Alison Gaylin

Reminiscent of the bestsellers of Laura Lippman and Harlan Coben—with a Serial-esque podcast twist—an absorbing, addictive tale of psychological suspense from the author of the highly acclaimed and Edgar Award-nominated What Remains of Me and the USA Today bestselling and Shamus Award-winning Brenna Spector series. For thirteen days in 1976, teenage murderers April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy terrorized Southern California's Inland Empire, killing a dozen victims before perishing themselves in a fire... or did they? More than 40 years later, twentysomething podcast producer Quentin Garrison blames his troubled upbringing on the murders. And after a shocking message from a source, he has reason to believe April Cooper may still be alive. Meanwhile, New York City film columnist Robin Diamond is coping with rising doubts about her husband and terrifying threats from internet trolls. But that's nothing compared to the outrageous phone call she gets from Quentin... and a brutal home invasion that makes her question everything she ever believed in. Is Robin's beloved mother a mass murderer? Is there anyone she can trust? Told through the eyes of those destroyed by the Inland Empire Killings—including Robin, Quentin, and a fifteen-year-old April Cooper—Never Look Back asks the question: How well do we really know our parents, our partners—and ourselves?

A Novel

Never Look Back

From the Edgar Award-winning author of If I Die Tonight Reminiscent of the bestsellers of Laura Lippman and Harlan Coben—with a Serial-esque podcast twist—an absorbing, addictive tale of psychological suspense from the author of the highly acclaimed and Edgar Award-nominated What Remains of Me and the USA Today bestselling and Shamus Award-winning Brenna Spector series. For thirteen days in 1976, teenage murderers April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy terrorized Southern California's Inland Empire, killing a dozen victims before perishing themselves in a fire... or did they? More than 40 years later, twentysomething podcast producer Quentin Garrison blames his troubled upbringing on the murders. And after a shocking message from a source, he has reason to believe April Cooper may still be alive. Meanwhile, New York City film columnist Robin Diamond is coping with rising doubts about her husband and terrifying threats from internet trolls. But that's nothing compared to the outrageous phone call she gets from Quentin... and a brutal home invasion that makes her question everything she ever believed in. Is Robin's beloved mother a mass murderer? Is there anyone she can trust? Told through the eyes of those destroyed by the Inland Empire Killings—including Robin, Quentin, and a fifteen-year-old April Cooper—Never Look Back asks the question: How well do we really know our parents, our partners—and ourselves?

Lamia Hajani

I felt this one was a little bit drawn out, compared to If I Die Tonight, which I read pretty much in the same week. The story itself is very interesting- is the girl of a serial killer couple actually still alive and not dead in a fire, as presumed? 

The book is interspersed with letters to her future daughter, written by the female serial killer herself. To me, they felt not super interesting. The actual storyline was a bit more interesting, and there were some things I didn't expect but also some that I did.

The beginning is a little bit tough to get through, but the middle and the ending made it worth the read. I would give it a 3.25 stars, rounded down to 3 because Goodreads and because it didn't necessarily wow me.

Jessica 

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Review originally posted here to Booked J. 
   As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for participating in the blog tour/my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way. 


"--you can't move forward without ever looking back."

When I say Never Look Back is brilliant, I'm being a little less descriptive than I'd like to be. As someone who likes thrillers, mysteries and true crime, this novel was an incredible combination of the three. Of course, the events in Never Look Back are fictional, the feelings that Alison Gaylin evokes from her audience are similar to that of reality.

Needless to say, given my own process in writing a true crime novel on the murder of my aunt in the early 90s, I was intrigued by this. Never Look Back had the voices that I find crucial to enjoying a thriller. Not only are the voices strong throughout the course of the central mysteries, the entire plot and investigation is so intricately plotted it's impossible to look away from. Every page is coated in a specific type of tension--at times, it's so tense you can feel it trickling from the pages into your veins.

I found the way the story was told, and unraveled, to be so riveting. Each section, each split in the narration or format, leads us into the plotline. Gaylin's writing is quick and cutting, the perfect prose for thrillers. You get into the story and soon, it gets under your skin, too. I loved feeling like I had no idea about what was going to happen in Never Look Back because it made me feel like I wasn't in control and that's one of the best feelings in the genre.

There's a lot of good to be said about the entire premise of Never Look Back: the idea that we don't ever truly know anyone, not even our families, what it means to look back or to not look back and so on. If you're looking for a mystery with so many twists and turns, you'll likely have literary whiplash, Never Look Back is a total must-read for you.

The writing is on point, the storytelling is completely captivating and the mystery will keep the wheels of your mind turning. I can't recommend it enough!

Never Look Back A Novel

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