There are books you read.

There are books you devour.

Then, there are books that devour you. The ones that you can’t put down even when you do, characters and scenes so vivid your mind can’t focus on anything else. You can’t wait to open that cover again. Sneak in a chapter in the bathroom at work. Sneak in a page waiting for a red light, only putting it down when the guy behind you shouts obscenities while honking his horn. Sit up until the small hours of the morning, because you’re not going to sleep anyway—not until you’ve read the last page.

Beware! Exposure by Brandilyn Collins is one of those reader-devouring books. You can’t say you weren’t warned.

I downloaded Exposure to my Kindle for iPhone over the weekend, and started reading it analytically—one writer analyzing another writer’s work, looking for things I could learn and add to my craft toolbox. I’m not sure when it happened, but the last analytical thing I recall was not far into the book, commenting to Sharon that some of the chapters were really short. The next thing I knew, I was at Chapter 20 and I could smell the blood. And as much as I didn’t want to, I had to put it down for the night.

Yesterday, I was handed a golden reading opportunity. I had to babysit some tower climbers at one of my sites, and with that iPhone burning a hole through my side, I just had to read a chapter or two. Well, one more won’t hurt. They’re short, right? Somewhere around chapter 50, the crew interrupted me to deliver the data they had been sent up to gather. I dropped the iPhone in my truck’s charger, finished my business with the crew and spent a few minutes compiling the data while it was still fresh. Necessary tasks complete, quarter to five and an hour away from home. Time to hit the road.

A little voice called to me from my iPhone, charging in its cradle on my dashboard. I was in mid-chapter when reality interrupted. I needed to get to the chapter break so I could start clean when my next reading opportunity came.

Riiiiight.

An hour later, I finished the epilogue.

Brandilyn Collins’ “Seatbelt Suspense” branding is thoroughly appropriate. Exposure is a wild ride, full of surprises and multi-layered subtleties. I recall bursting into laughter at one thoroughly-not-funny point, struck by the hilarity of a particular word choice for that situation and the subtle layering that resulted. Exposure is a true suspense story with some dark and gruesome (but not vile and graphic) moments, but it is so much more. While I’m by no means going to reveal how the story ends, I will admit to you that at more than one point in the last couple of chapters I wept. Sitting in the driver’s seat of my big, honkin’ GMC pickup truck. At the bottom of a big, honkin’ radio tower. In the woods. In Jefferson, Arkansas. I’m really glad I had those paper towels with me.

The underlying theme—that comes through in every character in both overt and subtle ways—is the crippling effect of fear in our lives. If you’ve ever struggled with managing your fears (and who of us hasn’t?) you ought to read Exposure by Brandilyn Collins.