Jessica Barry’s Freefall is not only an enthralling, impossible-to-put down mystery that keeps the pages flying, but it is also a gorgeous, resonant tale of a mother’s unconditional love for her daughter. I could not recommend this more!” — Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother
“Jessica Barry’s debut novel opens at full throttle and never lets up...Set aside a few hours before you open this book...once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.” — Karin Slaughter, New York Times Bestselling Author
“Most debut thriller writers would be happy to have one amazing story to tell. Jessica Barry’s come up with two, and the way she weaves them together will have you on the edge of your seat. Freefall is an electric mix of action and emotional drama that never stops, never slows down.” — Liv Constantine, National Bestselling Author of The Last Mrs. Parrish
‘A gripping page-turner. Freefall is exactly what a great thriller should be.’ — Renee Knight, International Bestselling author of Disclaimer
“A brilliant, addictive page-turner with sharply drawn, dueling mother-daughter narrators who you will root for and empathize with as they struggle to survive their harrowing present, come to terms with a troubled past and fight to find their way home.” — Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia and Where They Found Her
“A daring tightrope walk of a novel. Exhilarating, emotional — a thriller charged with genuine depth and raw power.” — AJ Finn, author of the #1 NYT Bestselling The Woman in the Window
“An absorbing treat.” — People
“The corporate malfeasance and shady conspiracies of John Grisham, with the frank feminism of two rounded female protagonists.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Hold on to your hats. Freefall is sure to take one on the ride of a lifetime ... This is a gut-wrenching suspense thriller in which both the mother and daughter’s only thoughts are to endure, reunite, and make amends while taking the reader on a heartrending journey of trepidation and nail-biting apprehension.” — New York Journal of Books
“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...this debut will be everywhere.” — Booklist
“Pseudonymous author Barry spins a great tale using familiar tropes but adding a surprising amount of heart to the mystery showing the fierce bond between mother and daughter.” — Library Journal
“This tightly paced thriller also deftly examines the complexity of the mother-daughter bond.” — Crime Reads
“A scintillating thriller that breathes life into every word.” — Independent
“Freefall begins as an action-packed/heart-stopping thriller as it logically and smoothly leads into the self-examination of two women estranged from each other but still united by love.” — Associated Press
“Jessica Barry’s debut novel is not only a thriller but the story of a mother-daughter relationship that fell apart, as so many do, after one misstep. With feelings so raw, neither one reached out until it was almost too late. But bonds formed over so many years ultimately prove unbreakable and the two women come together to save each other in the final moments.” Woman Around Town
Jessica Barry’s debut novel opens at full throttle and never lets up...Set aside a few hours before you open this book...once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.”
A brilliant, addictive page-turner with sharply drawn, dueling mother-daughter narrators who you will root for and empathize with as they struggle to survive their harrowing present, come to terms with a troubled past and fight to find their way home.”
A daring tightrope walk of a novel. Exhilarating, emotional — a thriller charged with genuine depth and raw power.
Jessica Barry’s Freefall is not only an enthralling, impossible-to-put down mystery that keeps the pages flying, but it is also a gorgeous, resonant tale of a mother’s unconditional love for her daughter. I could not recommend this more!
An absorbing treat.
Hold on to your hats. Freefall is sure to take one on the ride of a lifetime ... This is a gut-wrenching suspense thriller in which both the mother and daughter’s only thoughts are to endure, reunite, and make amends while taking the reader on a heartrending journey of trepidation and nail-biting apprehension.
New York Journal of Books
‘A gripping page-turner. Freefall is exactly what a great thriller should be.’
Most debut thriller writers would be happy to have one amazing story to tell. Jessica Barry’s come up with two, and the way she weaves them together will have you on the edge of your seat. Freefall is an electric mix of action and emotional drama that never stops, never slows down.
The corporate malfeasance and shady conspiracies of John Grisham, with the frank feminism of two rounded female protagonists.
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...this debut will be everywhere.
This tightly paced thriller also deftly examines the complexity of the mother-daughter bond.”
Freefall begins as an action-packed/heart-stopping thriller as it logically and smoothly leads into the self-examination of two women estranged from each other but still united by love.
Jessica Barry’s debut novel is not only a thriller but the story of a mother-daughter relationship that fell apart, as so many do, after one misstep. With feelings so raw, neither one reached out until it was almost too late. But bonds formed over so many years ultimately prove unbreakable and the two women come together to save each other in the final moments.”
A scintillating thriller that breathes life into every word.
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...this debut will be everywhere.
A scintillating thriller that breathes life into every word.
Told in alternating chapters, the reader follows Allison as she struggles to survive and stay ahead of a ruthless killer, and Maggie, as she anguishes over her loss and her determination to find out the truth of her daughter’s life and death. Tension-filled, . . .. Freefall puzzles together both women’s secrets and their complicated love for each other as it gains speed toward its climax. An excellent debut.
Alternating chapters between the two women, Barry seizes the reader from the first page, slowly raises the temperature—and the tension— to the boiling point, and maintains interest through Allison and Maggie’s physical, emotional and mental journeys. With expert pacing, gradual reveals and cinematic storytelling, Barry scores on multiple levels. She delivers a stunner that even astute thriller fans are unlikely to foresee and offers a fiery read for a frigid night.
As Freefall alternates between the two women’s points of view, and between the past and the present, it combines Allison’s suspenseful fight for survival with a mother’s faith in her daughter, something that refuses to be extinguished even when situations turn dire. Pacing is fast, and Allison is resourceful without turning into a superhero in this riveting thriller.
A stunning triumph of both form and function.
Jon Land The Providence Journal
Freefall begins as an action-packed/heart-stopping thriller as it logically and smoothly leads into the self-examination of two women estranged from each other but still united by love.
Jessica Barry’s debut novel opens at full throttle and never lets up...Set aside a few hours before you open this book...once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.”
International Bestselling Author
“A daring tightrope walk of a novel. Exhilarating, emotional -- a thriller charged with genuine depth and raw power.
AJ Finn author of the #1 NYT Bestselling The Woman in the Window
Karissa Vacker, as Allison, commands our attention from her first words. After a private plane crashes into a mountainside in Colorado, Allison awakens to find the pilot dead and her instincts on high alert. With the skill of one familiar with the outdoors, she gathers whatever supplies she can and flees the crash site. We sense she’s running from something, but what? Enter narrator MacLeod Andrews, menacing and devious as The Man. As Allison’s estranged mother, Maggie, Hillary Huber is also completely convincing and compelling. Maggie learns of the crash and Allison’s presumed death, but since there are no remains, she refuses to believe it. As Maggie uncovers her daughter’s secret life and Allison eludes The Man, author Barry and all three narrators keep listeners spellbound. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Karissa Vacker, as Allison, commands our attention from her first words. After a private plane crashes into a mountainside in Colorado, Allison awakens to find the pilot dead and her instincts on high alert. With the skill of one familiar with the outdoors, she gathers whatever supplies she can and flees the crash site. We sense she’s running from something, but what? Enter narrator MacLeod Andrews, menacing and devious as The Man. As Allison’s estranged mother, Maggie, Hillary Huber is also completely convincing and compelling. Maggie learns of the crash and Allison’s presumed death, but since there are no remains, she refuses to believe it. As Maggie uncovers her daughter’s secret life and Allison eludes The Man, author Barry and all three narrators keep listeners spellbound. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
