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winealittlereadalot's review against another edition
4.0
It's 1976 - April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy go on a killing spree. The teenage couple apparently die in a fire after killing 12 victims, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. But did they really die in a fire?
Now enter Quentin Garrison - a true crime podcast producer who has a personal connection to the murder spree. He receives a tip that April is still alive.
Meanwhile, film columnist Robin Diamond, is trying to deal with Internet trolls and is getting suspicious about her husband's late nights and long "work meetings".
Then Robin receives a call from Quentin questioning her mother's identity and wondering if her mother is really who she says she is. Robin obviously thinks this guy is a lunatic and can't believe he would come out of no where claiming her mother isn't telling Robin the full truth about her life.
But Robin starts to question and poke her nose in places she shouldn't be poking her nose in. She starts to wonder if everything and everyone she's ever known can be trusted.
Wow what a roller coaster! I haven't really seen anyone talk about this book
and I've never heard of this author before, but now that I’ve read this book you can bet I will be reading more by Alison Gaylin! Never Look Back was an excellent read. I flew through this one and couldn’t put it down. I had a lot of fun trying to piece everything together and trying to figure out how all of the characters were connected to the teenage serial killers in this story.
I also enjoyed how the book shifted between Quentin, Robin and April’s perspectives (and a little bit of Summer’s perspective towards the end too). April’s chapters are told in letters she wrote when she was 15 years old.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced, entertaining thriller with well-developed and interesting characters, definitely pick this one up.
Final verdict:
Now enter Quentin Garrison - a true crime podcast producer who has a personal connection to the murder spree. He receives a tip that April is still alive.
Meanwhile, film columnist Robin Diamond, is trying to deal with Internet trolls and is getting suspicious about her husband's late nights and long "work meetings".
Then Robin receives a call from Quentin questioning her mother's identity and wondering if her mother is really who she says she is. Robin obviously thinks this guy is a lunatic and can't believe he would come out of no where claiming her mother isn't telling Robin the full truth about her life.
But Robin starts to question and poke her nose in places she shouldn't be poking her nose in. She starts to wonder if everything and everyone she's ever known can be trusted.
Wow what a roller coaster! I haven't really seen anyone talk about this book
and I've never heard of this author before, but now that I’ve read this book you can bet I will be reading more by Alison Gaylin! Never Look Back was an excellent read. I flew through this one and couldn’t put it down. I had a lot of fun trying to piece everything together and trying to figure out how all of the characters were connected to the teenage serial killers in this story.
I also enjoyed how the book shifted between Quentin, Robin and April’s perspectives (and a little bit of Summer’s perspective towards the end too). April’s chapters are told in letters she wrote when she was 15 years old.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced, entertaining thriller with well-developed and interesting characters, definitely pick this one up.
Final verdict:
t1dmama's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
rmarcin's review against another edition
4.0
April Cooper is forced into a killing spree by her boyfriend, Gabriel LeRoy in 1976. Now, years later, Quentin Garrison attempts to reopen the story in a podcast called “Closure”. Quentin’s mother was a victim of the shooting rampage, because her sister was killed, and she never recovered from the trauma of her parent’s heartache over the death of her sister. As Quentin digs into the past, he finds an link to a woman named Renee Bloom, and reaches out to Renee’s daughter, Robin Diamond.
As he digs into the story, many connections are revealed, and debating events take place. The end is surprising.
This was a carefully crafted novel with many twists.
#NeverLook Back #AlisonGaylin
As he digs into the story, many connections are revealed, and debating events take place. The end is surprising.
This was a carefully crafted novel with many twists.
#NeverLook Back #AlisonGaylin
alexamw's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kellyvandamme's review against another edition
5.0
Boy oh boy, how this one snuck up on me! I became so immersed in this story, so obsessed with the characters, this is a ten-hour audiobook and I flew through it in a few days. I am so very late to the Alison Gaylin party, but believe me, I’m here to stay!
