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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
16,349 global ratings
5 star
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4 star
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3 star
9%
2 star
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1 star
1%
Never Look Back

Never Look Back

byMary Burton
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Top positive review

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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsRead in one day!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 30, 2023
The book had more than one plot going and several twists!
I had to have a light dinner and stayed up late to finish the book!
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Top critical review

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HeatherLeah
2.0 out of 5 starsFILLED with factual errors that ruin the reading experience for natives of Middle Tennessee
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 22, 2020
The issues with the setting of this book ruined it for me. Without them, I likely would have rated it a 4, although the two storylines were largely disconnected until they awkwardly crashed together and connected at the end. It was very disconnected and probably would have read better with one storyline. I'm not sure the second was necessary. Now about the issues...

It's extremely obvious Mary Burton is not familiar with Nashville and picked the location at random. For someone who is not from the area, there are no issues. For someone who is, they are glaringly obviously and almost resulted in me putting down the book. I had such a huge list from just the Prologue that it became a running joke with my friends to see how many more I would run across and that is the only thing that kept me motivated enough to read the story. It's possible Ms. Burton was taking creative liberties with some of the names, but with so many other details that were factual, it did not read well. Natives know the places being described and understand the wrong terminology/locations have been used.

1. There is no area called the Bottoms. There is a Shelby Bottoms, but it is farther north and does not feature hookers and drug dealers. The area being described as being between the 24/65 split and the airport is Murfreesboro Rd, and that is how is referred to by locals. It is SE of downtown and connects to the airport area from the south. This area strangely moved to East Nashville toward the end of the story.
2. There is no Mission in that area. although the Mission might have been a made up entity, when you say the Mission to a native, their thoughts immediately go to the Nashville Rescue Mission, which is a fabulous organization in downtown Nashville, on Lafayette Street, on the other side of the 24/65 split from where it is supposed to be in the story. There is a Reverend on staff, not a Priest, and the language regarding the specific religious seems to flip-flop in the story. It is not common place for the Mission staff to be on the streets interacting with the homeless community. Outreach groups primarily handle that process. The Mission is in need of an expansion to handle all the people who need them now and willingly come to their doors. They don't have space to invite in others.
3. There are no mountains in Nashville. Nashville sits in a huge basin. There are foothills east of Nashville and the Highland Rim borders the NW, N, and NE areas of the basin. There are zero hills in the area tall enough to incorporate multiple switchbacks as described in the story. There are definitely no hills that large anywhere along the length of Highway 25, which is specifically mentioned in the story.
4. Locals would NEVER refer to the interstate loop downtown as The Beltway. It's the east bank, west side, and old 265 for those who have been here our entire lives.
5. While the building is technically on RS Gass Blvd, the TBI Building is referred to as being "off Ellington at Hart." It does not overlook the old children's home. There is the ME building, a hill, and a whole bunch of trees between the two.
6. Metro Nashville is incorporated and the Nashville Police Department patrols the entire county. The Davidson County Sheriff's Department does not investigate accidents. They are almost entirely a warrants and corrections division. They find the bad guys for the PD, lock them up, and keep them there.
7. The Smoky Mountains are at least 3.5 hours east of Nashville, often longer depending on traffic, not "a couple of hours" as stated in the book.

My advice is to not mix factual with created facts. I was looking forward to reading a novel set in Nashville, but the factual errors ruined it for me. The details should have been 100% factual or completely made up, not a mix, even if deliberate. There was definitely a breakdown in fact-checking and research in this novel.
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From the United States

prisrob
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 stars Lady Loves
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
Serial killers, these two words tend to raise the hackles. There are organizations dedicated to unlocking the secrets of what causes serial killers to kill. This is the story of one serial killer, and the race to stop him.

Agent Melina Shepard works with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. She has just come off a rogue investigation of two missing Women of the Bottom. This is the sad part of Nashville,, where the poor and down trodden live. Melina was asked by a childhood friend, the Rev, to look for two women who worked as prostitutes. The Rev has a mission looking after addicts who had come clean. She looked after her own. Melina worked as a prostitute for a couple of nights hoping to find some info about the missing girls. What she did walk into was a near miss with the probable killer. Her boss was upset and put her on desk duty. What she did provide, however, was enough info and blood for DNA to attract the attention of an FBI agent searching for this Serial Killer.

Agent Ramsey and Agent Shepard start working together, combining clues to try and track this man down. Mecum is his name, and he carries a lot of baggage. Alternating between Shepard/Ramsey’s narration and Mecum’s voice, we follow them as the plan to continue killing, and the plan to catch the serial murderer moves on. This is a fascinating look at the mind of a serial killer, and at the same time trying to figure out his game. The two agents work well together, and their narration of putting their lives on line are compelling. The author,Mary Burton, has good insight into this type of killing, it is sadistic and creepy. Living with this kind of mind while writing the book must have been difficult. This is an example of one serial killer, but his history must resemble those of others. In this difficult time we are in, find something light after reading this book. It will keep you occupied and you may revel in the storyline. Well done.

Recommended. prisrob 06-01-2020
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Donb01
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Crime Mystery Story with a Few Interesting Twists
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
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.
2 people found this helpful
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K.B.
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid thriller with intriguing main character
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
This was my first time reading a Mary Burton novel although I have read one of the books she has written using the name, Mary Ellen Taylor. Never Look Back was a solid thriller with an intriguing main character. I didn't realize until after I had finished the book this is part of the Criminal Profiler series, however you can easily read this book as a standalone novel.

Agent Melina Shepard works for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and she goes undercover as a prostitute with the hope she can find some answers about the disappearance of two women. She barely escapes an attack by a john and soon it becomes clear that guy is a serial killer. FBI agent Jerrod Ramsey is sent to Nashville to help track down the killer. And that's all you really need to know other than Jerrod and Melina will be working together.

