A dark thriller set between the UK and the USA. A man trying to get a grip with his past following his father's death-bed confession. Ticked all of my thriller boxes.

I found this to be a decent crime / thriller about a family mixed up in the underworld. A son returns to visit his estranged father who is hospitalised, but, was this as a result of a burglary, or, worse? Then there’s the fact that his mother , who he believes drowned years ago, could still be alive.
What follows is a dramatic story told on both sides of the Atlantic with action galore and it’s a solid good read.
I found it a tad repetitive and obvious at times, but, with the multiple viewpoints and switches between past and present, it kept my interest.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to preview.

WOAH!! . Fast paced from the very start this book didn’t slow down at all. There were so many twists it was impossible to put down until I got to the end. An absolutely amazing book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

The premise of the story sounded really interesting and it certainly kept me reading to find out what had happened to Sam's mum Laurie. I liked the portion of the book set in the UK and the early days in the US, but I found the present day scenes when Sam travels over to America to find his mum a bit repetitive. It was too much of an action thriller for me, too many fight scenes. The main villain of the piece I found genuinely terrifying.
I did enjoy the book and it was well written, it just fell down for me a bit in the ways already mentioned.

An absolutely gripping thriller from Luca Veste, so gripping in fact that I read it in one sitting.

I love this kind of twisty narrative as long as it is beautifully written and unpredictable enough for my brain and this was both. It is a mix of psychological and action that works brilliantly, you just don't want to put it down.

Family secrets and a cat and mouse game of chance, You Never Said Goodbye is a terrific read.

Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Sam Cooper has lived his life believing his mother and brother died when their car plunged into a river when he was 9. On his deathbed his father tells him that his mother is still alive. In Search of answers Tom heads to America where he risks his life to find out the truth.

I've read a couple of books by Luca Veste before and enjoyed them. This is another great read and one I would recommend to others.

I was very up and down with this book but I felt that I had to finish it to be able to come to a conclusion. I always say it's fiction and providing it's entertaining I will accept it as that. I did however find this book very unbelievable and quite frustrating in places. I have loved the authors other book so I was a bit disappointed with this one.

Ever had the feeling you were being watched? Sam lost his mother and brother 25 years ago but now strange dangerous people are asking questions. Sam’s father and his mother’s brother were killed and now he is being targeted, but why? An action packed novel taking place in England and America full of twists and turns.

A fantastic story with so many twists in it you question yourself in whether anyone can be trusted or not!

So descriptive to the point of boring. The plot was revealed at the beginning and I found it very difficult to feel interested.

Wow, what an intense book! Goodness, but the people depicted here are truly, truly awful and while I had to suspend belief a little as to just how awful (and obsessive) I rather enjoyed the whole caper after a while.

There were some very likeable characters (I want a Tom!), and this glimpse into the underworld reminded me that in this world, not all is what it seems. I'm definitely going to look up more books by this author.

3.5 rounded up 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks to the publisher for my ARC.

An edge of the seat book where as the narrative swops between time periods, you can never be quite sure whether what comes next - or had come before - will be good or bad. Invariably it is or was bad. The tension persists throughout the book and it is a relief for the reader as much as for the characters when it reaches resolution.

I have to admit that this book was not for me. I read 90% but then gave up as I no longer cared what was happening. For some reason I could not really get the whole story and I found that it was written in a rather confusing way. Changing characters, decades and villains kept confusing me, in the end I had no real idea who was who and it seemed totally far-fetched that someone would search for all those years or remain hidden all those years. Sometimes the story was in England and sometimes USA., that in itself is not normally a problem but it was not always clear exactly what was happening. Maybe it was me. Sorry.

On finding out from his dying father that there was a chance that his mother may still be alive, Sam’s life if thrown into turmoil. When confronted by the two men who badly beat his father he must run for his life and then is determined to find out whether his father was right.

His only hope is his mother’s friend Tom but that means going back 25 years and to the place where she died, along with his younger brother, and relive the trauma that has blighted his life. He flies out to Connecticut to find Tom and the answers he is looking for, but it becomes clear that he is not the only one interested in the outcome. Mysterious figures seem to follow his every step but who is friend and who is foe?

Initially the plot appears to be thin, centring on whether Sam’s mother Laurie is alive and his search to uncover the truth. Complexity is added by the uncertainty built around the past and the introduction of several mysterious characters. It is these factors that sustain the reader’s interest rather than the usual cliff hangers and action set pieces found in many thrillers.

There are two strands to the narrative. In one the reader follows Sam’s current pursuit of the truth; the other is set in the mid-1990s and follows the life of his mother, then these are brought together near the end. Sam’s part is written in first person, and we see the progress of the search through his perspective as it unfolds, and this allows the reader to be kept in the dark over the roles Jackson and Quinn play out. The overall writing style is unfussy, and this allows for a good pace throughout and the intensity never lets up.

