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    Freefall: A Novel
    Freefall: A Novel
    Freefall: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Freefall: A Novel

    Written by Jessica Barry

    Narrated by Hillary Huber, Karissa Vacker and MacLeod Andrews

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    2020 Audie Finalist – Thriller/Suspense

    A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2019:  Entertainment Weekly | USA Today | Parade | Cosmopolitan | New York Post | PopSugar | Goodreads

    “Exhilarating, emotional -- a thriller charged with genuine depth and raw power.” — A.J. Finn author of the #1 bestselling The Woman in the Window

    ""An absorbing treat."" — PEOPLE Magazine

    “The corporate malfeasance and shady conspiracies of John Grisham, with the frank feminism of two rounded female protagonists.”
       — Entertainment Weekly

    They say your daughter is dead.
    You know they’re wrong.

    When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, everyone assumes Allison Carpenter is dead.

    But Maggie, Allison’s mother back home in Owl Creek, Maine, refuses to believe them. Maggie knows her daughter – or she used to, anyway. For the past two years, the two women have been estranged, and while Maggie doesn’t know anything about Ally’s life now – not even why she was on a private plane to begin with – she still believes in her girl’s strength, and in their love for each other.

    As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers about the world Allison has been involved in. What was she running from? And can Maggie uncover the truth in time to save her?

    Told from the perspectives of a mother and daughter separated by distance but united by an unbreakable bond, Freefall is a heart-stopping, propulsive thriller about two tenacious women overcoming unimaginable obstacles to protect themselves and the ones they love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 8, 2019
    ISBN9780062890429
    Author

    Jessica Barry

    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 in 2004 to pursue an MA from University College London. She lives with her husband, Simon, and their two cats, Roger Livesey and BoJack Horseman.  

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    Reviews for Freefall

    3.5/5

    128 ratings14 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This could have been a really good book but there was so much unnecessary content that did nothing for the story.
    • 5/5
      Fast paced. Loved the alternating perspectives of Allison and Maggie and especially loved the short chapters and how quickly the author moved between the two.A woman and her husband die in a plane crash and the woman’s mom struggles to deal with her grief over the loss of her daughter. But then you quickly find out that the woman isn’t dead and there’s something suspicious about the crash.
    • 5/5
      This debut fell into my hands and kept calling to me. I assumed it would just be another mother-daughter, tragic tale and I just didn't want to read at first...After I finally opened to the first page, I read until the last page was in the light of dawn.
      How did a woman with a dark past end up on a private plane and hiking through the woods? Where is she headed and who is she really running from?
      One of the most fast-paced, suspenseful and sharply plotted thrillers I have read in a long time, I dare you not to read in one day.
    • 4/5
      A little slow at the beginning for me, but it caught on after page 150 or so. Written in an interesting way in which there are two timelines within one chapter.
    • 3/5
      Story of a mother estranged from her daughter, who tries to find out what happened to her after an airplane crash. I read this because I had nothing else to read. The story moves along quite quickly so did not take me much time to read.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      Freefall is a riveting and suspenseful debut mystery by Jessica Barry.

      Maggie Carpenter is heartbroken at the news that her estranged thirty-one year old daughter, Allison, has been in a fatal airplane crash. Unable to understand the stunning revelations in the wake of Allison's and her fiancé Ben Gardener's deaths, Maggie begins digging into her daughter's life.  How did Ally go from working at an upstart magazine to her engagement to the wealthy CEO of  pharmaceutical company Prexilane Industries? The more she uncovers about her daughter's life, the more certain she becomes that Allison might still be alive.

      Maggie's instincts are spot on since Allison has, against all odds, survived the crash but Ben is not as fortunate. Frightened that she will be found by someone who wants to harm her, Allison gathers as many supplies as she can and heads off into the wilderness. Badly injured, her survival instinct keeps her going when she is in danger of giving up. Somehow managing to beat the elements, Allison's concern for her own safety quickly diminishes when she learns her mother is in grave danger.

      Interspersed with Maggie's investigation and Allison's flight to safety are chapters from an unknown person who makes it very clear that he will not stop until he locates Allison.  Despite suffering from serious injuries, Allison manages to stay a few steps ahead of her pursuer. Unfortunately, her luck might about to be run out, but Allison refuses to go down without a fight.

      Allison's life during her estrangement from Maggie is revealed through a series of flashbacks.  While her life is in a downward spiral, she crosses paths with Ben. She is grateful for his willingness to overlook the circumstances of how they met and Allison is happy with Ben. Never quite fitting in with his wealthy friends and business associates, she is often at loose ends while he is working. Approached by a stranger, Allison's fears her past is catching up with her are laid to rest by some very shocking disclosures that she finds virtually impossible to believe.

