I am absolutely delighted to start off the blog tour for Luca Veste’s fabulously twisty, heart-wrenching thriller. I have always enjoyed Luca Veste’s writing but with You Never Said Goodbye he really has taken his thriller writing to the next level with this stand-alone novel.

From the outset you are plunged into a thrilling, heady tale and one which will lead you on a breath-taking, whirlwind journey across the Atlantic as you try to fathom what has happened to Sam Cooper and why it is that pretty much everyone he meets seems to want to kill him.

Sam is a lonely man whose childhood trauma has kept him from ever being really close to anyone. Sam lost almost all his family in a terrible, tragic accident many years ago when he was just a wee lad and since then his father has been a broken man. He never talked about that night and he and Sam lived a lonely existence together; distanced from each other with no physical or mental comfort to ease the pain of loss. Sam blames himself for his failure to help and he can’t help but feel that his father blames him too. Otherwise why would he have been so distanced from his only surviving son?

You can’t help but feel sorrow and empathy for Sam. He has had to make his own way in the world carrying an absence of love, no emotional succour and a relationship with his only surviving parent that is as cold as the river he almost died in.

Now though, his father is dying and Sam does what any dutiful son would do and hurries to his bedside. What he does not know is that there are people on his trail. People who want nothing more than to find out what secret Sam’s father is hiding. People who will kill to find that secret and who neither know nor care that Sam is himself in the dark.

Luca Veste’s writing beautifully conveys the sense of Sam’s isolation, his confusion at what is happening around him and his stubborn refusal to capitulate to people he neither knows nor cares about, but who may hold the answers to questions he has spent years not asking.

Now that his father is dying, it seems that everything is coming to a head and Sam Cooper is not going to stay in the dark any longer. He knows there are questions he needs the answers to and the violence that is being perpetrated around him just makes him more determined than ever to get to the truth.

Veste’s action scenes are tense, pacy and full of violent rage. His antagonist is the kind of bad guy you want to see suffer; but the real star of this show is Sam, a decent guy with a terrible tragedy in his past who you really, really want to see made whole again.

Verdict: You Never Said Goodbye has oodles of tension, lots of darkness and is coiled like an angry viper, ready to twist and bite at every opportune moment. You don’t often get violent, gritty thrillers that make you love the protagonist while catching your breath at the predicaments he finds himself in and then dazzle you as the twisting, heart-wrenching narrative leads you on a journey that, just like Sam, you have to see through to the end. Highly recommended

You never said goodbye is a fast paced book with a high body count and plenty of intrigue. The booked was slightly confusing to begin with but I soon got into it and started to work out who everyone was.

The twists keep on coming and the secrets keep being revealed however the book lacked somewhat in terms of the strength of relationships.

The ending felt a bit of an anti-climax after such pace throughout the rest of the book.

This was my first book by this author, but I didn’t really enjoy it, I’m sorry to say. It starts off well, with the death of Sam Cooper’s mother and brother in a car crash many years ago. But did she really die? And that is the main thrust of the book.
It did not really hold my attention, as it became a brutal, all- action tale when the story moved Sam to USA from UK. It becomes a fight- fest, all very repetitive and implausible. I lost interest. The phsycological mystery thriller aspect got lost somehow.
Well enough written, just not for me.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This is a great crime thriller.
Sam has struggled without his mother after she was killed in a car accident when he was 9 years old.
His father wasn’t the same after her death and the two of them drifted apart as Sam got older.
Sam is called to say his father has been attacked and is close to death so he rushes to see him.
Before he dies he tells Sam that his Mum is still alive, but nothing more.
Sam heads to the family home to find answers but is soon disturbed by two American men who demand to know where his Mum is.
Sam manages to escape but is left more confused than ever.
He heads to America to find answers and realises he’s in danger as the people looking for his Mum have followed him there.
This is a gripping crime thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the first time I have read a book by this author, I have seen many reviews about his books and decided to give his latest one a go.

This is a crime, thriller mystery read that is full of tension and suspense from the very beginning right through till the end. A page-turner for definite and one full of intrigue. As the synopsis suggests it is Sam Cooper who is the main focus of this story. He has not had the best relationship with his father. After an accident in which Sam's mum and little brother died, all Sam has known is his dad. So when his dad mentions Sam's mum Laurie still being alive he doesn't know what to think.

