Never Look Back – A.L. Gaylin (Audiobook)
Some people deserve to die. Others never should have been born at all.
In 1975, 15-year-old April Cooper and her 18-year-old boyfriend embark on a weeklong killing spree that results in the deaths of a dozen innocent people in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley. Was April a willing accomplice or a victim herself, abducted by an obsessed psychopath and forced into committing horrible acts?
No one will ever know for sure, as April and Eric were apparently killed in a bloody shoot-out at the Death Valley compound of their final victims – a family of off-the-grid survivalists known as The Gideons.
In 2015, Robin Brennan’s parents have been involved in a shooting. Her father is dead, and her mother in a critical state, with Robin desperate for her to wake.
But when Jameson Malloy, the host of Closure – a true crime podcast investigating the San Gabriel Valley murder – shows up, Robin soon learns that her parents are maybe not who they say they are….
My thanks to Alex at Orion for providing the review copy of Never Look Back and to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join the audio blog tour.
Never Look Back is a clever, slow-burn tale where the author teases a tale of secrets and half-truths from her cast to keep readers guessing to the end of the book.
Quentin Garrison is producing a podcast called Closure. He appears a troubled young man and the Closure in the title is to be his personal closure. He wants to cover the story of the murder of his aunt – killed as a toddler during a shooting when now-notorious schoolgirl, April Cooper, and her boyfriend went on a prolonged crime spree in 1976.
His aunt’s death at a young age broke his mother’s spirit and that of her father, Quentin’s grandfather. Seeking to understand how April Cooper could have so comprehensively ruined his own life Quentin is shocked to learn that Cooper may still be alive despite the world believing she died in a fire in 76.
One of the key people who may be able to help Quentin get to the truth is Robin’s father – he studied behavioural psychology. Quentin seeks him out but before he is able to get the answers he seeks both Robin’s parents are attacked in their home. Her father dead, her mother critically I’ll in hospital, Robin begins to dig a bit deeper into who Quentin is and why he may feel her mother can help him trace a murderer who has been presumed dead for over 30 years.
Cooper herself does get a voice in the story as in 1976 she is writing a letter to her future child. It’s an idea one of her teachers had and one which Cooper really embraced. All the events which went down in history after her murderous spree had ended are narrated by Cooper to her future child in letter form. It allows the murderer to tell her side of the story and allows the reader to judge her actions independently.
As I mentioned – Never Look Back is a clever story and the author plants enough seeds of doubt through the narrative that I was never entirely sure which voices could be trusted at any time. That doubt and uncertainty kept me engaged though the book and the resolution was pleasing.
As with every audiobook the enjoyment (no matter how good the book) also relies upon the narrator – if you are investing 10 hours into a story then you need to be sure you are comfortable with the voice telling that story. Never Look Back has two narrators, James Fouhey and Jorjeana Marie. Marie takes the chapters dominated by female roles, Fouhey the male dominated chapters.
It felt Jorjeana Marie had more to cover over the course of the book as both April’s story and Robin’s are the majority of the focus. Quentin has a larger say when the podcast (and his investigation) is foremost. More of Jorjeana Marie’s voice was a decided bonus as I much preferred the chapters where she took the lead.
One peculiarity of the audiobook was the unexpected inclusion of additional sound effects in the opening chapters. One key element of the story gets additional background noises and incidental supporting sound behind the narrators voice. This is a bit of a rarity in the books I listen to (where normally all we get is the spoken word). The additional sound effects were initially startling but I was ready for their continued inclusion throughout the book. It wasn’t until the story ended that I realised the additional effects had stopped after the first ten minutes which made their brief inclusion all the more puzzling.
A slow burn audiobook needs its place in the day – nighttime listening was where I enjoyed Never Look Back the most. The easy drawl of the narrators was best suited to a quieter place and slower pace, it gave the story it’s best chance to shine.
Never Look Back – great story, well told. Audio best enjoyed in relaxed conditions.
Never Look Back is published by Orion and is available in audiobook, paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Look-Back-brutal-mother-ebook/dp/B07KRLG18D/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1581285553&refinements=p_27%3AA.L.+Gaylin&s=books&sr=1-1&text=A.L.+Gaylin
