earlier” is told from Cait or Rebecca’s POV, or the location/distance to Albuquerque which is either told from Cait’s POV or Rebecca’s – all written in third person.

Despite their differences, Rebecca and Cait seemingly bond on the trip; especially when their survival depends on it. And, in a way, they are also connected as the reader finds out.

The writer does a great job at creating suspense – especially with the pickup truck chasing them down.

The blurb showed great potential for this story. But, it is the “statement” that tends to bog down what could’ve been a great book. It becomes more of a political, social driven story than a truly great suspense tale. To me, the social issue seemed to be the main focus of the story.

The male characters are characterized as “bad guys” with the women categorized innocent victims. Yes, there is no doubt Cait was a victim. So too was Rebecca.

But, it was the lop-sided “women are good/men are bad” POV that caused some eye-rolling on my end. Perhaps that is how I saw it, and as a reader reviewing the book, that is what I saw. There were two remotely “semi” good male character towards the end, and both were minor. Both were supportive and doing their jobs. Nothing outstanding. Even a gas station attendant and a semi-truck driver were not “good” characters, with one being described as creepy. The semi-truck driver wasn’t too bad, but not “good” either.

While I admit, some guys can be jerks (I used to work with quite a few); there are some really great guys out there (and I’ve worked with quite a few of those too). With the way the author created the suspense, dialogue, and friendship with Cait and Rebecca – it shows she does talent as a story-teller. I don’t know if it was the author’s intention for this to come off as one-sided or not. Looking back, the “tagline” – “it’s never been so dangerous to be a woman” should’ve been a clue.

The character I felt sorry for was Rebecca, especially how she had seemingly lost herself in everything going on around her and how people’s impressions of her were wrong. What was worse was that there was no one to guide her, only a “manager” who was looking for an “image” to sell (mainly her husband’s), rather than focusing on her good traits while tempering bad ones. Only at the end did Rebecca find her strength, and it had to come in a truly horrific manner.

While I’m not one to stick my head in the sand over things – there are always multiple sides to an issue. And, yes, a writer should be able to express their view in their writing. For that, I do respect the author. However, this just didn’t work for me. I read for the escape, for the entertainment – not politics or social issues. This should be disclosed as part of the summary of this book.

SPOILER: one of the reasons Rebecca is so adamant about getting where she needs to be is pending legal action. That’s as much detail as I can give out without revealing the entire plot.

I believe it could’ve worked without the social issues in it – just the “dark, desert scene” when they’re being hunted down was enough to build on. The unlikely alliance formed between Cait and Rebecca was another place to go. And, having perhaps more balanced good vs. bad in it with regard to the characters.

Another thing that bogged this down was “too many” POVs – Cait, Rebecca, Patrick, Ken, Mike, Jake, Adam. I was beginning to wonder how everyone tied into this story, as well as their role in it. Too many people with too many agendas is the conclusion for that.

The unresolved end with the “stalking” truck driver was satisfying with regard to the suspense element. I would be slightly interested to see if that issue ever comes back into play in another novel. The resourcefulness of both Cait and Rebecca shined right in that moment. So, again, this had potential, it was the delivery and execution that seemed to have done it in for me.

For those looking for a thriller/suspense story with political themes, social issues, and multiple characters; this might work for you. It honestly wasn’t the worst thing I read, definitely not the best, and again not something I would’ve chosen had I truly known some of the content.

I will admit, the character I really rallied behind was the Jeep. That thing kept rolling along despite everything thrown at it!

RATING:

2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (Okay)

2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (Disappointing)

2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html) (for this particular review – okay, but disappointing)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Barry, is a pseudonym for an American author who grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and was raised on a steady diet of library books and PBS. She attended Boston University, where she majored in English and art history, before moving to London to pursue an MA from University College London. She lives with her husband, Simon, and their two cats, Roger Livesey and BoJack Horseman, in Portland, Maine.

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