Never Look Back
A Novel
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4.0 • 9 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
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?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this uneven thriller from Edgar finalist Gaylin (If I Die Tonight), Quentin Garrison, the interviewer for Closure, an L.A.-based podcast on the ongoing impact of murder, knows too well the lasting damage of a brutal crime. His mother's younger sister was shot to death in 1976 at age four by teen killers April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy. In an effort to resolve his own pain, Quentin interviews his estranged grandfather about the shooting, setting into motion events that result in the death of a man in New York. Quentin begins to suspect that April may still be alive and leading a quiet life in suburbia. He confronts April's daughter, columnist Robin Diamond, with his suspicions, causing them both to question just how well they know the ones they love. Despite a gripping beginning that combines the crimes of the past with the best and worst of present-day mass media instant exposure, fame, and trolls the plot eventually falters under the weight of its own twists. Hopefully, Gaylin will return to form next time.
