By: Kevin O'Brien
ISBN: 9780786038817
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: 7/26/2016
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars No Forgiveness Andrea Boyle moved to Seattle to give her seventeen-year-old nephew, Spencer, a fresh start after the death of his parents. Andrea has found her own new beginning with Luke, a successful playwright and father of a teenage son, Damon. The boys appear to have little in common, but in truth they share a private torment… No Remorse When a tragedy befalls Damon, it's just the beginning of a nightmare that unfolds. But the worst is yet to come once a dark secret from Spencer's past is exposed. And when Luke is brutally attacked, both of their futures are at stake. No Second Chance Now it's up to Andrea to prove Spencer's innocence to the police--and to herself. Because for reasons she has revealed to no one, even Andrea can't help questioning the truth--and fearing that she may be next to pay the ultimate price…
My Review
A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Kevin O’Brien returns following No One Needs to Know (2015) with YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE another complex multi-layered mystery, with a highly-charged topic of bullying combined with family secrets, and now murder—keeping readers glued to the pages of this gripping thriller, to the final ending. Andrea Boyle, age thirty-six years old, (she looked much younger)-- moved from Washington, DC with her seventeen-year-old nephew Spencer. Andrea, was a copywriter, and polished manuscripts for authors before they sent their work off to publishers—from textbooks to thrillers. She could work from anywhere, and met Luke at a party of her one and only Seattle client, a true crime writer. She had relocated with the hope that she and Spencer could start fresh, where no one knew them. Andrea had her nephew's last name legally changed. He was now Spencer Murray. Everyone thought he was her younger brother. She told people his parents died in an automobile accident when he was eleven and she had been taking care of him since. No one in Seattle knew the real story, including her dear handsome Luke. She needed to tell him the truth. Would he forgive her? She had been dating him for four months. She and Spencer had moved in with Luke three weeks earlier. Playwright Luke and Andrea are a couple attempting to start a new life together. Luke has a troubled son named Damon and a soon-to-be-ex-wife who is inappropriately obsessive about Luke, their son, and, increasingly, Andrea. When Luke and Andrea decide to move in together, kids in tow, things get unexpectedly complicated. Damon is bullied at school, with Spencer as witness, and in the aftermath of a bullied teen’s suicide, some of the bullies start to die. Damon, was his son and spent alternate weekends with them. Damon had a bit of OCD and washed his hands about forty times a day. Damon and Spencer both had been harassed by a few bullies. Evelyn was the ex-wife. When Damon recorded his own murder suicide on a podcast and outed all of the students and teachers that bullied him- strange things began happening. The people he named started turning up dead. Not only did it seem that someone was murdering these people for his benefit but whoever was behind it seemed determined to frame Spencer in the process. Damon was saying he would be more famous than his dad and his plays. When Spencer’s dark secret past is exposed and Luke learns the truth-- things get complicated. What happened when Spencer was eleven? Who is out to get him now? What is his dark secrets? Andrea has to prove her nephew’s innocence. Does she believe in his innocence? Who is killing all the bullies? Is Spencer innocent or guilty? Everyone close to him is in danger. What if Damon is not really dead? A fast-paced complex suspense thriller, with loads of characters, and most, not too nice. Have read many books by O’Brien over the years, and he never disappoints! Pack this one for your summer beach reading! Entertaining.
Review Links:
Amazon
About the Author
Before his thrillers landed him on The New York Times Bestseller list, Kevin O’Brien was a railroad inspector who worked all the live long day and wrote novels at night. He grew up on Chicago’s North Shore, the youngest of six children, and studied Journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He moved to Seattle in 1980. His railroad job took him all over the Pacific Northwest, and he wrote most of his first novel in Best Westerns and Red Lions. The result, ACTORS (1987) was translated into three languages. He took the advice of author, Terry Brooks, who told him: “Don’t quit your railroad job until you’ve made enough money on your writing to support yourself for two years.” Kevin’s second book, ONLY SON (1997) was optioned for film rights thanks to interest from Tom Hanks. ONLY SON was also chosen by Reader’s Digest for their Select Editions—alongside John Grisham’s THE PARTNER. Read More
