The movie "Die Hard" came to mind in this non-stop action story revolving around a talk-show host in NYC, a Bruce Willis type cop coming to the rescue and a bad guy with a bad lot behind him. Bombs explode, murders abound, a building and lives are destroyed as the bad guy reaps his revenge. A perfect book to read under a tree on a hot summer's day (like today was).

JD Barker's books are always fast-paced, suck-you-in-suspenseful thrillers; while not my favorite of his novels, still a great quick and enjoyable read.

ATTENTION: Please keep your feet and hands inside the car at all times - this is going to be a crazy ride!

And, oh, what a great ride it was! I was captivated from the first page and barely stopped to sleep. JD Barker is a master of dramatic, suspenseful writing and I am so here for it!

Jordan Briggs is a successful radio show host on SiriusXM. Her day starts out normally until one of her callers asks her to play a game with him. Does she prefer Ubers or taxis? Her choice begins the game that all of New York ends up playing. Turns out that all these events are payback for a radio stunt she pulled when she was an up and coming host. The action is almost non-stop and it seems impossible that the pacing of the plot could be that high throughout - but it is. The synopsis of the book is Die Hard meets Talk Radio and that is a pretty good summary without giving away too many details.

The Author's note relays that Barker writes for entertainment purposes only and he lets his characters tell their story. These are two of the reasons he has quickly become a go-to author, for me. His characters have depth and lead you through their story. It's highly successful and I think his books are more than entertaining - they are riveting. If you haven't read any of Barker's books yet, you are missing out. Read one already and thank me later. :0)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book.

Two words -- Holy S#*@!
What a ride!
Probably one of THE best books I've read this year. Barker does a freaking fantastic job of pulling you in from the beginning and not letting you go until the very last word. What a non-stop, action filled ride. I could not put this book down until I finished it.

This is a must read for 2021! You won't be disappointed.

Thank you #netgalley, #Hampton Creek Press and #Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for this eARC.

When I saw this book I was hooked and ready to spend an entire afternoon sinking my thriller hungry fangs in because just look at that cover and that title and tell me you wouldn't be hooked.

The book tells the story of popular radio talk show host Jordan Briggs who gets a call from a man called Bernie who asks her if she wants to play a game (we all know how that goes)

I was excited about it but I didn't like it the way I was expecting to. It's a good read that keeps you engrossed especially Jordan (totally adorbs) but there was something missing that made this story a tad bit forgettable.

I do look forward to reading more J.D Barker books.

Huge thanks to Hampton Creek Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminds me of the movie die hard minus the wife storyline, add a female Howard Stern character and change Hans Gruber's motivation from stealing to revenge. Overall it was entertaining. I honestly wasn't a fan of the end but it wasn't bad.

Fasten your seatbelt for this novel…you are in for a wild ride.

Despite the gender discrepancy, Jordan Briggs is a classic radio “shock jock.” The more outrageous she gets, the better the ratings. Until one day it all catches up to her with far-reaching, deadly consequences. A caller who identifies himself as Bernie, asks Jordan if she wants to play a game. Her choices? Does she prefer taxis or Ubers? Her response sets in motion a series of actions that brings a major city to a halt as the cat-and-mouse plot unfolds.

This is a taut, gripping suspense thriller. Once I started, it was hard to put the book down. I do admit that you have to suspend some logic as to the scope and details of the “game,” but it is very intriguing. The author notes that he has been told he writes “literary popcorn;” he unabashedly confesses that he writes purely to entertain without regard to social messages or moral codes.

This is my first exposure to J.D. Barker’s writing and based on this book, I will definitely seek out more.

My thanks to the author, Hampton Creek Press, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

If Howard Stern, cyber-terrorists, John McClane and Jigsaw all got together and had a book baby this would be it.

A Caller's Game is hectic, non-stop ACTION.
Every time I thought it couldn't possibly get any crazier it took the intensity up to a new level.
I tried Googling what book has the most explosions in it but couldn't get an answer so this one might just take the trophy since AT LEAST 60 bombs go off in this story!

My struggle with this book was with trying to believe the logistics of the plot.
The bad guys would have needed to spend MONTHS meticulously planning and preparing for the events that happen and knowingly cause a lot of innocent deaths yet, besides Bernie, I can't see what their motivation was. Too much unexplained behaviour. I expected to have to suspend belief but this was kinda too much for me.

However, I don't usually read ACTION books like this one but if I think of movies that are similar, like Mission Impossible, Borne Identity, Fast and Furious, I don't like any of them. Yet a lot of people do so I think maybe my personal preferences are affecting my rating of this book and think others will enjoy it more than I did.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺.

My thanks to J.D. Barker, Netgalley and Hampton Creek Press for the opportunity to get this ARC for an unbiased review.

