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Dry Run

( Dry Run #1)

Lolly Walter (Goodreads Author)

4.29 · Rating details · 34 ratings · 8 reviews

Survival requires sacrifice.

In climate-ravaged Texas Territory, kids don’t live long enough to become adults. Joe has beaten the odds — at the price of his body and soul. For years, the smart, resourceful nineteen-year-old has been the star runner at sex tourism hotspot Flights of Fantasy. But he dreams of leaving Texas — and everyone in it — far behind.

Then a blue-eyed, b ...more

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Paperback, 248 pages

Published June 19th 2018 by Awl Collaborative Press

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· 34 ratings · 8 reviews

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Jul 16, 2018 Joyfully Jay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: michelle

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.75 stars

Dry Run is an action-filled book set in a dystopian world. It’s clear from the start that the world has changed and the characters here have a bleak existence.
Joe lives in the south. He has one main reason for wanting to go north, but there are many issues that he faces living in the south and he wants out. Although he knows it would be dangerous for him to attempt to head north, he truly wants to leave his life as a prostitute behind. He was on the streets for y ...more

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Jun 24, 2018 Sara (BookshelfSOS) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: queer-fiction, science-fiction, favorites, books-i-own

This book is like Westworld meets Holes, and I’m 100% on board with that.

Joe works for a sex tourism company that offers to fly in rich tourists and fulfill their weird, forbidden fantasies. For some reason, a lot of those fantasies involve long, elaborate foot chases. Like, seriously. They run for miles before they “get caught” and the john gets to act out the rest of the fantasy. Not anything like my idea of a good time, but ok sure.

Almost immediately, Joe ends up being assigned to train De This book is like Westworld meets Holes, and I’m 100% on board with that.

Joe works for a sex tourism company that offers to fly in rich tourists and fulfill their weird, forbidden fantasies. For some reason, a lot of those fantasies involve long, elaborate foot chases. Like, seriously. They run for miles before they “get caught” and the john gets to act out the rest of the fantasy. Not anything like my idea of a good time, but ok sure.

Almost immediately, Joe ends up being assigned to train Devin, a new guy who is also a novelty for being one of a very small number of white people who live in the city. The racial dynamics of the story are really integral to the plot, and it comes into play right off the bat. More about that in a minute. Devin comes across as surly and kind of a jerk at first, but given the harsh world they're living in and some things that we find out about his upbringing, it actually is pretty understandable.

The main romantic pairing of the story had a sense of inevitability right from the get go, but I still really enjoyed the chemistry between the duo and their falling in love story. And it might seem silly but I really appreciated seeing an older, more experienced, more confident character who is shorter and smaller than his partner. Short people ftw!

Which brings me to Joe. The best parts about this book were the two main characters, but my heart was especially drawn to Joe for so many reasons. He is my most beloved archetype: tragic, hard-working, competent, traumatized, loving, determined. I could go on, but I'll just sum it up by saying that Joe is awesome and I adore him.

This book is probably considered “New Adult”. It fits into that weird gray area where it's still about teenagers, but the content is more mature than typical YA. And it really is more mature. There is quite a bit of dub-con and non-consensual activity, both in discussion and in the action of the story. At first I was wondering why the author didn't just age up the characters a bit, but it turns out that there is a plot-based (and heartbreaking) reason why they're all relatively young.

I can't write a complete review without mentioning the issue of race, which is prominent in the story. I really liked that almost all of the characters that we get to know, with many different personalities and motivations, are not white. I think the author deals with the race issues sensitively, at one point directly addressing that “whiteness” is a cultural construct and you can't just tell by looking at someone what ethnicity they are. However, I'm white and the author is also white so I will leave it up to those whose experiences are being represented to say whether this portrayal feels fair or not. I just wanted to acknowledge that it comes up and features pretty prominently in this book. It does feel timely, given what is going on in the country right now.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Dry Run, pretty much from beginning to end. Was it perfect? Not perfect, no. But it was so heartfelt, so binge-able, so emotionally complicated, and pushed so many of my personal buttons that I have to give it five stars. I’m positive that I’ll be rereading this one, and I’m absolutely going to be reading the sequel. Which, delightfully, will also be released this year. ...more

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Jun 28, 2018 Pamela rated it it was amazing

I read Dry Run in a single day. An earlier review called it binge-able, and I agree. It’s also steamy, suspenseful, tender, broadminded, and openhearted. I’m impressed by the way the the author Lolly Walter creates a story that moves along at a steady clip, while also including difficult subjects like prostitution, racism, rape, coercion, gayness, cruelty, and the sacrifices we make to survive. Walter somehow weaves in complex themes without dragging the pace or snagging the momentum of the stor ...more

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Jul 15, 2018 Amber rated it it was amazing

I recommend reading this book having no idea what it is about. Why? Because the author masterly unfolds the plot and it is a joy to be surprised that many times. Binge worthy read.

