Never Tell by Lisa Gardner

Author: Lisa Gardner

Title: Never Tell

Publisher: Arrow

Published: 2019

Pages: 416

Genre: Mystery Thriller 

     One death might be an accident. Two deaths look like murder. A man is shot dead in his own home, and his pregnant wife, Evie, is found with the gun in her hands. Detective D.D. Warren instantly recognizes her. Sixteen years ago, Evie also shot her own father. That killing was ruled an accident. D.D. doesn’t believe in coincidences. But this case isn’t as open and shut as it first appears, and her job is to discover the truth. Evie might be a victim. Or she might be about to get away with murder again.

     This is my second time coming to Lisa Gardner previously I spent some time with her book Find Her. This being an early adventure with the same eponymous hero D.D. Warren. Now I cannot claim to know our detective's whole story having yet to read the rest. So there is always the worry that you will unintentionally come across spoilers in the course of reading. Here however because we are put into the headspace of multiple leads we are more focused on the story at hand rather than our detective's back story. 

     I really enjoyed this time being split between our leads, in the case of this narrative it allowed for the author to greatly expand the sandpit she was working in. It adds a deeper layer to the narrative something creeping about in the dark corners leading you to feel that the world might just not be as safe as you hoped. Around each corner, a new preditor could be waiting to pounce and set the dark fantasy into motion. And this isn't just limited to one of the timelines but weaves its way back and forth each time peeking its head up just long enough to push you off balance. 

     It is an interesting thing to see how anyone who is touched by such people gets tainted in some way. Each of our heroes struggles to deal with how these monsters have dug their claws into their lives and keep ripping away no matter how much time has passed. And you might be left amiss in think that each of our heroes has scummed to these dark places and live their lives in despair. But as you will find out they are all capable of fighting back in their own ways. 

     When first launching into this story, there was so much going on it felt like a high octane big screen blast straight to the face. You are possibly a little taken aback wondering how this will start to settle down. But Gardner once again demonstrates her skill at keeping so many strands going without losing us the reader. Every time there was a shift in the narrative to another of our heroes it only adds to enhancing our enjoyment at trying to piece the clues together. 

     This is definitely one of the books that pull us to the dark side of the world. Throughout our time here we co-inhabit the places of this life that none of us would wish to see in real life. There are times when the cold rancid breath of the past feels like it is pouring at the back of our necks its broken nails scathing at our flesh desperate to be let off the page. And whilst the end results of this are a little bit larger than life at its heart the villains of this piece are once we have seen on the nightly news. 

     It is within this blending of possible and beyond that, the author has created an extraordinary thriller that is sure to keep you glued to the page. I found myself desperate to know how it would all come falling down.  And when at last the final piece was played I was not only satisfied but looking for to more adventures with characters both old and new.