Review: Never Look Back by Clare Donoghue

• Series: Mike Lockyer Novels (Book 1)
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (June 10, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 9781250046079
• Source: Publisher

Three young women are murdered in south London, the killer becoming increasingly brazen with victim. Detective Inspector Mike Lockyer, the head of homicide, and Detective Sergeant Jane Bennett are struggling to find a connection between the victims. When the most recent victim resembles Lockyer’s own daughter, his determination to bring the killer to justice becomes stronger. Eventually, a connection is found, but not before more innocent women are killed.

Sarah Grainger was once an outgoing and social London photographer. For the past several months, however, she’s secluded herself in her apartment, attempting to allude a stalker that follows her every move. When the stalker’s actions begin to intensify, she files a complaint with the police. Recent attempts to do the same have been met with less than desirable outcomes. To Sarah’s luck, however, she’s introduced to Lockyer after the police realize her stalker’s behavior parallels that of the killer. The stalker has information he is desperate to share with Sarah, information vital to Lockyer’s homicide investigation.

Never Look Back is a cleverly written debut, the first in a series featuring DI Mike Lockyer. The character Donoghue creates in Lockyer is a crafted and dynamic one.  She reveals shades of his character slowly through his police work and his relationships with his daughter.  In this first book alone, Donoghue has wielded a character both strong and sympathetic, a characteristic demanded for a successful new series.

Additionally, Donoghue expertly captures the terror experienced by Grainger, her character brimming with fear as she faces the endless phone calls and messages left by her stalker. Readers will find themselves aware of their surroundings, looking for a person that stands out in the crowd, wary of every move they make.

The atmosphere generated is wholly chilling, the reader granted access into the consciousness of not only Lockyer and Grainger but of the stalker as well.  It will be impossible for even the most seasoned thriller reader to not get chills while reading this novel, the hairs on the back of your neck raising with each terrifying scene.  This is just the first in a new procedural series, I wait impatiently for more from Donoghue. Highly, highly recommended.