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Dry Run #1
Dry Run
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, blond-haired teenager wanders into Joe’s world and challenges him at every turn.
Sheltered, lonely Devin didn’t know his whiteness made him rare. He ventured into the city to escape starvation, but he never imagined he’d have to depend on a guy like Joe.
As Joe trains and protects Devin, their tentative steps toward friendship leave Joe questioning his priorities. Hounded by a cruel employer and vengeful co-workers, concerned for Devin’s innocence, Joe struggles to maintain the carefully crafted illusion he’s built for himself.
When tragedy strikes and a young life hangs in the balance, Joe and Devin are forced to decide once and for all the kind of men they want to be.
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, blond-haired teenager wanders into Joe’s world and challenges him at every turn.
Sheltered, lonely Devin didn’t know his whiteness made him rare. He ventured into the city to escape starvation, but he never imagined he’d have to depend on a guy like Joe.
As Joe trains and protects Devin, their tentative steps toward friendship leave Joe questioning his priorities. Hounded by a cruel employer and vengeful co-workers, concerned for Devin’s innocence, Joe struggles to maintain the carefully crafted illusion he’s built for himself.
When tragedy strikes and a young life hangs in the balance, Joe and Devin are forced to decide once and for all the kind of men they want to be.
248 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2018
About the author
Lolly Walter
3 books14 followersI 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.
Grammar snobs, wonky journalists, and the Chicago Cubs make my heart beat faster. I live outside Austin, Texas with my husband and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 24, 2018
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.
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.
July 16, 2018
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 years until he came to work at Flights of Fantasy, it was never what he wanted, but Joe has made himself the best runner in the company. The company offers sexual tourism where most of the clients want to be led on an actual run of varying difficulty before they dominate the runner. Joe has been used by countless clients and he tries as best he can to leave those memories out in the field. Joe has also become the leader of the runners and in order to protect the others or to get them perks, he sacrifices himself again and again to the boss. I had some issues with getting a feel for the company they worked for. It’s never gone into why so many clients literally want to run full out on a chase for an extended period of time before dominating the runners. I could see it as a kink for a few people, but that everyone wants to run and the runners condition themselves for endurance got lost somewhere for me.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
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 years until he came to work at Flights of Fantasy, it was never what he wanted, but Joe has made himself the best runner in the company. The company offers sexual tourism where most of the clients want to be led on an actual run of varying difficulty before they dominate the runner. Joe has been used by countless clients and he tries as best he can to leave those memories out in the field. Joe has also become the leader of the runners and in order to protect the others or to get them perks, he sacrifices himself again and again to the boss. I had some issues with getting a feel for the company they worked for. It’s never gone into why so many clients literally want to run full out on a chase for an extended period of time before dominating the runners. I could see it as a kink for a few people, but that everyone wants to run and the runners condition themselves for endurance got lost somewhere for me.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
June 28, 2018
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 story. This novel moves with unexpected speed. Dry Run is anything but dry, and it will run away with your heart.
July 15, 2018
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.
December 13, 2020
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. I wish this was a bigger plot point instead of somehow going unnoticed from hate/fear to love and lust. It felt lost within the bigger plot, which is okay, but I personally would have preferred there be more character growth visibly happening, with Devin struggling and then overcoming his demons to be himself.
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. I wish this was a bigger plot point instead of somehow going unnoticed from hate/fear to love and lust. It felt lost within the bigger plot, which is okay, but I personally would have preferred there be more character growth visibly happening, with Devin struggling and then overcoming his demons to be himself.
July 23, 2021
The writing is top tier! The author has a way of telling a story that’s euphoric and keeps you locked in from start to finish! Such a great easy read too! Can’t wait to read the second book in the series!
July 24, 2018
this was amazing.. a page turner.. fast paced and so much fun to read. i loved it.. and it was wonderful
January 6, 2019
Great book
Nice dystopia kind of messed up escape, ran on a bit here and there. Not too severe, nice gay romance
Nice dystopia kind of messed up escape, ran on a bit here and there. Not too severe, nice gay romance
January 29, 2025
Quick synopsis
: Rape, sex, violence, incest, sex, racism, assault, sex, rape, abuse, and sex, all set in a post-apocalyptic Austin, Texas.
Brief opinion : I was completely the wrong reader for this book. I'm not really interested in detailed sex in my stories, and this book had so much sex you could nearly smell it on every page.
Plot : Set in a post-environmental disaster world (which is what all the cool post-apocalyptic books are doing nowadays), America is now mostly just the northern states. The southern ones are too hot, so all the rich, white people have moved north.
Flights of Fantasy allows those rich people to travel south and live out their sexual fantasies... assuming those fantasies are to run for multiple hours followed by raping a minor.
