DREGS is the powerful story of what happens when adolescent emotions boil over into violence. Benson and Ryan are two 7th graders who decide to write for their Publications class about what makes some teenagers popular. The boys consider themselves the “dregs” in the junior high school social structure and hope to make other students aware of how the unpopular students feel, while pointing out that being popular doesn’t make anyone immune to backstabbing. Unfortunately, before they have done more than a few interviews, one of the students who was interviewed is involved in a fight. Benson secretly is afraid that his interview questions, and jabs, are responsible for the ensuing violence. Before it is all over, tragedy strikes the school and no one is left untouched.
     Grabbing the reader on the very first page, author Barri Bumgarner uses realistic dialogue and narrative, as well as the words of the young characters in journal entries and notes, to tell the frightening—and all too real—account of what happens in a junior high school when a student is consumed and overwhelmed by his anger. The characters and setting are authentic, creating a story that is compelling. The young adult reader will feel the pain and emotions of the characters as well as the intense fear that everyone experiences as violence erupts in the school. This is an outstanding young adult novel that will stay with the reader long after the last page is read!

      Dregs by Barri Bumgarner is a well crafted, fast-paced novel that everyone should read. It tells the story of cliques, false popularity, peer pressure, and the over-importance of sports in junior and senior high schools that can lead to fatal shootings.
      Having taught in the public schools Bumgarner knows what she writes about. I’m guessing that she is the model for Mrs. Mattingly, the favorite teacher in the novel.
      Benson, a seventh grader who likes school, not only has to follow his popular, athletic older brother, but is largely ignored by his very busy and successful parents who dote on his brother. He must endure the snubs and slurs of classmates because, though good at both, he likes academic work better than sports.
      He and his best friend work on a project for communications class to interview students to see what makes a teenager popular and who made the rules. Whether the project initiated it or not, events in Benson’s junior high school escalate to a school shooting.
      Perhaps the best thing about this book, is that the protagonist did not join the popular kids in the end, though he could have. He kept his own self-worth and ideals without becoming part of the “popular,” sports-minded group of jocks and cheerleaders. Most portrayals of teens, whether in books or movies, end up with the protagonist giving in to the pressure. From my own experience and through my own teaching, some students do have enough self-worth to stick to their ideals, even though peers, teachers, parents, and the public push them into conforming.
      The novel shows that the kids aren’t the problem. Society is. Schools are for academics, yet those who excel there are often belittled, ostracized, and punished—unless they also happen to be good athletes.
      Everyone should read this book. Something must be done.

     Barri Bumgarner’s novel Dregs is a story right from today’s headlines. Younger readers will recognize the happy times and the painful events Bumgarner writes about. For older readers, it brings back the sometimes unwanted reminders of the teen years. Who reading this didn’t have one or two times during their teen years when they just didn’t fit in?
     Ryan and Benson are two seventh grade boys at Westwood High School. Neither boy fits in…Ryan because of his nerdy appearance and high I.Q., and Benson, who is rebelling against the expectations of being the clone of an older brother who is just too dang good at everything.
     Ryan uses humor to gloss over his feeling of being a square peg in a school full of round holes, or round-hole wanna-bes, and it’s Ryan who comes up with the name “Dregs” for those who just don’t quite fit at any of the socially branded tables in the school lunch-room.
     For their Publications class, Ryan and Benson are assigned the task of interviewing some of Westwood’s students. Benson sees it as a chance to excel at something his older brother, Chris, had never done before. Ryan just thinks it would be fun to jerk some chains. This is their chance to let the world know everyone is an equal, even at Westwood, and that having the right clothes or dating the quarterback did not make you better then someone else.
     The two boys set out to ask some tough questions. If you weren’t a cheerleader, would you still be liked? If you got hurt and couldn’t play football, would you still have all the same friends? Simple questions…meant to open some eyes…but when the wrong person is forced to find out the answers…the repercussions are more than the two boys ever dreamed of.
     Bumgarner’s story is gripping, even shocking. She’s not afraid to touch on some tough subjects – drugs, abuse and even rape. But Dregs does show that even the smallest steps taken to encourage free-thinking can bring about life-altering events.
     I highly recommend this book. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

An Enjoyable Piece Of Literature On Many Levels! Highly Recommended

     Recently I have been taking a break from reviewing books to focus on other obligations. In the past I’ve read and reviewed Bumgarner’s 8 Days and I am familiar with her writing style. Slipping is the first book I have reviewed in over 6 months and I can see that Bumgarner’s writing skills have advanced to the next level. This book and possibly everything from Barri is and will be winners!

     The author gets into the head of the “Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde” character of Seth Berman. He seems like the typical “9 to 5” banker and when a series of murders are committed in the area, he is not the typical suspect. However, when his alter-ego; named Zeus; scratches to the surface - the results are rarely pleasant. We see that Zeus is not satisfied with his dual residency with Seth Berman and he wants to get out!

     In this multiple personality thriller, a tenacious cop named Dana Scanlon is determined to solve the murders that have been committed. When Scanlon focuses on Seth/Zeus; she latches on like a ferocious wolverine and her desire to catch her perpetrator rivals Zeus’s desire to kill. As she closes in on the perpetrator, your heart will race!