Melina is the main character but the story occasionally bounces back and forth between other characters, including Jerrod and the serial killer. Melina has an unusual but interesting backstory. I preferred the parts of the book that focused on her or Jerrod rather than the other characters however each character had a role in advancing the plot so I would say it was necessary to feature so many people in order to get all the pieces of the puzzle.

I will give the author credit because there was a major plot twist that I didn't see coming at all. Anytime a writer can catch me off guard that is a good thing. But I would say the rest of the novel follows more of a predicable path. It's enough to keep you entertained but I wouldn't place it among the best thrillers/mysteries I have ever read. It does make for a good, mindless escape from real life for a couple of hours type read. I would definitely read another book by this author as this book held my interest which isn't an easy task these days.
104 people found this helpful
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BookLover1013
4.0 out of 5 stars When One Serial Killer Isn't Enough
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 3, 2020
Verified Purchase
Melina had a tough childhood, no doubt, but should she be grateful to the woman who dumped her on the side of the road? After all, she could have been tied into those circumstances with the drifter criminal forever, but instead she landed in a loving home with doting parents. It all lends credibility to her career in law enforcement following in her adopted father's footsteps.
While helping her friend who runs a mission locate missing prostitutes she stumbles upon a serial killer and narrowly escapes his clutches. This introduces Jerrod, an FBI agent who has hunted this killer for many years.
When another little girl who resembles Melina gets left in a car wreck, it pries open Melina's past and reveals some genetic truths that are horrifying. It also leads to a second serial killer.
I liked this book. The only problem was that the story about the first serial killer was dropped for so long while they moved on to the second one that I found it jolting returning to the first killer.
Over all, it was a satisfying thriller with multiple story lines and connections between the key characters. The romantic angle was a bit muted, but I was glad the two found comfort in each other when they had so much darkness in their lives. I prefer the suspense and thriller over the romance genre, so it didn't make much of a difference to me. I found myself exclaiming out loud a few times near the end. Definitely worth a read.
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Mindo'ermatter
4.0 out of 5 stars Burton at Her Best! Suspenseful, Engaging Read!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
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!
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Book Junkie
4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced & well-written/ yet implausible
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
No spoilers in my reviews:

This book gripped me right away, and it was a one sitting reading. I completely became riveted and could not put it down. Admittedly as I put in the title, it is an entirely unbelievable plot. I don't mind though, it was written with a lot of skill and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just suspended my disbelief a little bit more than usual, completely worth it to me!

Mary Burton has done an excellent job of creating characters that are compelling and very fully realized. Her plotting and sub plotting Make the book flow, despite the completely unrealistic aspects. She throws in a lot of detail regarding human nature and behaviors, which is like candy to most people and I am not immune to candy. I just had to find out what was going to happen next. She does have some very clever twists and is an author who knows how to entertain a reader.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller, police procedural, drama or just plain fun reading. The only reason it didn't get five stars was because of the over the top Deus Ex machina, but I will reiterate it does not make the story any less compelling.

As always I wish happy reads to all from, the Unapologetic Book Junkie!
30 people found this helpful
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A Customer
VINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent but complicated murder mystery, 2 serial killers and a contrived romance subplot.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
Excellent but complicated murder mystery with a contrived romance subplot.

I enjoyed this stand-alone serial killer mystery, but the associated police procedural is only middling. I listened to part of this book via Audible, but the narrator is terrible, especially when she voice-acts male characters. I preferred my Kindle.

I rated this 4 stars mostly for the storyline and subplots, which author Mary Burton heroically juggled throughout the book. I liked both protagonists, but in many ways, the MCs are stereotypes: 1) a lone-wolf white male FBI agent, married to his job; 2) a strong, intelligent but TSTL female TBI agent, who happens to fit an obsessed killer’s vision of his ideal woman, making her a target; and 3) a serial killer who drives a windowless white van, kitted-out for torture/murder. OTOH, the second killer, who takes grisly trophies, is more interesting—as is his sociopathic mom, who still attaches herself to her son.

Here’s something I’d druther-not-read about again: 1) Another female cop whose house has easy-pick door locks and zero security systems; and 2) author trying to force a contrived romance and sex between characters, who lack chemistry—especially when it’s not organic to the storyline.
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Je3rissa353
4.0 out of 5 stars Wasn't the best and not the worst
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 5, 2022
Verified Purchase
Interesting storyline were there's two suspense being played out and the romance between the two main characters were very low key and seemed to be an after thought. The ending felt rushed and condensed to tie up all the loose ends....not sure if its due to word counts or what??? I recommend reading and as always Happy Reading!!!
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Balroop Singh
4.0 out of 5 stars Never-ending investigation!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2020
Verified Purchase
Never Look Back by Mary Burton compresses too much within its pages – three plots run parallel to each other, with a lot of dead bodies and investigation into never-ending cases. It is slow in the beginning but soon picks up pace yet unnecessary details are irksome. I would say who wants to know about the house and its location, “with a porch and a planter filled with bright-yellow pansies” in the middle of a serious investigation? At the same time, I admired some magnificent pages, written with psychological insights, understanding the depth of indelible scars that fester whenever some characters connect with their emotions.

Melina and Ramsey have an interesting working connection, which reveals their admiration for each other but only Melina grows as the story progresses. Her strengths shine more than her insecurities, which have been handled delicately, giving enough space to her past connections. The stories blend well toward the end. Serial killers appear to be enigmatic, as their backgrounds cry for elucidation. This book could have been a brilliant page-turner in the hands of an incisive editor.
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Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
This story unfolded itself with enough words to keep my interest going. Mary Burton has a great style and excellent knowledge of how the criminal mind works.
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