Joe is the best (A+) runner/prostitute in Flights of Fantasy. When Devin (the only white guy left in the southern states) ends up on the company's doorstep, the two are paired up by the boss. (Because Devin is white, he's automatically an A+ level price for rape...)
Slowly Joe and Devin become friends, and by a third of the way into the story they're in love. While that's going on, twice a day they have to run and be raped.
Other non-sexual assault plot stuff happens in the last third of the book, but it's mostly just so Joe and Devin can have relationship drama and more sex/longing.
Writing/editing : For a self-published book, the editing was excellent. Though I skimmed about a third of the book, in what I read I didn't spot one typo or editing issue. (This book lists a publisher, but as usual it's just the self-published author making up a company to try to pass as not self-published.)
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I did not at all understand how the Flights of Fantasy customers, many of whom were described as old or overweight (one had a "withered old dick" and another was described as "ponderous"), wanted to run for multiple hours before getting to their rape fun. Sure they might want to play out scenes like "catch the thief" or something, but to run for one, two, three, four hours first? I just didn't buy it at all.
I did like how the author dealt with race. The issues were realistic and the author handled them in an adult, believable way.
As mentioned, I'm not interested in detailed sex in my stories ("fade to black" is A-OK with me), and this book was just swimming in sex. Anywhere something sexual could be shoehorned in, any inclusion of dicks or balls, the author did:
The unnaturally cold air in Bogg's office pebbled Joe's skin, tightened his nipples and balls.
All this might sound more negative than I intend it to. If I had had this book 30 years ago, I probably would have drooled over it. Especially for a first book, the author wrote well, I was just the wrong reader for Dry Run.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️ ½ - Disliked, I'll round up to "okay" on Goodreads. I struggled with the rating here, "how I feel about the book" vs "how the book was written". This was a bad book for me, but this was not a bad book in general.
Book 2 is already out, but I won't be picking it up. Heck, I don't even know how I got this one, it's been on my Kindle for years. [Edit: Ah ha! It was free to download for a weekend in 2020, that's probably how I got it. It's so rare for me to actually track down how a book I don't usually read got onto my Kindle.]
Brief opinion : I was completely the wrong reader for this book. I'm not really interested in detailed sex in my stories, and this book had so much sex you could nearly smell it on every page.
Plot : Set in a post-environmental disaster world (which is what all the cool post-apocalyptic books are doing nowadays), America is now mostly just the northern states. The southern ones are too hot, so all the rich, white people have moved north.
Flights of Fantasy allows those rich people to travel south and live out their sexual fantasies... assuming those fantasies are to run for multiple hours followed by raping a minor.
Joe is the best (A+) runner/prostitute in Flights of Fantasy. When Devin (the only white guy left in the southern states) ends up on the company's doorstep, the two are paired up by the boss. (Because Devin is white, he's automatically an A+ level price for rape...)
Slowly Joe and Devin become friends, and by a third of the way into the story they're in love. While that's going on, twice a day they have to run and be raped.
Other non-sexual assault plot stuff happens in the last third of the book, but it's mostly just so Joe and Devin can have relationship drama and more sex/longing.
Writing/editing : For a self-published book, the editing was excellent. Though I skimmed about a third of the book, in what I read I didn't spot one typo or editing issue. (This book lists a publisher, but as usual it's just the self-published author making up a company to try to pass as not self-published.)
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I did not at all understand how the Flights of Fantasy customers, many of whom were described as old or overweight (one had a "withered old dick" and another was described as "ponderous"), wanted to run for multiple hours before getting to their rape fun. Sure they might want to play out scenes like "catch the thief" or something, but to run for one, two, three, four hours first? I just didn't buy it at all.
I did like how the author dealt with race. The issues were realistic and the author handled them in an adult, believable way.
As mentioned, I'm not interested in detailed sex in my stories ("fade to black" is A-OK with me), and this book was just swimming in sex. Anywhere something sexual could be shoehorned in, any inclusion of dicks or balls, the author did:
The unnaturally cold air in Bogg's office pebbled Joe's skin, tightened his nipples and balls.
All this might sound more negative than I intend it to. If I had had this book 30 years ago, I probably would have drooled over it. Especially for a first book, the author wrote well, I was just the wrong reader for Dry Run.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️ ½ - Disliked, I'll round up to "okay" on Goodreads. I struggled with the rating here, "how I feel about the book" vs "how the book was written". This was a bad book for me, but this was not a bad book in general.
Book 2 is already out, but I won't be picking it up. Heck, I don't even know how I got this one, it's been on my Kindle for years. [Edit: Ah ha! It was free to download for a weekend in 2020, that's probably how I got it. It's so rare for me to actually track down how a book I don't usually read got onto my Kindle.]
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews