Never Look Back

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 31,886 ratings

Price: 21.88

Last update: 08-26-2024


About this item

Expect the unexpected in this gritty, tense mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute. While working the street, she narrowly avoids becoming a serial killer’s latest victim; as much as it pains her to admit, she needs backup.

Enter lone wolf FBI agent Jerrod Ramsey. Stonewalled by a lack of leads, he and Melina investigate a scene where a little girl has been found abandoned in a crashed vehicle. They open the trunk to reveal a horror show and quickly realize they’re dealing with two serial killers with very different MOs. The whole situation brings back memories for Melina - why does this particular case feel so connected to her painful past?

Before time runs out, Melina must catch not one but two serial killers, both ready to claim another victim - and both with their sights set on her.


Top reviews from the United States

maryanne bauder
5.0 out of 5 stars Attention holding novel
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024
This was a terrific novel. So many twists and turns. Author did a wonderful job combining two stories and how they inter locked. Would highly recommend this book.
Mindo'ermatter
4.0 out of 5 stars Burton at Her Best! Suspenseful, Engaging Read!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2020
Strong characters and vivid dialogue give energy to the storytelling. Serial killings in Nashville combines TBI Agent Melina Shepard's profiling skills with FBI Agent Ramsey investigative experience to find the killer or killers quickly before others die.

Melina Shepard's strong-willed personality and incisive mind adds engaging dimensions to the story's complexity and depth. She's likeable and often unpredictable.

Lots of tensions and surprises make this a fast, fun read. The plotline includes several strong characters, adding depth and interest to the murder investigations. The author's tight storyline accelerates the narrative, while avoiding too many details and distractions.

The story alternates among several key players, adding questions and perspectives, making this complex tale even more confusing to everyone, especially as details about Shepard's past come to light. This is a satisfying, fast-paced read you'll not want to put down.

Although third in the series, this novel works well as a standalone book. Some might question the author's penchant for adding a steaming love scene with more details than major storyline plot, something I found distractingly overwritten. Although this book by Burton has less profanity and vulgar language than some of her other works, many will likely be offended. Burton 's writing doesn't need these unnecessary additions.

The Audible narration was a nice value-added supplement to my reading enjoyment with its effective character dramatizations. Nice touch!
Harleyroze
5.0 out of 5 stars Never Look Back
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
Mary Burton, you're a genius!! I live her writing! I've been reading this profiler series, and I love it!! She makes it suspenseful the entire book! Can't wait to read the next book! If you like murder mystery with great characters, you'll love reading this authors books!! All I'm going to say!!
jennifer swanson
5.0 out of 5 stars grabs your attention and jeeps it. the book gets better as you read
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2024
It was a good change up for me. Smart and quick paced. An enjoyable weekend read
Likable characters and a easy storyline make for an entertaining ride
Donb01
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Crime Mystery Story with a Few Interesting Twists
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2021
I enjoyed reading this book and it was easily able to keep my attention, but didn't present anything really spectacular from a reading perspective. It was well written and easy to follow, and kept the clues unraveling at a steady pace. The female main character we know early on was abandoned along a roadway as a child, and we are now presented with her all grown up and working as a TBI agent (Tennessee version of FBI) and we are introduced to her as someone who is good at finding missing persons - she is working on the case of some missing prostitutes. We get to a point in that storyline where she draws the attention of the person who is involved in those, which gets her into a situation where she almost becomes a victim herself, which gets the actual FBI involved, resulting in the appearance of the male main character who is also a specialist in what he does. The two of them start working on the case and then that storyline kind of gets mostly dropped for a while.

Next comes a new situation with a serial killer and our two main characters kind of get distracted working on that and trying to unravel the pieces of that puzzle, and it is during this time we get a lot more of the character development and we start to find out little pieces about the past lives of our two main characters, and the new slate of "bad guys" that related to the serial killings and some other crimes and revelations that happen along the way. I would say this encompasses about the middle "half" of the book, before the original case starts to bubble back to the surface. Our two characters seem to have "thoughts" about each other but more or less keep it professional, and any writing along those personal lines is not overly descriptive.

It does get more twisty toward the end, and there are a couple of surprises, although I have to admit that some of the things that happen in the story are fairly predictable, and one can pretty much say "Yeah - I saw that one coming", but overall it's a good read and I did receive enjoyment from reading it, and the ending pretty much wrapped up the unanswered questions. I would recommend this as a good read.
LKB
3.0 out of 5 stars Follow a Profiler
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020
3.5 Stars out of 5.

Third in the Criminal Profiler Series, but the first I’ve read by this author. Started a little slow for me but once it picked up, I flew thru it. Writing style was easy, but for some reason I had a hard time time wrapping my head around following two serial killers...kept trying to make them one in the same.

Melina Shepard is a strong female protagonist with one heck of a backstory. She goes undercover, without approval, and narrowly misses becoming a serial killers next victim. Enter Jerrod Ramsey, FBI, who evidentially has been following one of the killers, and comes in to assist. My mind had a tendency to wander off and on thru this story. Not sure if it was due to the flip flop of killers. I would have preferred one strong storyline instead of the two. Melina’s backstory was interesting and heartfelt. The romance felt rushed and thrown in. Could have used more of the tension and slower follow thru.

One a whole, enjoyable reading if you are into crime dramas. Fast paced, good character development, unique storyline.

Thanks to Ms. Burton, Montlake Romance and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
#1Nana
5.0 out of 5 stars Crossroads Collide
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
Really enjoy this Author’s character and plot development. Kept wondering how she was going to merge the two storylines and she did not disappoint. This is the 4th or 5th book I’ve read by her.

Best Sellers in

 
 

Defending Jacob: A Novel

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 34109
15.66
 
 

Gunmetal Gray

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 20710
26.21
 
 

Delicate Escape: Sparrow Falls, Book 2

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 2920
21.83
 
 

The River's Edge

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 12256
18.12
 
 

Brad Taylor's Pike Logan Collection: A Collection of Hunter Killer, American Traitor, and End of Days

3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 3
29.13
 
 

Tom Clancy Shadow State: A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel, Book 12

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1615
19.69
 
 

Head On (Narrated by Wil Wheaton)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3805
29.66
 
 

Spirit Crossing: Cork O'Connor Mysteries, Book 20

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 710
21.88