9/11 will be a day that anyone who was alive at the time will never forget. I, and all my family and friends, can all vividly remember where we were and what we were doing when the first plane hit the first tower. Everyone was horrified by what we all assumed was a terrible tragic accident.

When the second plane flew into the other tower with millions of us watching it happen in real time, those of us in the United States and Canada lost our innocence and our sense of being indestructible. We all realized that we were vulnerable for the first time.

As if this realization were not enough, we watched in horror as members of the NYPD and the FDNY entered the burning buildings to try to rescue as many people as possible. When the first tower collapsed, the firefighters inside the other tower were ordered to retreat. BUT, as the world learned later, most, if not all, of those heroic men and women never heard the evacuation order. WHY?

Faulty, outdated radios meant that the firefighters were unaware of the collapse of the first tower and never heard the evacuation orders. The result?

343 firefighters lost their lives.

This book is a fictionalized version of the fight to find out the truth of what happened and why their loved ones died.

Sarah Murphy, is a community organizer from the Bronx, who joins forces with an investigative reporter and other firefighter's families as they search for the truth.

This book is heart-racing and heart-rending from start to finish.
They discover a corruption scandal of epic proportions and put their own lives and reputations on the line to expose the truth.

Because this story is "based on true events" it is my opinion that this story (with the exception of the names of the characters) is actually 100% true and that the only way they could legally disseminate the information was to publish the story as fiction rather than fact.

Every U.S. citizen, and especially residents of New York need to read this book. We must never be allowed to forget the devastating loss of life and must not allow anything like this to ever happen again.

I rate this book as 5 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I highly suggest that every North American citizen, age 18 and over, read this book immediately, and take the lessons learned to heart. The Heroes of 9/11 deserve nothing less.

A little too close to the truth I forgot at times that this was a novel Well written with rounded character. A good read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I have been so deeply interested in all the details of what happened on 9/11 since it happened, that I seek out any and all books/information/stories that I can get my hands on. I was very glad to get the opportunity to read this. One of my good friends was a firefighter that died in the South Tower and my now husband was also a firefighter at Ground Zero on that day (although we didn't know each other yet at that time)
This is an important book that tells the story of a family in search of the truth of what happened to their son who perished on 9/11. As most things with 9/11 it is heart breaking and tough to read at times, but it is a great, well written book. It's important so that we dont ever have another loss of life for our first responders and helps teach what went wrong and what could be different in the future.
I read a 9/11 book every September for the anniversary and I'm looking forward to reading this again.

Many thanks to Post Hill Press, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Don't Look Back.

This is a novel about the most painful day in New York City history, and its aftermath, as reporters and investigators struggled to uncover the official blunders of City Hall that made a tragic day even worse. It's a compelling story, based on actual events, that gives voice to the 343 members of the FDNY who perished, largely unaware that the buildings were about to come down upon them.

Don't Look Back is historical fiction written by Joe Calderone, who served as Investigations Editor of the New York Daily News at the time of the World Trade Center attack, and helped cover the FDNY in the aftermath of 9/11, including documenting the problems firefighters had communicating via radio that day.

What an eye-opening read. I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't reading a non-fiction book, only to find out at the end of the book that it had been based on the fact that the radios the firefighters had used that day actually WEREN'T working as they should have. The author told the story with compelling realism. It was heartbreaking, and yet I wanted to cheer as I read about the power of the families' fight to bring the firefighters' deaths the respect they deserved!

4.5 Stars. We know about the horrific and traumatic events of 9/11. The images are forever engraved in our brains. Many watched the heartbreaking attacks on the WTC as they unfolded live on TV. It was a shocking tragedy where thousands lost their lives; among them, 23 NYPD police officers were killed in the attack. An astounding number of 343 firefighters lost their lives on that fateful day, most when the North Tower exploded, collapsed and burned.

This riveting, well-researched book is a fictionalized account based on fact and told through the thoughts, emotions, and actions of the novel's three main characters. They probably correspond to real people, composites, and witnesses who were present on 9/11. Don't Look Back was written by Joe Calderone, a former renowned investigative reporter for the Daily News, who knows New York City well. The book is informative, compelling, and believable. It is also a heartbreaking reminder of what happened on that horrible day of infamy and grief.

Three characters are determined to find out the reason so many firefighters died. Juan, a newspaper reporter joins two women in the search for the truth. Mary, an aide to Mayor Giuliani at City Hall desperately wants to get to the truth about her fireman husband's death. Sarah lost her talented son with a promising future. He was an ex-marine and an enthusiastic new recruit in the FDNY.

They come to the realization that there was a failure of communication due to outdated radio equipment. Many firefighters never received Mayday orders to evacuate, and could not readily communicate with command, other firefighters, and the NYPD. They were unaware that while searching floor to floor, going door to door, attempting to locate and rescue people trapped in the building. that the other tower had already collapsed. Requests to upgrade the fire department's faulty, outdated radios had been rejected. City Hall tries to cover up any failure in communication and the denial of requests for more effective radio equipment that could have saved many lives.

Sean now has proof from reliable sources and a document in letter form reporting the lack of communication due to faulty equipment. It is a reporter's story of a lifetime. The head of his newspaper is in league with city politicians and trying to prevent Juan's powerful newspaper article from being published. While at work on his laptop ready to send the story to the newspaper, men rush into the room with guns and attack Juan and Mary. They and their families are threatened, they are tied up and the article and its proof are stolen. Luckily, Mary has a backup plan. Sarah's group of women connected with 9/11 deaths in their families continue to harass city politicians to admit the truth and apologize for a series of errors.
I want to express my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this intense, character-driven advance copy of Don't Look Back.

I am kind of bugged that this is a novel and not "real life". Isn't there enough drama with the real i9-11?

The storyline was pretty decent and, of course, the pacing is excellent.

Oh wow! This book had me gripped from the outset. Descriptions of inside the North Tower had me remembering the images on the news from 9/11 and Joe really did well.
I had to remind myself a number of times that this is a fiction book as everything was so believable and could have been true.

Wow what a read….. This is a novel about the most painful day in New York City history and its aftermath, as reporters and investigators struggled to uncover the official blunders of Rudy Giuliani's City Hall that made a tragic day worse. Joe Calderone uses all his tools as one of New York’s best investigative reporters, as well as a panoramic knowledge of the city, to offer a vivid tale of people in search of a difficult truth. Rich characterizations, realistic emotions, and a gripping story make for a can't-put-it-down emotional read.