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Oct 28, 2020 H.L. Moore rated it really liked it

Shelves: qri-reviews

In a not-too-distant future where the climate has wreaked havoc, it's everyone for themselves. Joe, nineteen but wise beyond his years, is a survivor and the de-facto leader of the employees at Flights of Fantasy, a sex tourism company where rich white tourists from the north pay for an exclusive service. Joe is the top-rated "runner" alongside his partner Bea. But when a new recruit arrives, Joe is shocked - Devin is blond, blue-eyed, and absolutely gorgeous, and Joe sees Devin as his ticket to In a not-too-distant future where the climate has wreaked havoc, it's everyone for themselves. Joe, nineteen but wise beyond his years, is a survivor and the de-facto leader of the employees at Flights of Fantasy, a sex tourism company where rich white tourists from the north pay for an exclusive service. Joe is the top-rated "runner" alongside his partner Bea. But when a new recruit arrives, Joe is shocked - Devin is blond, blue-eyed, and absolutely gorgeous, and Joe sees Devin as his ticket to eventual freedom. As he trains Devin, he finds himself bonding with him - and falling for him. But this new partnership has come at a cost, and the once-close family of the Flights of Fantasy employees begins to fracture when jealousy, secrets and tragedy strike.

Dry Run is an action/dystopia, set in a bleak climate-changed future where racial tensions have fractured America. How this happened and when it happened are left ambiguous, and the revelation of this small snap-shot of the world's state is handled very well through steady revelations weaved naturally into the narrative.

We're first introduced to Joe, the top runner and prostitute at Flights of Fantasy, a sex tourism company. Joe is only nineteen, but this isn't a YA novel - as a young man who had spent years on the streets and has been exposed to the worst humanity has to offer, Joe is no innocent. He has made himself the most exclusive service on offer to the tourists, but this has come at the cost of sacrificing himself to the cruel and despicable boss, Boggs. Joe is determined to escape this life one day, to go north and find his father - and he sees his chance to do so when a new employee, Devin, is brought on board.

Joe is the voice and driving force of the book. Already fast-paced, with action and characters well-built into the plot, Joe's third-person narration is deeply engaging and makes for a compelling read. He's a layered protagonist with understandable motives. He is both selfless and, in a brave choice by the author, incredibly selfish; early in the book, he ruthlessly ditches his running partner Bea, whose circumstances I couldn't help but ache for. Bea is a superb side-character; her pain and her anger was visceral and understandable, and I wished we'd seen far more of her. It would have been easy to hate Joe for his decision and the fallout of it, but the author still manages to make me care about Joe despite his actions. And oh, boy, are there consequences for his actions.

Devin, Joe's love interest, is a decent character as well, though I felt was less developed than Joe. A sheltered white boy with internalised homophobia, Devin undergoes his own arc, which despite me finding it a little too easy (particularly the swift build of Joe's and Devin's relationship from work partners to friends to lovers) was still well-written and made me care for him as well.

The book deals with racial conflicts and issues that will no doubt make some readers uncomfortable. Whiteness is valued as a selling point for the prostitutes, who are sold to the rich white New American tourists from the north. Only Devin, and the company's boss Boggs, are white, and the book seems to use the set-up as a commentary on the harmful nature of white nationalism and white beauty standards. While interesting, I did not feel that this commentary was a strength of the book, but rather a distraction from the characters and plot. I also struggled to wrap my head around the structure of the company Flights of Fantasy and why such a niche in kinks was such a draw for sex tourism - but sometimes, one just has to suspend their disbelief to sit back and enjoy the narrative.

Dry Run is only the first book in Joe's and Devin's story. Despite my issues with the worldbuilding and the sidelining of female characters, and the fact that almost every character is in love with Joe (he's great, but come on!), Dry Run is a satisfying read on its own. There is plenty left ambiguous for the challenging journey ahead of Joe and Devin, which will no doubt be explored in the sequel, Flanked. If you are looking for a fast-paced m/m romance set in a dystopian world with compelling characters, give Dry Run a go. ...more

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Dec 13, 2020 Kou Namiya rated it really liked it

I enjoyed that this book was quite dark and mature themed, with a lot of terrible things happening or being hinted at. The characters are likable and well fleshed out, as is the world, even if we get barely a glimpse of the rest of the world, outside of the deserted south where rich northerners apparently go for kinky sex tourism now.
Really, my only problem is that I didn't feel Devin's change from acting like a stuck up homophobe to admitting himself being gay and allowing himself to love a man ...more

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Jul 24, 2018 Kaila rated it it was amazing

this was amazing.. a page turner.. fast paced and so much fun to read. i loved it.. and it was wonderful

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Jan 05, 2019 George rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great book

Nice dystopia kind of messed up escape, ran on a bit here and there. Not too severe, nice gay romance

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About Lolly Walter

Lolly Walter

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I love writing about smart characters in tough situations. Dry Run, my debut novel, is available now, and the sequel, Flanked, is due out this fall.

Grammar snobs, wonky journalists, and the Chicago Cubs make my heart beat faster. I live outside Austin, Texas with my husband and three children.