Layover

Layover by David      Bell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
This book sounded intriguing, so I definitely wanted to give it a try. In it, a young man named Joshua, who is constantly traveling for his job, has a chance encounter with a mysterious woman in an airport. Although their time together is very short, Joshua decides to abandon his travel plans and try to follow her. Along the way Joshua discovers that this woman is tangled up in a disappearance, a theft, corporate intrigue, and possibly murder. If he can find her, then he believes he can help her, if only she will let him.
While I found this to be a quick, easy, and enjoyable read, I did have one big problem with the book. And that problem happened right off the bat. The whole book is constructed upon the fact that Joshua feels this undeniable connection to this woman, Morgan, which he cannot ignore. On the basis of this connection he decided to disregard his work and family obligations in order to find this woman and try to build on that. As the reader I, however, found this relationship between Joshua and Morgan to be extremely flimsy. The encountered each other VERY briefly at a gift shop, and then shared a couple of drinks at an airport bar. So, in my mind at least, they probably spent all of 45 minutes together, tops (I felt like it was more like 20 minutes). And then the reader has to believe that after this short time Joshua decides to change his flight, leave his father hanging with a very important business meeting, book a new flight that he **hopes** Morgan might be on, and then makes a fool of himself when he does manage to find her. And the whole rest of the book is just Joshua chasing Morgan around, trying to get her to let him help her.
Which leads me to my other problem with the book. Morgan did not want or need Joshua's help, and she made that very clear to him, on several occasions. She was constantly leaving him, running away from him, being rude towards him, lying to him, and trying to get him to leave her alone. If the reader is supposed to "take Joshua's side" in all of this, Morgan's actions make her seem unlikable, untrustworthy, and undeserving of his friendship and loyalty. If the reader is supposed to "take Morgan's side," her actions make Joshua look like an obsessed and stalker-like creep. So I was not really sure what to think about either one of the main characters.
The plot pacing could have been better as well. There was a big confrontation with a lot of tension and suspense, and I thought to myself, "Well, that was quick, but it's okay, this is exciting." I thought it was the big climax of the story. Then I looked and I was only about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through the book. So then I had a sense of being let-down.
If I overlooked the fact that I did not believe Joshua had any reason to go gallivanting all over Tennessee and Kentucky chasing an ungrateful woman he'd spent about 30 minutes with, and that the same woman was an unsympathetic and unlikable character, then the book was okay. Ironically, at two different times in the book Joshua talks about picking up a mindless suspense/thriller novel in airport gift shops that he can read without much thought or effort. This book falls into that category, as well. If you want a quick easy read to while-away some time while waiting an an airport or doctor's office, then this book is for you.


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