This is a book that starts with Sam, unhappy but getting on with life. After hearing that his mum may be alive he goes through various emotions. Guilt is something he has lived with since the accident, and there is a certain amount of resentment towards his dad.

Sam leaves the UK to travel back to the US, his arrival is something that shouldn't be fraught with danger. What Sam doesn't know is the full facts of what went on 25 years ago, and more importantly what preceded the events that led to the accident.

This is a book that I needed to keep my full attention with as I got used to the differing timelines and the characters. Having a timeline that flits back and forth is great for adding detail, and the author does a wonderful job of trickling the information through. It fills in gaps and also leaves questions. This is ideal to keep the story flowing and it definitely kept me engaged.

The pace of this story felt quite quick and it suited the theme as Sam suddenly finds himself in the midst of something he was totally unaware of and definitely unprepared for. The title is so good for this story, it definitely takes on a more sinister message than I originally thought.

This is a tense storyline that explodes onto the page, has the main characters racing and running for answers and their lives. A really good action read with plenty of suspense and one for readers who like a good twisted crime thriller book.

A fast-paced novel, packed with action. Can't say I loved it but I will be browsing this author's other works.
Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Sam Cooper’s childhood could hardly be described as a happy one but he has somehow managed to put it behind him and carve out a successful life. Estranged from his father, when he receives word from a hospital asking him to come, Sam realises that his whole life has been a lie. A deathbed confession leads him into a dangerous, unfamiliar world, one that makes him question everything about his past. What exactly happened to his mother and will he manage to find out before her past catches up with him?

This is quite a departure for Luca Veste as he takes us the the USA in this fast-paced thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. Sam, the main protagonist is not your typical action hero but an ordinary man who finds himself caught up in a cat and mouse chase across the country as he tries to discover the truth behind events from his past. It is this ordinariness that made Sam such an endearing character and had me willing him to succeed in his quest.

Told in two time frames, we see how things unfolded a number of years ago and also how Sam reacts to finding out the same information decades later. It soon becomes apparent why everything has happened as it has, leading to some quite shocking revelations. The plot develops at a good pace and, although there are many characters, each of them with their own reasons for tracking Sam down, it never felt confusing or complicated.

You Never Said Goodbye is action-packed with moments of heartbreak and should hopefully be a huge success for Luca Veste.

I enjoyed this suspenseful story. This is a new author for me which I enjoyed and look forward to seeing more from them in the future. This is a well written story about a family secret that has been kept secret for the past twenty-five years. What happens when Sam finds out that he has been lied to this whole time. What is the truth? This story has great mystery and suspense mixed in. The twists and turns had me turning pages fast just to see what would happen next. The characters pulled me into the story and kept me coming back for more. I enjoyed how connectable they were and how they brought the story to life. I enjoyed their growth and the growth of the plot. The author's use of details gave the story a realistic feel which made it easy to read. This is an entertaining story that I really enjoyed and highy recommend.

This book didn't really grip me like I hoped it would. The storyline was a bit obvious and I feel has been told many times before. I didn't really connect with any of the characters either. I would give this author another try as I did feel it had potential.

The outline story seemed appealing but I found it a little repetitive in places. The plot did not really hold my attention and I could not rate this like other readers. The main characters were not easy to identify with. Thanks for a chance to review a new author to me.

Luca Veste’s latest offering is, in my opinion, a hybrid between an action novel and psychological thriller. We are introduced to ‘ordinary guy’ Sam Cooper, who lives and works in London. Sam’s estranged father has just made a shocking deathbed confession: he asserts that Sam’s mother Laurie, presumed dead for twenty-five years, is in fact still alive. Does that mean that Sam’s recollections of the family car accident in which his mother and younger brother died are erroneous? Sam sets off to investigate, and part of the action switches to the other side of the Atlantic in the form of a town called Wallace, Idaho. In addition to the setting switches, there are also switches in timelines, with present-tense action juxtaposed with events in 1982.
Perhaps a little too action-driven at times, I found the many street fighting scenes and the high victim count in this novel a little overdone. I would have preferred less literary violence and more psychological insight: allusions rather than brutal ‘show an tells’, or quiet reflections from Sam, who is essentially a resilient, likeable character, would have delivered a more nuanced plotline. However, I am sure that thriller readers will like Veste’s novel, perhaps because of its action-driven plot. My thanks go to NetGalley and the publishers Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated ARC provided in return for my unbiased review.

