It's official, Keith needs very few words to paint the sum of someone's character in vivid color. Each of these 15 stories tells a tale of someone that feels familiar. I love how immersive his writing is, even in short stories, where you're only with the characters for a few thousand words. You can't help but understand their deepest emotions.

Honorable Mentions:

The Lesser Horsemen - This tales of the other 3 horseman is one I didn't know I needed about the fab 4. We all know that death his here to stay, but what happens with the other 3 are no longer working out? This hilarious take on how God rehabilitates them was fitting for the pandemic we're currently living in. Guess pestilence received a bit of contract work.

Winter, Spring, Whatever Happens After That - This one got me right in the feels. The way Becky feels about school, work, and her alcoholic father, so heartbreaking. The description in this was does so much for the emotional state of the characters, and the lives they lead.

Plus Brad Benske and the Hand of Light, and Dunsmuir - sooo many feels in such a short amount of words.

You'll love this collection of stories if you enjoy works of fiction that don't have an explicit plot, and are more character driven. If you like reading about topics that toe the line of magic and realism, and are tied together with deep emotions pick up this book! ( )

Two strangers, Cait and Rebecca, are driving across America. 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...

What a road trip! I was immediately attracted to this book when I read the premise and I totally enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down and this was a quick read for me.

This is amazingly written book that covers almost all the problems that women face through the lives of the two main characters, Cait and Rebecca. Some parts of the book are a bit unbelievable. But what I loved the most in this book is the way the two women formed a bond despite not having anything in common and how they worked as a team to encounter the dangers they faced in their trip.

Even though it is not a usual faced paced thriller, it is still enjoyable and does have a bit of suspense!

Thank You to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for this ARC!! ( )

A good story told through many different perspectives. ( )

Perfect for the #MeToo titles, this really twisty novel may be a bit much for some, but for me it just added to the suspense as the reader follows two women, one of whom is a Congressman’s wife as she flees from home. The trip through New Mexico is quite scary. Well plotted this book does an excellent job of addressing women’s issues. If you read Barry’s previous book, Freefall you will want to read this one. ( )

This thriller centers around two women, both of whom are in danger in different ways related to the “Me Too” movement.

Cait Monaghan, 25, works as a bartender in Austin but aspires to be a journalist. She submits a piece anonymously to an internet site about a disturbing sexual encounter she had with a well-known musician and it goes viral. Some men seem to take her article as a personal affront to the status and rights of men. Most of the comments are negative; some are downright threatening. The website is hacked, and her name and address get released. She begins to live in fear of her life.

A parallel story concerns Rebecca MacRae, the 36-year-old wife of a popular Congressman in Texas now running for the Senate. Rebecca has had five miscarriages in a span of 18 months, and she is pregnant again. An ultrasound reveals that the baby is irreparably damaged however, and will not live long - if at all. Rebecca thinks it is best for both her and the baby to end the pregnancy.

The two women meet because Cait works as a volunteer with the Sisters of Service, an organization that helps women in crisis. Cait takes the request to drive Rebecca to an abortion clinic in Albuquerque, picking her up at midnight in the interests of secrecy and security. But before long the two discover someone is following them, determined to drive them off the road at the very least. The roads are deserted, and the truck behind them rams into them repeatedly.

Both Cait and Rebecca know that, as Cait mused, “living under the constant threat of danger [was] just a part of being a woman in this world.” But the evil they encounter on the road is something more.

As they deal with the increasing danger and the terror it induces in them, the author cuts back in time to show how each woman came to this journey.

Discussion: The author, in recounting what the women are experiencing, explores various issues now roiling the country. Her main focus is the gendered difference in perception of sexuality, choice, and consent. The author includes male characters who resent their lack of social and/or economic success and a failure of access to women, who in turn are now able to experience social and economic success without them. As research shows, this can lead to misogyny or even mental or physical abuse. The statistics on violence against women are staggering. This acrimony is exacerbated by chat rooms on the internet, where like-minded strangers validate and encourage extreme behavior. Numerous reports, such as those discussed here and here, reveal correlations between increases in online hate speech and offline hate crime.

While I am in full agreement with the author on her alarm over all of those issues, I thought she might have included even one man who wasn’t an abhorrent and/or unsympathetic character, just to make it seem more balanced.

Evaluation: The tension doesn’t let up in this very scary story. It also offers a lot for book clubs to discuss. ( )