Is the Ophelia killer back in town? Young boys are dying again...

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published June 13th.

The story starts with a young mother who has taken her daughter down to the park by the beach. She takes her on walks regularly but this time is not ordinary. It's a bit late and she sees three teenage boys watching her. She decides to take a different route home and then another young man coming the other way sees her. He screams at her and says he won't let her hurt him. She has no idea what he's talking about but he has a knife and he's rushing at her and her child. All she has for a weapon is a comb, with a long handle. She moves to protect her baby, he trips and he punctures his neck with the comb handle. When he pulls it out, blood spurts. Before the ambulance can get there, he's dead. Unfortunately, he's just the first one. More are coming...

It seems the young man was poisoned by foxglove, that's why he went nuts. But why attack her? The police notice it is the same poison as the Ophelia killer from the past used and now they are taking a long look at her. She's not the killer. But if she doesn't find who is, her whole life is going to fall apart.

This story is full of tension and suspense. The deaths are horrible. Her family has secrets. The more she finds, the worse it is. She also finds herself being interested in the brother of the boy she killed. He's willing to help her and he's on her side. But then his aunt says it was just a ploy to get her to trust him. Who can she believe?

When she finds out who the killer is and how many they have killed, it's even worse. More die before the story ends. Even her baby ends up almost dead.

This is a story you read fast while you wait to see what will happen next. I almost forgot to breathe as we got near the end. The family ends in pieces but it's time to heal now. And she has someone on her side to help her. She has hope and love for the future.

an easy crime fiction read. I found the plot interesting and the subject matter intriguing.
I wish the author much success with it's release.

No Turning Back by Tracy Buchanan is slow and rather repetitive at times, but the mystery keeps the reader turning the pages to see "who done it". At the end of the story there are a few questions remaining about events. For instance, who took the photo of her kissing and after holding onto it for so long released it to the newspaper? Regardless, Ms Buchanan keeps the reader guessing who the murderer is now and was previously.

*Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book!*

This book sucked me in right away with the first chapter. The main plot was interesting and kept me reading, and wanting to know the answers. But I felt like it had a lot of unnecessary tangents. I felt like the romance with Jamie was forced and was there just to throw in a romance. I also didn't like the whole discussion of the "affair". Unless I was missing something, it was not an affair, and it was another unnecessary tangent. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I read it quickly.

Would you kill to protect your child?
An entrancing gripping emotional plot.
Anna Graves kills a boy in self defence who attacks herself and her baby but is there more to this story that meets the eye. Be prepared for an amazing story with twists and turns and has a dramatic ending.

A mother's protective love is beyond question. Automaticity that kicks in at just the right moment.

And that's exactly what happened on that lovely sunny day as Anna and her baby daughter, Joni, were walking along the beach. A casual glance in one direction brought immense danger to them both. A young teenage boy armed with a knife was hurling down upon them. Anna reacted by grabbing a comb out of her bag for protection. The boy lost his footing as his neck made contact with the sharp end of the comb. Death followed immediately.

Anna, a popular radio presenter, had been on maternity leave when she was accosted by the boy. Although not arrested, the death continues to haunt her and her self-imposed guilt follows her wherever she goes. Soon the boy's family, her friends, and the village of Ridgmont question her every move. Even her soon to be ex-husband feels uncertain about leaving Joni with Anna.

Emotionally, Ann is still distraught over the death of her father, Simon, who had leapt from the top window of the lighthouse nearby. Everyone believed that Simon felt absolute frustration over the unsolved murders of young teenage boys of the village. He had been a flagship reporter for years and was pursuing leads related to these crimes.

No Turning Back was a tricky novel to review. Anna's story is a credible one and Tracy Buchanan draws you in with the unusual premise of a mother protecting her child.and herself. We experience Anna's frustration as a single parent returning to work after such a horrendous experience. Anna's worries over childcare and having to deal with a jealous co-worker brings this story into familiar territory for the reader.

But then the storyline drifts into the shifting sands of baseless assumptions, over reactions, trumped up guilty speculations, and character interactions that just don't seem plausible. The police department in Ridgmont was highly inept and seemed to lack any investigative skills whatsoever. Of course, all of this provided a vehicle in which to propel the story towards its grand finale. And I will leave that up to all of you whether that brought any satisfaction or not.