How well do you know the DIE HARD movies? Yes, all of them.
There was DIE HARD, DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER, DIE HARD: WITH A VENGEANCE, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD AND DIE HARD: YEAR ONE. They are also planning two more movies for the franchise in the future;
DIE HARD: WITH A BONER (THE VIAGRA CHRONICLES) and DIE HARD: FROM A HEMORRHOID (A REAL PAIN IN THE ASS).

Well, this book was like a homage to the DIE HARD movies.

If you take all of them, lock them in a room together and allowed them to have an orgy, A CALLER’S GAME would be the love child of that union.

The story:
Jordan Briggs is a very successful radio shock jock – think Howard Stern with a vagina. She always speaks her mind and couldn’t care less what people thought of her show, since it was a ratings cow with millions of listeners. She is also very smart, and can decimate any and all callers or guests on her show.

NYPD Officer Cole Hundley is on traffic duty because he is being punished. Whatever he did to Gracie got him in the dog box. He just wants to keep his head low and get through it as fast as possible.

Then the bombs starts to go off.
The man calls himself Bernie and he phones in to Jordan’s show, claiming responsibility. He wants to play a game with her – one unlike any other – and it will change her world completely. Then he says:
“I’m going to offer you a choice.”

And, as you can probably guess from here, the shit is about to hit the radio…


Barker is an incredible writer – he really has the skills. And I am a fan of his work.
However:

This is supposed to be an unbiased review, remember. And I am having difficulty because I felt a little disappointed.
The writing – spectacular.
The story – superb.
The action – Non-stop.

So, what the hell is my problem?

Okay, my unbiased opinion is that this book will appeal to a very large audience – adrenaline junkies and people who like their action on every single page will love it.
My biased opinion: It felt too long. The reason I’m having difficulty, perhaps, is the fact that you ride this intensity wave all through the book, but there are no dips, no place for you to take a breath and perhaps digest a little before the next peak.
Think of it this way:
If you get an orgasm, it is fantastic! You tell yourself you never want this feeling to end. But you can’t keep yourself there – everything will start cramping and become uncomfortable, and you just need a second to get your breath back and perhaps take a little nap, just to give yourself a chance to recover for the next round. Too much of a good thing, you know?
It’s like that, but without the sweat and other bodily fluids.

Yes, this will most probably a very successful book, and good for Mr. Barker. On my side I would have given it three stars, since I was praying for the end of the book from about three quarters through. If I take out my personal objection, it probably deserves five stars.
Ergo: Four stars…

Tense and riveting this game is deadly.

I really had a hard time connecting with the main character. She was written one way but appeared another in lots of moments and only the other when it counted against her in the game. Consistency here was key and it was off the mark.

I rated this 4 stars and if I had someone I could connect with I would have been a mess reading this.

I like the cat and mouse chase here; trying to figure out where, when and how. I liked the twists a lot and couldn't trust anyone - I believed everyone was working for Bernie lol

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a thriller with a little heat and a lot of chase.

Very descriptive and great as far as action and describing the big moments.

Mr. Barker does it again! On a seemingly normal day Jordan Briggs is prepping for her work and a toxic radio host. Think a snarkier Howard Stern when she gets a call that changes everything.
Twists and turns and a curve ball you don't expect are what you get with this story. A great distraction from the chaos around us right now.

Bombs to the left, bombs to the right, bombs all throughout the town. What a thrilling, wild, no holds barred story. Vivid characterizations, Jordan is a quintessential narcissistic media “star” and her daughter the ultimate precocious kid. Fantastic backstory and the twists kept coming. Author's note at the end was a bonus and a story in itself. Highly recommended. Mr. Barker keeps getting better and better.

Thank you to J.D. Barker, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Wow! That was amazing!

Breakfast radio host Jordan Briggs is having one hell of a bad day. Nightmare caller Bernie wants to play a never ending game that involves explosive devices, generous gifts and surprise guests. From start to finish, this story did not stop. The action, the suspense, the twists and turns. I was completely hooked. Literally not one dull chapter. I've read a couple of other books by J.D. Barker and this one is, by far, his best. A Caller's Game is one of the best books I've read this year and I'm certain it will be a sure fire hit in 2021.

My only complaint; the kid. Annoyed the hell out of me.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Hampton Creek Press for my advanced copy. This title will be released Feb 2021.

J.D. Barker has been an auto-read author for me since I read the 4MK trilogy. I won’t even check the synopsis first, I will just read anything he comes out with. This year “She has a broken thing where her heart should be” even made it into my top 10 list of 2020. Although “A caller’s game” is nothing like that one and more of a cross between the 4MK trilogy and his collaboration with James Patterson, I found it equally enjoyable, specially if you’re into action packed stories. And this one is a non-stop action, edge of your seat rollercoaster ride!

I’m not usually a fan of action movies or books but Mr. Barker always manages to break down my literary prejudices and makes me enjoy the kind of stories I wouldn’t usually do.

Yes, you might have to suspend your disbelief for the most part of this book, but with the current world situation actually that isn’t a bad thing right now. When I read I just want to evade myself and “A caller’s game” certainly made me evade. The action grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let me go till the very end. The fact that things are happening every single page helped a lot.

