Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, March 2016

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paperback, 384 pages

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from goodreads.com):

Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband was sent to jail and she started over with a new life. Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When her ex-husband is finally released, Lindsey believes she’s cut all ties. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it’s her ex-husband, even though he claims he’s a different person. But can he really change? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?

Review:

** A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No compensations were made and all opinions are my own **

Have you ever read a Chevy Stevens book? I have read every single one, including her novella, and each one gets better than the last. It's hard for me to say that Never Let You Go is her best to date because I still remember my first read by her and I get chills... in fact, all of her books leave me with chills!

Chevy Stevens is a writer of thriller/suspense novels and one of the best part about her writing is how she makes you crave more. I don't think a single one of her books has every taken me more than a couple of days to read because, once you start, you cannot stop. Fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat suspense will leave you sleepless.

One of the things that I love about Chevy's books are her characters. They are so real, so relatable and developed to feel like you would see them on the street or in the local coffee shop. The characters in Never Let You Go were no different. I loved Lindsey (I mean, her name alone) and felt that her story, her strength and her love for her daughter was so real that I understood why she did what she had to to get away from a dangerous situation. A mother's love is no joke... they will bring out the bear when needed. Sophie was another great character. Full of the typical teenage angst and trouble that you never know if you love them or hate them. As for the other, supporting, characters, every single one fit the story so well and worked to advance the story exactly as they should have!

When you are an avid reader of mystery books, you tend to learn to expect the unexpected (any Big Brother fans out there) and start to look at the most unlikely character to be the 'bad guy' but, once again, my jaw dropped when everything comes together at the end.. I love that feeling. It's rare and i takes some serious talent to be able to have the reader constantly second-guessing 'who dun it?' BRAVO!!

Overall, a stunner of a book and one that you MUST read. I can't say enough about Chevy Stevens, she is the queen of mystery and at the top of my must-read author list... perfection in a book!!

Always Watching by Chevy Stevens

Always Watching by Chevy Stevens

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, June 2013

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Hardcover, 342 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from goodreads.com):

She helps people put their demons to rest.

But she has a few of her own…

In the lockdown ward of a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Nadine Lavoie is in her element. She has the tools to help people, and she has the desire—healing broken families is what she lives for. But Nadine doesn’t want to look too closely at her own past because there are whole chunks of her life that are black holes. It takes all her willpower to tamp down her recurrent claustrophobia, and her daughter, Lisa, is a runaway who has been on the streets for seven years.

When a distraught woman, Heather Simeon, is brought into the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit after a suicide attempt, Nadine gently coaxes her story out of her—and learns of some troubling parallels with her own life. Digging deeper, Nadine is forced to confront her traumatic childhood, and the damage that began when she and her brother were brought by their mother to a remote commune on Vancouver Island. What happened to Nadine? Why was their family destroyed? And why does the name Aaron Quinn, the group’s leader, bring complex feelings of terror to Nadine even today?

And then, the unthinkable happens, and Nadine realizes that danger is closer to home than she ever imagined. She has no choice but to face what terrifies her the most…and fight back.

Sometimes you can leave the past, but you can never escape.

Review:

I have now read all of Chevy Stevens books and have to say that she remains at the top of my must-read authors. Like her other books, Always Watching is set in British Columbia Canada, which I love, and delves into the crazy world of cults. Unlike most of the mystery/suspense authors I read, Chevy Stevens books deal with issues that are unique and she handles the storyline flawlessly. Each of her books, this one included, read like they are based on true stories and keep you turning the pages to find out what happened next ... I always want to google the locations and the story to read more.

While Always Watching started off a lot slower than the other Chevy Stevens books I've read, it sure picked up and WOW... Was it ever a great read.

If you enjoy books that involve "cults" and mystery... I would definitely recommend this one.

The Other Side by Chevy Stevens

The Other Side by Chevy Stevens

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, April 2013

Genre: Fiction, Short Story

Pages: eBook, 44 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

An original ebook short story from bestselling author Chevy Stevens featuring Psychiatrist Nadine Lavoie and Staff Sergeant Sandy McBride, from Sandy is working the biggest case of her life - the Campsite Killer, who has been hunting women for almost forty years.  She's finally close to nailing him, if she can just keep her head in the game.  But when an old friend calls with a lead about Sandy's mother's murder, Sandy is pulled into the past—a past she thought she'd closed the door on. Her life is about to get real complicated, real fast.

Review:

Even at 44 pages long, Chevy Stevens has me pulled in with her amazing writing style. I absolutely love how she weaves a story and how her characters feel like real people.

The Other Side is a short story based off the characters and plot of the book Never Knowing so I definitely recommend reading that first. There was a significant amount of overlap between the two and at least half of this story was pulled directly from Never Knowing so if you read them back-to-back, it may come off as redundant. As it was a while between the stories for me, it was a nice refresher. I did enjoy the added elements to Sandy McBride's story.

As with all of Chevy Stevens work, this was a worthwhile, and very quick, read!