This is a thriller about a son, Sam, searching for his dead mother, at the same time as her psychotic ex-boyfriend, who doesn't believe she is dead.
It's a bit twisty as the people helping Sam aren't always who they appear to be. Lots of action, but the plot isn't very believable and it's a bit long.

You Never Said Goodbye is another fast moving book from Luca Veste and whilst highly unbelievable in parts it is also highly entertaining.

An enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this gritty, dark thriller from Luca Veste. I always enjoy his books, although in this one, I had to suspend belief at times! As usual, it is well written with good characterisation and a fascinating plot. My head was turning trying to keep up with the fast pace and all the twists but I was completely immersed in the whole story. It is told in two timelines and from two points of view which worked really well. Filled with drama, it's a good solid read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the advance copy of #YouNeverSaidGoodbye by #LucaVeste
WOW!!!!!! This book grabs you by the throat and does not let go. When Sam gets the call to say his father is dying, he doesn’t know how to feel but he knows he has to go see him one last time. The moment he gets there his life explodes, this is one rollercoaster ride.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well this is a book that really ramps up the tension, demands you pay attention and keeps you right on the edge of your seat. There is a real sense of threat and foreboding from the very beginning, lots of twisted threads from past and present, that kept me completely on the hop as a reader and kept my mind ticking over and whirring right to the very last page. I really kind of loved it.

This latest stand alone thriller from Luca Veste has been a long time coming, but by heck, it was worth the wait. This is the story of Sam Cooper, estranged from this father, his. sole surviving family member, but denied the opportunity to lay the past to rest for reasons that we, as readers, are only slightly more aware of than Sam himself. Because Sam's father has a secret, one that will rock Sam's world, and undermines everything that they both thought they knew. And, apparently, it is a secret that is worth killing for. There is decent amount of violence from the off, none of it gratuitous in portrayal, but all of the implicit threat and fear leaping from the page and amplifying the tension and pace of the story.

I really liked the character of Sam. There is a real feeling of authenticity to him as a character, the grief he carries within him for a major loss he suffered as a child, and the conflict he feels towards his father as a result of a cold and distant relationship that the pair endured. So many traits in him are relatable, including the regret he feels in not seeing his father sooner, but there is also an underlying determination and strength of character that even he underestimates in himself. He is placed in an unenviable situation, thrown into the middle of a nightmare that he cannot begin to comprehend. any sensible person would run away, but faced with the chance to discover the truth of what happened all those years ago, he does exactly the opposite. It puts him in real danger, leading us all into scenes of action, threat and deception that really ticked all the boxes for me.

Alongside Sam's story, and the action that is split between present day UK and USA, we are treated to some scenes from the past. Scenes that introduce some major players in this particular tale of woe, and that go someway to explaining the predicament that Sam finds himself in. The story is complex, a tangled history of control, domestic abuse, and power that seems to drive the whole book in a very particular direction. But this is no Google Maps, it's more a early nineties TomTom, so expect a few detours and a whole heap of misdirection on the way. If you think you know what is happening, where the real threat is a coming from, and with a real surety of the why, you're probably wrong. There are a couple of twists in the tale I definitely didn't see coming.

If you like a real character and driven, cat and mouse story, with an undercurrent of mystery and a really healthy dose of pulse thumping threat and action, then I'd definitely recommend this book. Packed with moments of true emotional depth, it kept me completely engaged and entertained right to the very last page.

For twenty five years Sam Cooper believed his mother died in a car crash that also took the life of his young brother. When visiting his estranged father on his deathbed his father whispers that she's still alive. Sam embarks on a quest to find her and to have endless questions answered.
This is a fast, action packed thriller with many twists, Sam gets himself into a lot of danger as there are people following him who also want to find his mum and they do not care how many bodies pile up along the way. This book would make for a great action movie.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I was under no obligation to leave my honest review

While this is very well written, I could not connect with this book the way I wanted

It is not a bad book, but a bit too unbelievable for me

As usual this book is fast paced, dark and gritty. A prefect crime thriler. Told in alternative view points of past and present. It's must read.

I really wanted to love this book as I’ve been a fan of previous works. It certainly had plenty of action and suspense and is quite dark in places. It’s told from multiple points of view and at different moments in time which did help to keep my interest but for some reason it just didn’t grip me as I thought it would. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for the chance to review.