     This is an exciting thrill ride from page one to the exciting climax and unexpected ending. Slipping is an enjoyable piece of literature on many levels and a book that you don’t want to miss!

     In what will become as popular of a book as any written by Dean Koontz, Barri Bumgarner has masterfully crafted a unique murder-thriller in "Slipping."

     Seth Berman is an average, stale banker by day, but his night job has a community in fear of everyone and one investigator, Danna Scanlon, searching for the truth. Upon learning that Berman's alter-ego, Zeus, is behind a series of murders, a race begins to wrestle the murderer to justice, while questioning how something like this could happen to one human being.

     Berman's character is not a study of the human psyche as much as it is an imaginative piece of fiction. Regular psychology is as boring as being a banker, but Bumgarner spices up this character through insight and understanding what makes a reader's skin crawl.

     As for the lead female character, Bumgarner turns the age-old art of nagging into an artform, as Scanlon is relentless. She serves as the reasoning behind the madness through intelligence and sheer desire.

     Anybody who wants to own a classic now should buy "Slipping." It blows anything John Grisham has ever done and Koontz is clearly in Bumgarner's sights as the next to fall. Remember the name Bumgarner and get her autograph now!

Merriam-Webster defines, slipping as:

1: to escape from memory or consciousness
     (a): to become uttered through inadvertence
     (b) : to pass quickly or easily away : become lost
2 : to fall into error or fault : LAPSE
3 : to slide out of place or away from a support or one's grasp
     (a) : to slide on or down a slippery surface
     (b): to flow smoothly

     In Barri Bumgarner's new novel of suspense, Slipping, it means even more to Seth Berman, for when he slips, he loses hours, days, even weeks and those unlucky enough to come into contact with his alternate personality, Zeus, lose their lifes.

     Seth's way of coping with early abuse was to slip away and let one of the others inside his head emerge. In adulthood he has become more in control, but in times of stress, he again slides away, down a slippery surface, deeper into his mind, into safety. As Slipping opens, he views a scene that opens the door to the emergence of Zeus. Here are few lines from the opening.

     Seth can't hold out and we the reader are first introduced to Zeus, the bullying alter-ego who cares about nothing but his own pleasure and needs.

     There are others inside Seth's head, all there to do their part to help him surive; Bonnie, Scottie, Cade, and Twister, but Zeus for the most part is the strongest and by far the deadliest. And it is with Zeus that Detective Danna Scanlon deals.

     Danna has her own demons, but nothing compared to the ones Seth battles.

     Ms. Bumgarner's Slipping is not a lighthearted read. Some parts will have goosbumps marching up your neck. Yet, it's a book you won't want to put down until you reach the startling end. Go ahead, pick it up and enter the mind of Seth Berman. I dare you.

Barbara M. Hodges
Author of The Daradawn Series

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      Barri Bumgarner's second novel, Slipping, is set in the mind of Seth, a generic bank manager for 9/10ths of his life until his other personalities take over. And his second personality out of many just happens to be a serial killer.

     Slipping is a knuckle biting, eyes wide-open trip through Seth's brain…and the other people who inhabit it. We sympathize with the heroine, Danna, who is trying to both figure Seth out and capture him without another death. She is a cross between Clarice Starling and Stephanie Plum…and she is devastatingly too attractive to Seth's better half, the psychotic serial killer Zeus.

     This book takes the reader on a ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. True psychological thriller fans will relish this gripping journey - it is not for the faint of heart.

      Barri Bumgarner has done it again! Following her splendid "Armageddon outta here" novel, "8 Days", she returns with "Slipping", published by Tigress Press, LLC and dedicated to the proposition that it's bad enough to have multiple personalities. Worse, if one of them is a serial killer. We meet Seth Berman, boring banker, and man with a secret: Lurking inside him is the truly nasty Zeus, an alter ego with the goal of seriously altering Seth's ego, not to mention the bodies of anybody who gets in his way. And they're not alone. There's a real party going on in there as you fly over this cuckoo's nest.

     Enter Danna Scanlon, cop-who-just-won't-go-away (let's hope Barri keeps Danna around for a few more books). Danna tangles with Seth/Zeus and the rest of the menagerie, right up to a gut-wrenching climax.

     It makes for a taut read from a rising star of the thriller. Remember the name: Barri Bumgarner.

     Slipping is impeccable. The story puts us flawlessly inside the hearts and minds of its characters while giving us a seamless view of the events that unfold. Can a cop read this book and like it, believe it? Can an avid reader be compelled to pick this up and read, until it's done? And is the ending worth it? All, without question, yes. Slipping is the welcome addition to Barri Bumgarner's repertoire. It is the book that should not be missed. In the vast realm of cop books, this one is well worth it.

      Bumgarner has spun a compelling tale which you know couldn't happen, except for the headlines you read which say, yes, maybe it could. Against overwhelming odds, from mass car wrecks to bodies-bodies everywhere, and those mass killers lurking about, these survivors are post-holocaust Everymen forging a new, tentative yet optimistic society.

     8 Days itself cries out for a screenplay. I'd certainly like to see a finished product. Several times.

     I like 8 Days. Partially because I've always had a soft spot for science fiction thrillers, which this is in spades. Partially, it's because I care about these characters, from hoping Scooter the dog gets by, to hoping Tony gets his. But mostly I like 8 Days because it offers hope, 200 proof, straight up. I think you'll like it, too. Unless you're a racist skinhead with delusions of adequacy. In which case you can always root for the Caged 3.

     What I know is that 8 Days gave me chills and made me eager to read The Movement.

Jim Bohannon     
The Jim Bohannon Show     
Westwood One Radio Show Host     

      Barri Bumgarner's 8 Days disturbed me. It kept me up nights and made me wonder why new writers embrace such a zeal for the twisted. Her characterization, dialogue and fast-paced plot are some of the best I've read. She is a credit to the craft and has the talent for a long career. I think I will soon be seeing her name on the New York Time's Bestseller List.

Patricia Browning Griffith,     
author of Around the World At Midnight and Supporting the Sky      

      Frightening and compelling, 8 Days is hard to put down. Barri's attention to detail draws you deep into each character and location following a bizarre terror attack. Barri's explicit images of the aftermath are disturbing, but it's also her creativity and intensity that gave me an odd sense of comfort, as if I too had been welcomed into her diverse collection of survivors. Their adventure is both daunting and optimistic.

Sarah Hunter     
KPLA Morning Show DJ      

      8 Days is a journal documenting a period of eight days following the release of a deadly gas called X-86. Billions of people from all over the planet are affected by this deadly gas, most of them die but a select few survive. The survivors experience enhanced ESP capabilities as they are forced to watch friends, families and loved ones perish. Most of them wonder why they were spared this same fate, but in the meantime a massive effort has begun to assemble the survivors in one place to determine the future of what remains of humanity.

      We experience stories from different states in which we read about mad men and women roaming the streets while survivors avoid them. We read about small children losing parents, husbands and wives widowed as a result of this gas and men in power with plans to exploit this tragedy for their own personal gains. One by one these individual stories become one story with diverse roles played out to a remarkable conclusion.

     8 Days is written in an aggressive, truthful and shocking style. When you read these pages you live out nightmares that few of us ever want to experience. You are taken to emotional lows with your characters and you begin to hope that they rebuild their lives as the ones responsible receive their just punishment. From page one I found myself captivated by this book. The mental images of children forced to grow up too fast as they struggle to survive intertwine with images of people killing their loved ones in an act of violence or mercy.

     This book has it all and its honesty and truth are brutal - but these aspects of this novel make the book the work of literary excellence. Ms. Bumgarner is indeed an exemplary writer, and she is writing a prequel to 8 Days. This book is a "must read" in every aspect!

Tyrone Vincent Banks     
Book Reviewer/Freelancer      
Washington Post/NY Times     

      In the darkest hours of planet Earth, Barri Bumgarner captures the essence of fear without forgetting the human spirit. "8 Days" is more then a science fiction novel about the world coming to an end. It is more of an awakening of the mind, spirit and soul. Not since Ray Bradbury has somebody come along and contributed a new twist to science fiction. Bumgarner does to science fiction what Dan Brown has done to the suspense novel, taking it to a whole new level of human emotion and angst without forgetting we are all human and reminding us how we will persevere.

Kurt Jarvis, Editor     
Louisiana Press-Journal     

      I was enthralled by the radio communications that brought people together in 8 Days. The excitement just kept building - just like it did when Bumgarner joined me on my KRMS 411 Radio Show, and at my book club. Young and old alike - were all enthralled with 8 Days and with Barri.

Jan Berry      
Berry Best Book Club      

     Bumgarner writes in a tense, tight style that keeps the reader involved from the first page. The scary thing is knowing that this event or something similar could actually happen. 8 Days needs to be on your summer reading list!

Linda Jarrett      
Reviewer, Webster Kirkwood Times     

     "Bumgarner has created very real people reacting to a surreal situation - a definite page-turner! I look forward to reading future novels from this natural, and very talented, storyteller."

Karen Heywood, Feature Writer     
Inside Columbia      

     Barri Bumgarner has written a complex account of a possible future that is both frightening and hopeful. No one who reads this book will be untouched by the emotions evoked by the splendid story line and characterizations. This is an outstanding first novel!

Jan Summer, Media Specialist      
Columbia Public Schools      

     Barri Bumgarner's 8 Days has generous attention to detail, exquisitely developed characters, and non-stop roller coaster action. I was enthralled…it has elements of science fiction, action, romance, but also deals with many contemporary modern issues, from family structure and societal upheaval to mob mentality and humanity in the aftermath of a global tragedy.

Helen Cope, Teacher      
University of Missouri-Columbia Liaison      

     8 Days was an absolute thriller. It involved you emotionally with the characters. I am impressed that this is the first book published by this author, as it appears to be so advanced in its structure and story. The story brings into reality the depth of destruction that could truly happen in our world along with the reality of how we possess such powers to do so. This story is riveting in its display of characters and structure of the actual storyline. What an impressive read.

Jean Selby      
Administrative Assistant