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.

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.

3.5 ⭐️

Excerpt:

“Jordan glances over at the second monitor, the one listing the callers on hold:

Line 1 Stan-wants to apologize
Line 2-Crystal (on air)
Line 3-Stan (this one says he dated you in high school)
Line 4-Bernie (wants to play a game)
Line 5 Stan (female-says the best “Stans” are women) “

Jordan Briggs is a controversial radio talk show host, with about 5 million listeners.
That’s a decent amount but she isn’t yet #1 in the NY market, though she will do just about anything to change that. She doesn’t mince words or spare feelings, and her RAPID FIRE questions usually get people to admit their deepest, darkest secrets.

“I’M GOING TO OFFER YOU A CHOICE”

This book also opens with a RAPID FIRE pace, as Jordan chooses to speak with Bernie on line 4, and his game becomes deadly.

ALL SHE HAS TO DO IS FOLLOW THE RULES.

Described as Talk Radio meets Die Hard, the book synopsis is accurate for once!

Though I also thought the first half ALSO had vibes of John Marrs “The Passengers”.
In that book, a jury had to decide the fate of the drivers, with limited facts.

In this book, Jordan is asked to make choices between two evils, without all of the information.

I loved the first half, as I was enjoying the TALK RADIO, and the suspense.

BUT, the second half of this tale is all DIE HARD, and I would never buy a ticket to watch that.
Explosions, gun shots and chases, for over 200 pages, was just too long for me!

“She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be” was EPIC!! (5 shiny ⭐️)
It made my favorites list for 2020 and I have read and reviewed 180 books this year, with 2 weeks to go! I was hoping for another story with THAT kind of vibe. (Chiller)

“The Coast to Coast Murders”-a collaboration with James Patterson only earned 2 ⭐️ from me!
Sorry, JD! (Thriller)

This one fell in between the two-first half chiller and second half thriller.

If you enjoyed Coast to Coast....this will work for you!
But, if you were hoping for another She Has a Broken Thing...maybe, next time....🤞🏻
I know I will continue to watch for this talented author’s work!

Than You to the author and Publisher for a gifted copy through NetGalley!

As soon as I saw this, it went straight to the top of my 📚!

It was my pleasure to provide a candid review!
Available Feb. 22, 2021!

833 kb

5 stars

What a thrill ride!!

Hold on to your hats everyone for this book will take you places you never imagined. This self- labeled “literary popcorn” writer JD Barker outdoes himself with this latest book.

Controversial SiriusXM radio host Jordan Briggs is about to step into something even in her make believe world she cannot Imagine. She gets a call from a listener who calls himself Bernie who wants her to play a game. She gets to make a choice...

There are many characters in this book and all play an integral part in the drama. There is non-stop action, a high level of tension and surprises aplenty for the reader.

This is a book from which you cannot turn away. It is imperative to find out what happens. You must keep reading. It has cops, an ex-husband, a senator, a program director and a producer...and an unforgettable and precocious little girl.

The writing is flawless, aside from a couple of minor typos which I assume will be caught before final publication. The transitions and plotting are remarkably clear and smooth. Mr. Barker is a timeless writer. His writing will endure the test of time.

I want to very much thank NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press/IBPA for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely outstanding book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Jordan is a shock jock, hosting a call-in show on SiriusXM when someone calls up and asks her to play a game. When she answers honestly and bombs start going off, she realises that her past is catching up with her and that - as with the caller himself - everything could be on the line. A detective who's been sent to traffic duty gets caught up in the story, as he tries to stop more people dying because of a choice that not even they are making.

The book is gripping but flips halfway through the story to be more of a heist plot than anything. I'm not sure Jordan is the most rootable protagonist either - for a story like this to be believable, you need to feel like she isn't a monster, and she crosses the line at times.

This is a very well written story with excellent characters, but unfortunately, the plot doesn't seem very original. And despite some things that are highly unbelievable, it's very entertaining.

Earlier this year I came across and read J.D. Barkers She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be and fell in love with that story. Then I read the Coast to Coast Murders in which he partnered with James Patterson and the truth is I didn't love it. It was a little too high-octane for my particular liking. A Caller's Game is definitely more along the lines of the Coast to Coast Murders and was not at all what I was expecting. I thought I was going to get a creepy and sinister story but this isn't that at all. It's bombs exploding, car chases, shoot outs, one-liners and totally not my thing. For the first 50% I was entertained but once the action really started to ramp up I'd start losing focus and I skimmed most of the way to the end. However, Barkers writing is top notch and so many people are going to love this. This is a case of it's me not the book. 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for the digital ARC.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Easy read and full of interest throughout the story. I will definitely look up other books by this author. It makes me smile.

If you only read one thriller this year, A Caller's Game is the book you want. Don't think twice about it. This book blew me away in a million different ways. HOLY SHIT!!

Jordan is the host of her show, Overdrive with Jordan Briggs on SirusXM. It's just another normal day until she gets a call from Bernie. Bernie is about to rock her world....literally.

Decisions from Jordans past are catching up to her and she has to choice but to play Bernie games. Bernie wants revenge and has no problem with killing anything in his path to get it. He is twisted with nothing to lose.

Let me tell you, the suspense in this book was absolutely bone chilling! It was so deep in my bones, I was afraid to read the next paragraph, let alone the next chapter. Expect to take hit after hit without ever seeing the punches coming your way. My breath was nonexistent throughout most of this book.

The action is nonstop from the second you start reading. Clear your schedules because I promise you, you will not put this book down.

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of this author ever since reading The Fourth Monkey. I have and will continue to read anything and everything J.D. Barker writes....no blurb required. If you are new to this author, buckle up and welcome to the club. If your a fan already, I know you are going to love this book. It's absolutely phenomenal!!!

J.D. Barker....I hope you and your family stay happy and healthy! Thank you for taking us away from reality for a little while, even if it's to another twisted reality, I'll choose yours any day. ;o)

Many thanks to J.D. Barker, the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy. You all made my year!