The thirties had Bonnie and Clyde, the seventies had April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy. Depicted in the press as bloodthirsty, gone down in history as the Inland Empire Killers, THE criminal couple of the seventies, April and Gabriel are more than a little infamous. But what do we really know about them? The letters written by April to her future daughter at the age of 15 are completely at odds with how she’s portrayed: a coldblooded killer with a murderous gleam in her eyes. After having read a few of April’s letters I couldn’t help but wonder: what if that gleam was not a sign of murder on the mind, but merely the glint of unshed tears?
Quentin blames April Cooper for his own crappy childhood. When his mum Kate was 14, her little sister was one of April and Gabriel’s victims. Afterwards, Kate’s mother committed suicide and her father never recovered from his loss, and his misery was passed down the family tree. Quentin grew up with an addict for a mother and is very bitter about it indeed. When his husband and his co-producer suggest he create a podcast about the Inland Empire Killers, Quentin dives into the past, and discovers that, although her body was found in a fire decades ago, April might not be dead after all.
Quentin’s investigations lead him to columnist Robin in New York City. Robin is not in a very good place right now, trolled for an article she wrote and at odds with her husband, but there are two people she has always been able to count on: her parents. And then Quentin shows up and drops the April Cooper bombshell on her, telling her that he thinks her mum might be the infamous April Cooper. Could it be that the kind, loving woman she has known all her life is actually a stone-cold killer? She knows her mother! Of course she does! Doesn’t she? Then tragedy strikes and it’s unsure whether Robin will ever be able to know for sure whether there’s any truth to Quentin’s allegations.
All the mystery and suspense and tension and questions did my head in! I needed to know the truth about April, why she did what she did and if she was in fact still alive, and if so: was she Robin’s mother or someone else entirely, and if she was still alive, then who perished in the fire? I needed to know what happened to Robin’s parents, who would want to hurt them, and why? And what was going on with Quentin? Good grief, if I’d listened to Never Look Back on Audible I would have sped up the narration like you wouldn’t believe, just to find out the answers to all my questions more quickly! The app I got this audiobook on didn’t allow me to do that, so I started listening at all hours of the day.
Signing up for this tour, I was vaguely hoping for a Scott King / Six Stories type of format, but that is not what this is. With the exception of the prologue, in which Quentin introduces himself and the topic of his podcast, it’s not formatted as a podcast, it’s a behind the scenes, a making of. Who to talk to, what questions to ask, which leads to follow, and along the way something happens, something magical, the line between fiction and reality blurs and you’re sucked into the story, believing it, living it.
Never Look Back has a dual narration with Jorjeana Marie narrating the female voices (mostly April’s letters and Robin’s POV) and James Fouhey narrating mostly Quentin and the odd male supporting character. Marie tweaks her voice to accommodate various female and male voices, Fouhey does not. I usually prefer some voice tweaking, but in this case I didn’t mind the simple narration, it was always clear who was speaking in conversations, and there was enough intonation and emotion to keep it entertaining.
Never Look Back is a clever, insidious, shocking thriller that I won’t easily forget. It’s a crazy roller coaster that kept me in doubt until the very end. Even when the pool of suspects was getting very VERY narrow, I still couldn’t make up my mind one way or the other. If you’re into audiobooks, then do pick this one up on Audible or any other audiobook provider, if you’re not, then go for the eBook or print version, this is a story that must be read, in whatever format! Highly recommended!
The thirties had Bonnie and Clyde, the seventies had April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy. Depicted in the press as bloodthirsty, gone down in history as the Inland Empire Killers, THE criminal couple of the seventies, April and Gabriel are more than a little infamous. But what do we really know about them? The letters written by April to her future daughter at the age of 15 are completely at odds with how she’s portrayed: a coldblooded killer with a murderous gleam in her eyes. After having read a few of April’s letters I couldn’t help but wonder: what if that gleam was not a sign of murder on the mind, but merely the glint of unshed tears?