The themes and motivations throughout are strong. Laurie’s desire to escape the clutches of controlling men, Tom’s desire for what he can’t have, David’s despair at his loss and Sam’s regret at his inability to save his younger brother. All these result in psychological damage in one way or another. Former lover Anthony’s obsession with Laurie causes all the pain and misery because he is both ruthless and resourceful, though we eventually discover that there is more to his desire to find Laurie than just to possess her. It’s a story of the power that corrupts and seeking to control the lives of others.

The main character Sam is agreeable and suitably out of his depth both in terms of experience and being in a foreign country. The villains, ruthless Carson and Hunter are from thugs central casting but their boss Anthony is entertainingly demented throughout. In Tom the Afghanistan War veteran we have a credible all action hero who seems to be everywhere and carrying emotional baggage of his own. The most interesting character though is Laurie who must be selfish in her bid to be free from controlling men. She is unable to live her life on her terms but still at times has you thinking ‘how could you?’ even though she is very much sinned against rather than being sinner.

As one would expect there is death and brutality throughout, though none of it is particularly graphic. There is, however, a surprising lack of law enforcement. Being one step ahead of the police is a staple of the genre but perhaps stretching it a little too much here for me.

The subject matter could have made for a very dark novel but instead Mr Veste has turned it into an enjoyable thought-provoking thriller.

Finally I would like to thanks the author, publisher and Net Galley for making this pdf proof available in exchange for a fair review.

On his fathers deathbed, he hints to Sam that his mother may still be alive after thinking she died over 25 years ago. Events spiral and Sam is thrown into a world of danger as the one person who has also been hunting Laurie for the last 25 years won’t take no for an answer.
Told from multiple points of view and timelines, an intriguing plot that keeps you guessing and turning pages right until the end. Luca Veste never lets you down!

I was really looking forward to reading this new book by one of my favourite authors,and I wasn't dissapointed.It was different to the others books by Luca Veste but it's a really good compelling read.
Strong characters and takes obsession to another level.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC

3.5 rounded up

In Wallace Idaho tough uncompromising Parker Rogers has been under the radar for twenty five years and now they’ve come for him and he gives them information about ‘her’. Meanwhile in London Sam Cooper gets a phone call to say his father David is close to death. On his deathbed David gives Sam some shocking news that his mother Laurie who he believes to have died many years ago is in fact alive. Is David a liar? If Laurie is indeed alive, where is she? Sam now believes his last twenty five years have been a lie, he has lived down a black hole and he’s determined to find out why. He’s on a mission but so are others with catastrophic consequences. The story is told in the present and from 1982 onwards which works well.

If you like gritty dark thrillers that are dripping with tension and suspense then this is for you. There plenty of action, the plot is definitely fast paced though you do have to suspend some disbelief as murder and mayhem is the order of the day with an ever rising body count. If anything that gets a bit repetitive in tone, fight, shoot, run, repeat and where did Sam get his street fighting skills from, who knows? That’s not to say that it’s not exciting because it is as there are so many twists and turns, you have no idea who to trust as there seems to be so much double crossing. Sam is likeable and very tenacious. Other characters are not quite so well fleshed out probably because it’s more action than character driven. There’s one character at the centre of the destructive web who is a cruel obsessive controller though at times this feels a bit stereotypical.

However, overall though you need to don your disbelief suspenders on occasions it is an enjoyable exciting read with never a dull moment.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Took me a while to get into this book and once I did I could not put it down, great storyline, great characters and basically a really good read

Just WOW!! This book was incredible! The twists and turns had me guessing all the way along, things I thought were going to happen didn't - something else even better did. It gripped me from the off and I couldn't put it down.... I just had to keep reading to find out more. Brilliantly written - a MUST read.

This thriller is so much better than I initially thought! What do you do when you suddenly find out that your mum might be still alive after she supposedly drowned twenty-five years ago? In the car accident, you and your dad survived? The car accident you still dream of?

It took me a while to get into this story because of the multiple points of view and the dual timelines. Yet, I was captivated and got hooked on Sam’s and Lauri’s stories. The page numbers flew by so quickly.

I already knew Lauri would be alive from the blurb, but when I read the chapter about the car accident, the hairs on my arms stood up, and goosebumps crawled over my body. How can you leave a car in the water with your family in it?

I liked Sam from the start and got shivers every time he thought of that night in the water and Michael. There were some things I guessed along the way and some things I guessed wrong. I can’t say much more because I don’t want to give the plot away. If you like thrillers, MCs who had a sad childhood, dual timelines, and multiple POVs, I’d recommend you to check out this book!