Never Go Home

Wherein My Own Reading Habits Do Me In. The story itself here was an excellent romp through mostly northern, Inside The Perimeter, Atlanta, and a great tale of a woman who has become quite good at skills few have. Maybe it got a touch bogged down in the backstory in Iraq, but before that point - when our main character is trying to really figure out what is going on - and after that point - when the tale switches gears to a cat and mouse game with someone even better at these skills than she is - this is actually a remarkably different book than its predecessor. It also ends with the title... which blatantly sets up at least one more book in this series.

But here's where my reading habits did me in: I never once realized that this book was the sequel to 2020's Never Turn Back while reading it. Because I had read 434 books between the two entries in this series. Yes, over a span of just 17 months or so. Indeed, I only realized it was the sequel when coming to Goodreads to write this review and seeing it labeled as “Faulkner Family #2, then reading both the description and my review of Never Turn Back.

So do yourself a favor: Don't wait hundreds of books between the two in this series - and when you finish this one, you're going to wish Swann already had Book 3 ready to put in your hands (which he may have, depending on when you read this review/ read this book). Very much recommended.

I just finished Never go home by Christopher Swann and here's what I think about it.

Susannah is called home by her brother Ethan. She arrives just as their uncle, the man who raised them, has a heart attack which triggers a whole world of chaos for her to deal with. Whispering the word Peaches to her, she hunts to find out what Uncle Gavin is after.

Not only is there a turf war coming, but Ethan is in need of her help too. He had a man show up, Finn, a man that knew their father... The father that came home from the war not right and was murdered... Finn has a story to tell. One that has their father stealing money and Finn is here to collect his share after spending almost 20 years in prison. Finn wants Suzie to find it...

Can Suzie protect her Uncle's business while he is recovering from his heart attack? Can she find Finn's missing money before he hurts anyone? Will she be able to stop the turf war that her uncle doesn't want? Can she survive being tested in this all out action thriller?

I actually didn't know that this book was a sequel but it didn't matter as it read like a standalone in its own right and all the characters were nicely developed in this book too.

I loved Suzie. She is hardcore and a bad @ss. I love really strong female protagonists so I was so happy to find a raw and vulnerable person who has her heart in the right place.

There was so much going on that sometimes, it got a little distracting. I don't think it needed 2 storylines but they were interwoven pretty seamlessly so it wasn't necessarily a negative thing.
The storyline with Finn was definitely the most exciting part of the whole book. I feel like the author has set themselves up with an antagonist for future reads. Suzie really has met her match now and I need to know what happens next!

Nothing was left not explained, the pace was exceptional and the style of writing was actually so brilliant that I need more from this author.

4 solid stars!

Do you like an action packed thriller that doesn't stop? Get this one on Aug 9th 2022

Thank you netgalley and crooked lane books for my ARC in exchange for my review!