Quentin blames April Cooper for his own crappy childhood. When his mum Kate was 14, her little sister was one of April and Gabriel’s victims. Afterwards, Kate’s mother committed suicide and her father never recovered from his loss, and his misery was passed down the family tree. Quentin grew up with an addict for a mother and is very bitter about it indeed. When his husband and his co-producer suggest he create a podcast about the Inland Empire Killers, Quentin dives into the past, and discovers that, although her body was found in a fire decades ago, April might not be dead after all.
Quentin’s investigations lead him to columnist Robin in New York City. Robin is not in a very good place right now, trolled for an article she wrote and at odds with her husband, but there are two people she has always been able to count on: her parents. And then Quentin shows up and drops the April Cooper bombshell on her, telling her that he thinks her mum might be the infamous April Cooper. Could it be that the kind, loving woman she has known all her life is actually a stone-cold killer? She knows her mother! Of course she does! Doesn’t she? Then tragedy strikes and it’s unsure whether Robin will ever be able to know for sure whether there’s any truth to Quentin’s allegations.
All the mystery and suspense and tension and questions did my head in! I needed to know the truth about April, why she did what she did and if she was in fact still alive, and if so: was she Robin’s mother or someone else entirely, and if she was still alive, then who perished in the fire? I needed to know what happened to Robin’s parents, who would want to hurt them, and why? And what was going on with Quentin? Good grief, if I’d listened to Never Look Back on Audible I would have sped up the narration like you wouldn’t believe, just to find out the answers to all my questions more quickly! The app I got this audiobook on didn’t allow me to do that, so I started listening at all hours of the day.
Signing up for this tour, I was vaguely hoping for a Scott King / Six Stories type of format, but that is not what this is. With the exception of the prologue, in which Quentin introduces himself and the topic of his podcast, it’s not formatted as a podcast, it’s a behind the scenes, a making of. Who to talk to, what questions to ask, which leads to follow, and along the way something happens, something magical, the line between fiction and reality blurs and you’re sucked into the story, believing it, living it.
Never Look Back has a dual narration with Jorjeana Marie narrating the female voices (mostly April’s letters and Robin’s POV) and James Fouhey narrating mostly Quentin and the odd male supporting character. Marie tweaks her voice to accommodate various female and male voices, Fouhey does not. I usually prefer some voice tweaking, but in this case I didn’t mind the simple narration, it was always clear who was speaking in conversations, and there was enough intonation and emotion to keep it entertaining.
Never Look Back is a clever, insidious, shocking thriller that I won’t easily forget. It’s a crazy roller coaster that kept me in doubt until the very end. Even when the pool of suspects was getting very VERY narrow, I still couldn’t make up my mind one way or the other. If you’re into audiobooks, then do pick this one up on Audible or any other audiobook provider, if you’re not, then go for the eBook or print version, this is a story that must be read, in whatever format! Highly recommended!
misha_ali's review against another edition
2.0
I thought a bit about why this book, normally the sort of unreliable narrator, twisty thriller I would enjoy, was a massive dud for me and I think it comes down to the same thing as always: characters. There are too many to keep straight, some operating with aliases, and not a lot happens for most of the book in terms of moving the mystery forward. The characters we do get are not compelling enough for me to care what their ultimate fate is, although I will say that Quentin was done dirty.
jennay's review against another edition
3.0
Even though the twists were pretty predictable (to me), the story was still a great page turner. Audiobook verison was kind of hard to follow in some parts; hopping from POV to POV with different timeline and only one narrator trying to voice all the characters with very little difference in her inflection from character to character. With audiobooks it feels as if the little details don't stick as well as when you physically read them and there are lots of little details in this one. I'd recommend, but as a physically copy only.
penwen97's review against another edition
5.0
I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I really loved this book! It was definitely a page turner and there were quite a few twists I never saw coming. I had never read a book by Alison Gaylin before but I plan on reading more of them in the future. I hope they will be just as good as this one!
I really loved this book! It was definitely a page turner and there were quite a few twists I never saw coming. I had never read a book by Alison Gaylin before but I plan on reading more of them in the future. I hope they will be just as good as this one!
brittany_tellefsen's review against another edition
4.0
This one was wild! Alison Gaylin knows how to craft a twist thriller!