Never Let You Go

Starred review from January 23, 2017
Lindsey Nash, the narrator of this superlative psychological thriller from bestseller Stevens (Those Girls), has built a good life for herself and her teenage daughter, Sophie, in Dogwood Bay, a lakeshore town in British Columbia, since fleeing with Sophie from her abusive husband, Andrew, 11 years earlier. On the night Lindsey left, Andrew—drunk and enraged—followed them, causing a car accident that left an innocent woman dead. Andrew went to prison, but now he’s out, and Lindsey is certain he’ll make her pay for every day he spent behind bars. When the local police are unable to assist Lindsey after an increasingly frightening series of incidents (a pet bird killed, a dog poisoned, a hit-and-run), Lindsey turns for help to her friend and self-defense teacher, Marcus, a former psychiatrist with a tragic past who develops into a love interest. Stevens’s taut writing and chilling depiction of love twisted beyond recognition make this a compelling read from the first page to the last. 150,000-copy first printing; author tour. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Agency.

January 1, 2017
In Stevens' (Those Girls, 2015, etc.) latest, a Canadian woman believes a decade in prison hasn't lessened her former husband's obsessive belief that they were meant to be together. Lindsey was a clerk when she fell for Andrew, a prosperous contractor. Soon she was head over heels in love with him, a man kind enough to give her out-of-work father a job as a foreman. They married. Soon, though, came incidents when Andrew inflicted emotional terror. After daughter Sophie was born, the abuse turned physical. Lindsey feared for her life. She fled, taking Sophie. In pursuit and driving drunk, Andrew killed a young woman, a crime that led to his imprisonment. In the meantime, Lindsey escaped to Dogwood Bay, a small town near Vancouver. Feeling free, she joined a support group where she met Marcus, a reserved man coping with his own tragedy, and found a boyfriend, Greg, a quiet, laid-back delivery driver. Then, sentence complete, Andrew arrived in Dogwood Bay. Andrew was a textbook abuser: charismatic, handsome, possessive, rigid, and violent. There are hints Andrew has reformed, but Lindsey is skeptical, and shadows within the narrative suggest the old Andrew is at work again. Stevens' tale isn't linear, instead shifting back and forth across 20 years, sometimes a chronicle of misdirection, more often a dissection of obsession and revenge, fear and terror. Most of the chapters are narrated by Lindsey, a haunted character, while at other times Sophie relates the tale, "too young to comprehend obsession," stumbling to reconnect with a father she's never known. The pace never slackens until a death sends the narrative spinning, hidden dangers lurking even while Lindsey worries that Sophie's youthful romance displays disturbing parallels to Lindsey's courtship with Andrew. Stevens' take on a familiar woman-pursued-by-abuser plot has sparked a fast-paced thriller with a surprise twist.

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December 1, 2016
Stevens' latest opens with life after the main character has escaped an abusive marriage, and we're not sure at first how that happened. All becomes clear as chapters alternate to illustrate the brave Lindsey's new life with her now-teenage daughter; the daughter's perspective; and Lindsey's earlier life with Andrew, a man who seemed generous and loving to friends and family but who made his home a virtual prison for his wife and child. The gripping, often terrifying story follows Lindsey as she endures the roller coaster that is survival and in the end finds an outcome that she never expected. The difficulty of reading this book as a survivor must be emphasized; those of us who've endured domestic violence will recognize our lasting terrors and looking-over-our-shoulder habits in these pages and in this woman, as Stevens' portrayal is spot-on. At the same time, survivors will want to pass the book on to everyone who ever asked them why they didn't just leave. A must for public libraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

October 15, 2016

With her former husband jailed for his abusive behavior, Lindsey Nash has left town and started over, sure that he will never find her and their teenage daughter. But now that he's been released from prison, strange things are happening. Stevens's Still Missing won the International Thrillers Writers Award for Best First Novel.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017

In Steven's sixth novel (after Those Girls), we meet Lindsey, a woman who has escaped an abusive husband and created a settled and safe life with her teenage daughter, Sophie. The story of the disintegration of Lindsey's marriage to Andrew, told in flashbacks, explains her need to be independent and her fierce protection of Sophie. When Andrew reappears after a long imprisonment, disturbing things begin to happen to Lindsey. Sophie, who is curious about her father, makes contact with him, and they began to meet secretly. The tension escalates as Lindsey struggles to regain control of her life and escape from the subtle terror that colors her every move. Friends, boyfriends, and a concerned police officer become involved as the danger escalates. The story is told in the alternating voices of Lindsey and Sophie, allowing readers to understand both characters more fully. The Pacific Northwest small-town setting contributes to the sense of looming disaster as it is continually beset with fog, rain, and snow. VERDICT Disturbing, suspenseful, and just a little nerve-wracking, this fast-paced psychological thriller will keep fans of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl on edge. [See Prepub Alert, 9/26/16.]--Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.