Georgia Author of the Year 2021 Finalist
Swann presents a greased-lightning take on the hellish fury of a woman scorned… A wild, compelling ride from beginning to end.
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
An extraordinarily compulsive read . . . Swann’s writing packs a huge emotional wallop and delivers a breathtaking ending that will surprise most readers.
Linwood Barclay meets Michael Farris Smith in this Southern-set domestic thriller about family, vengeance, and atonement from critically acclaimed Southern mystery novelist Christopher Swann.
The bonds of family never truly let go. In fact, its grip only tightens the further you try to run.
Ethan Faulkner is a precocious child with a brilliant but troublesome sister, a war vet for a father, and a weary mother trying to manage their family. One night a young woman rings their doorbell, desperate to hide from two men who are pursuing her, when one of the two barges in after her. The struggle leaves both of Ethan’s parents dead.
Years later, Ethan has a successful teaching career and a budding relationship with a coworker. But he hasn’t quite followed through on his promise to his dying father–to take care of his sister. Susannah is not an easy person to keep tabs on, is a handful even when the tabs are kept, and quite frankly, Ethan wants her to suffer for preventing him from getting to his dad before he died all those years ago.
It was a long time ago and Ethan tries to put all of it behind him. But that’s easier said than done. When news of a brutal murder breaks with evidence pointing to Ethan as the prime suspect, all the painful memories of his past come rushing to meet him. Lyrically conveyed with emotion and nuance, Never Turn Back is a powerful story about family, vengeance, and how some actions echo through the years with irreparable consequences.
With gorgeous, spare writing, Swann lets this story unfold, one dark step at a time. As the secrets unspool, we’re drawn into a twisty, hardboiled, noir-style story of the dark side of family. But the author never lets his hero get too tough or bullet-proof. There’s a beating heart of vulnerability under everything that happens as Ethan Faulkner digs up the bloody past. —Emily Carpenter, judge for 2021 Georgia Author of the Year (Detective/Mystery category)