      Freefall is a well-written mystery that is absolutely spellbinding. Maggie and Allison are well-drawn, three dimensional characters with all too human frailties and admirable strengths. The plot is engaging and the short chapters create a sense of urgency that keep the pages turning at a blistering pace. Jessica Barry's debut is a thrilling adventure that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend to fans of the genre.
    • 4/5
      Here's a pretty formulaic thriller, enhanced by dual narrators and a fine twist. Allison leaves her home in Maine for California and a great job at a magazine, but when it folds, she runs out of options and resorts to being an escort. Back at home, her mother Maggie, who helped her husband overdose on morphine when his pain from cancer became unbearable, is estranged from Allison, who blames her mother for the loss of her beloved father. Allison, on the comeup and now engaged to a wealthy Pharma CEO, is on his private plane when it crashes in the Rockies, and she's the only survivor. As the details of the back story are filled in, Allison tries to make her way home to her mother, who's in mourning for her daughter and is trying to figure out what Allison had been doing for the last two years. When a man Martha meets, seemingly accidentally, reveals a connection to Allison and then turns up dead, the tension ratchets up and runs high until the big twist and a satisfying ending. A good, fast snowed-in or beach read.
    • 3/5
      An okay thriller, started out good but got pretty much unbelievable and a little tedious as it went on.
    • 3/5
      Freefall by Jessica Barry starts off very strong - with a plane crash and a young woman survivor. But, even though that is exciting, I feel that the book didn't retain the tense action of the opening scene. I did enjoy the book, but it wasn't the thriller that I was hoping it could be. Allison is in a plane crash and is presumed dead. But, she manages to survive, and needs to get away from the crash. She is running scared - scared that her past life will catch up to her, and that she will be killed by the people who want her dead. Meanwhile, her mother, Maggie, is crushed by the news of Allison's death, not wanting to believe it, and searching for the little girl who once was. Told in two voices, Maggie and Allison, the story weaves through past and present, while exposing secrets and deception. #Freefall #JessicaBarry
    • 4/5
      This thriller begins with the crash of a private plane in the Colorado Rockies. Allison (Ally) Carpenter, 31, makes it out of the wreckage, but knows her struggle for survival is only beginning. Someone is after her and wants to kill her.Alternate chapters are narrated by Ally’s mother Maggie, who hasn’t communicated with her daughter in two years, and feels horrible about it. And now, she may never have a chance to make it right. She hasn’t given up hope though; Ally’s body was not discovered at the crash site. But she knows so little about her daughter now, who doesn’t even look the same in pictures published after the crash. Ally was apparently engaged to Ben Gardner, the wealthy CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and she appears so different in recent pictures; Maggie can hardly recognize this woman who resembles an ultra-thin movie star more than the daughter she last saw.Who had her daughter become and what happened to her? Readers discover answers gradually - or perhaps, speedily, because you will be turning the pages as fast as you can as the tension ratchets up.The twists aren’t perfectly constructed, but the pace is so fast you may not mind. Except for the fact that the story begins with a plane crash, this would make a perfect way to pass the time on an airline flight!
    • 5/5
      It's a bit hard to see in this small picture, but the image on the cover of Jessica Barry's new novel Freefall, is a shot of the clouds taken from an airplane.And that's where the book begins - a plane crash. Ally Carpenter is the only survivor when her fiancee's plane crashes. She picks up a few things, stuffs them in a backpack and starts limping off the mountain. She's hurt - but from her inner thoughts we learn she's desperate as well...."I know what's coming for me."Ally's mother Maggie is informed of the crash - and the death of her daughter. And the news is all the more gut wrenching as she and Ally have been estranged for the last two years.Freefall is told in alternating chapters from Ally and Maggie. We know Ally is alive - and her desperate flight from the crash has only raised more questions for the reader. Who or what is she fleeing? Why? Will she make it? Or is she too hurt? And then the narrative switches to Maggie. She can't believe Ally is gone and starts to try and piece together the last two years of her daughter's life.I adore this method of storytelling. But I have to admit, it keeps me up very late - I desperately want to know what's going on with each character. And boy, oh boy, does Barry ever keep the tension high. Every chapter seems to end on a cliffhanger or a revelation. And you just have to keep turning pages! The who and why become clearer as the book progresses and more is revealed, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.Freefall is a plot driven novel, but I found the characterizations done just as well. I really liked Maggie, her self awareness and her determination.This was the right book at the right time for me - I was looking for a fast paced, action filled read. And I found it in Freefall.
    • 5/5
      Suspenseful all the way through. If you like thrillers I highly recommend Freefall!
    • 5/5
      Suspenseful…Shocking…Intense…The determination to survive…A mother refusal to accept that her daughter is dead.Allison Carpenter survives the crash of her fiancé’s private plane. Now she must survive her injuries and the mountainous wilderness. We learn that Allison has been betrayed…her glamourous life was a lie. Some very powerful men want her dead so she has no time to grieve nor linger at the crash site. She must run, she must hide.Maggie Carpenter, Allison’s mother, has been notified of the presumed death of her daughter and her daughter’s fiancé. But since Allison’s body has not been recovered Maggie refuses to accept that her daughter is dead.Allison and Maggie have not talked since the death of their father and husband two years ago. Two years in which Allison has changed into someone her mother does not even recognize. Two years of Allison refusing to reach out for help from her mother. Two years full of resentment, guilt, loss, and regrets.Maggie is determined to find out why Allison was on that plane. Determined to learn about Allison’s socialite life, a life hugely different from the Allison she knew. She is a mother driven to understand what happened to her daughter and to move heaven and earth until she learns the truth about her.Allison is determined to survive and save the only person left that she loves.This is a well-written story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Might as well block out some time on your calendar because you will not want to be interrupted until you know the ending.
    • 4/5
      This turned out to be a pretty solid thriller. Maggie Carpenter is devastated to hear the news her daughter, Allison, died in a plane crash. Even though they have been estranged for the last two years, Maggie is determined to find out more about Allison's life leading up to the crash. Except wait, Allison didn't actually die, but she doesn't want people to know she survived either. Told from the perspectives of a grieving mother searching for answers and a daughter who seems to be running from her past.Even though the story isn't exactly perfect, I really couldn't turn the pages fast enough on this one as you can't help but feel invested in the characters, particularly the mother. Maggie is what really drove the story in my opinion. I'm not even a parent but you do almost feel like you are grieving with her and understand her determination to find out more about what was going on with Allison during their estrangement. The thriller aspects of the story are done pretty well although there were a few times when you wanted to shout at the characters, "Come on, wise up!". Overall, it is a decent thriller, but an even better story about a mother's love for her child. I won a free copy of this book in a giveaway. I was under no obligation to post a review and all views expressed are my honest opinion.