The characters were very well written. I mostly enjoyed all the back and forth between Jordan and Bernie. I found Charlotte’s voice a bit distracting as she didn’t sound at all as a 11 yo.

The action picked up the pace (even more) in the second half. I lost count of the number of explosions this book has! If, like me, you’re more into suspense than action, you might find this part a bit tiresome, but I love a good old explosion (or several) every once in a while.

The tension keeps on building through the chapters and if you’re familiar with the author’s previous work, you won’t be surprise by one of the final twists.

The only reason this was not a 5 ⭐️ for me was because the second half was a bit drawn out and repetitive in certain aspects and because some character’s motivations were a bit dubious.

The author says his books have been described as literary popcorn, and if this is it, “A caller’s game” is pretty tasty popcorn.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy Jumpin' banana's that was good. Talk about a good book. In a true J.D. Barker fashion this was amazing. It hooks you on from the beginning and doesn't let go. It goes from one place to another... It was great !!

Thank you NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for this great ARC. Can't wait for him to write more.

Thanks to author J.D. Barker and Netgalley I got this excellent opportunity to read this pulse pounding delicious thriller which is impossible to put down once you start! The characters and situations all make for a blockbuster scenario with enough twists and turns to keep even the most skeptical reader hooked!! Can't wait for his next!

Short summary: Jordan Briggs, the shock talk radio host of Overdrive with Jordan Briggs, is a woman who’s built her show at the expense of others’ dignity and doesn’t have a problem with that. When a tragic stunt she pulled in the past on her show comes back to haunt her in the form of a mysterious male caller, “Bernie”, who wants to play an increasingly dangerous game on the air with her, she finds out just how much her actions could cost her. What follows is complete chaos, as she, her show producer Billy, NY detective Cole Hundley and a whole slew of other characters race against time to stop the deadly game.

J.D. Barker in his author’s note says that he’s often accused of writing literary popcorn and that he’s OK with that. His intention is to entertain, not to be profound or represent some moral or political cause. I appreciate that honesty. He knows the audience he wants and he writes for it.

That being said: I’m not his audience. At least not for this kind of book.

Don’t get me wrong - I actually do enjoy the occasional action thriller movie, and Die Hard ranks up there with some of my favorite movies, so I appreciate some of the similarities to this book. It’s hard-core, all-in, over-the-top, make-your-senses-bleed action. The problem is it’s exhausting. At about 70 percent in, I was looking for someone to stop the ride and let me off, knowing that things were only going to get even more intense to the finish line. I could have dealt with that, but in order to stay invested, you have to actually LIKE the characters. With the exception of Cole, there wasn’t any character I felt particularly sympathetic towards.

Jordan is next level unlikeable. She’s selfish, narcissistic, greedily ambitious, aloof, sarcastic and just generally unpleasant. Her mini-me daughter, Charlotte, who’s 11, is the most obnoxious, precocious, snarky, thinks-she’s-smarter-than-every-adult child I’ve ever encountered in a book, and I HATE feeling that way or talking that way about a child, especially if I’m required by the story to feel sympathy towards her predicament. Bernie is apparently omniscient, because despite the author’s explanation for how he sees, hears and knows everything everyone everywhere is doing, it’s so beyond human possibility that I’d have to bury my brain in the basement under 10 layers of concrete to believe it.

I know authors often use unlikeable characters to illustrate a redemptive “bad to good” arc. That didn’t work for me in this book. I didn’t end the book feeling warm and fuzzy toward Jordan, and maybe Barker wasn’t even going for that. Because there was no one to root for, except for maybe Cole, the ending felt empty and unsatisfying. I didn’t hate the book … it kept me invested in the way a fluff action movie would - it just didn’t win my heart. I would absolutely read other books by J. D. Barker - just not the action ones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

★★★ ½ (rounded down to 3)

Typically, I don’t love thrillers but when the page-turning matches the pace of the plot, from literally start to finish, then the book competes with the handful of all-time favorites in the genre for me.

Intense entertainment with vivid characters that yank you into the story and keep you there for the duration. Reading on a Kindle, I turned off the progress indicator after the halfway point because I didn’t want to know when the book would actually end. Great movie concept - I’d buy a ticket on release day.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hampton Creek Press for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review and thank you to JD Barker for another great read!

Absolutely Brilliant!! Another 5 STAR book from Barker. Barker really knows how to tell a story full of mystery, well developed characters and so so much more. This book exceeds 5 STARS! HIGHLY Recommend

J.D. Barker is a Master Storyteller born to write suspense thrillers. In ‘The Callers Game’, Barker grabs you, raises the tension, then never lets go. No one is exactly who they appear to be and time is continually running out before the next bomb goes off. The plot is relentless, as it continually twists its way to the cliffhanger ending.
Whew!
‘The Callers Game’ was the sixth novel written by J.D. Barker that I’ve read and I can’t wait for what this creative genius writes next.