Tracy Buchanan possesses much talent. I will probably be among only a few who didn't latch on completely to the threads of this story. It will be applauded by many. And I do intend to look out for the next offering by Tracy Buchanan. You can tell that she has quite the story within.

I received a copy of No Turning Back through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Crooked Lane Books (a source of incredible books) and to Tracy Buchanan for the opportunity.

Anna just wants her daughter Joni to have a safe and happy life. But as Anna's life slowly spirals out of control could she lose the one thing that's most important to her? Facing murder charges, Anna unravels a chilling, dark secret that continuously indicates that Anna is a serial killer. But can she prove her innocence before she looses Joni forever? With each new headline Anna isn't sure who she can trust but always has her grandmother to help guide her and help her face her problems.
I loved how the author kept my attention. The plot twist is fantastic.

Fun and suspenseful. Liked this book and storyline. Interesting. Quite a few original researched facts.

I wondered if I would like this book when I started but it quickly drew me in and wouldn't let me go Had to finish it in two sittings.

I liked, but did not love this book. I though it was pretty predictable and had no trouble putting it down, but didn’t mind finishing it. I am pretty sure I will have forgotten I even read this in a few weeks.

I have reviewed this book for ReaderToReader.com where it will remain on their site indefinitely. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Vickie Denney at: Vickie@ReaderToReader.com.
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"No Turning Back"
By Tracy Buchanan
Crooked Lane Books

Suspense -- Release date: June 13, 2017

Anna Graves returns to her job as a radio presenter in Ridgemont Waters, England after her maternity leave. She needs to get her life on track after her husband decides to separate. What sustains Anna is not only her work but her love for her eight-month-old daughter, Joni.

Her hometown by the sea has always been Anna's happy place, so imagine her distress when she's out with Jodi walking along the coast, and a boy accosts her. She notices the wild look in his eyes, and all she can think about it protecting Jodi. He lunges toward Anna slashing her cheek, and she quickly reacts to defend her child and herself by raising her long tooth comb, which he stumbles onto, piercing his carotid artery. Anna watches in horror as he bleeds out and dies in front of her.

Many of the town's people praise her for her actions as this boy, from the "wrong side of town" must have been on drugs. An autopsy reveals he was poisoned. Soon Anna's friends and colleagues turn on her with her only source of comfort being her maternal grandmother.

Anna receives texts from someone claiming to be the "Ophelia Killer," the term for one killing young boys twenty years previous. Anna's journalist father investigated the murders then committed suicide, with the murderer never found.

When another boy is discovered dead, it's speculated Anna somehow is involved. Her world is falling apart. How can she prove something more sinister is happening?

Ms. Buchanan's debut US novel is a psychological drama full of suspense up to the unexpected ending.

This is the first book that I've read by Tracy Buchanan and now I will be adding her to my favorite authors. This was a great book with a HUGE twist which is what I love.
Would you kill for your child?

You guys. Oh my god. You guys. I started this book this morning and was hooked within 3 chapters. I kept sneaking furtive glances at my phone, trying to figure out how I could read this and get my work done without getting in trouble. I resisted for the most part but every time I got a chance (waiting for a meeting to start, going to the bathroom (you do it too), while dinner cooked), I read.

I don't want to say anything about anything because I don't want to ruin anything. All I will say is, someone read this so we can talk about it. It was good, kept me guessing and if I say anything more, I am afraid I will ruin something.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This one didn't hit it for me. Good idea, poor wiring. This book was so full of cliches and the author pushes the fathers suicide soooo hard it's blazingly obvious he didn't actually kill himself.
The twist at the end, puleeeease. Giant eye roll.

From start to finish I never put it down. Fast moving and smoothly written.
Grips the reader from the opening chapter and never lets go

Great story line plot moves along nicely,characters are well developed couldn't put it down

I'm not sure how I feel about this story. I cannot believe how Anna was treated by both her family and the community after accidentally killing a young boy while protecting her child. All in all it doesn't make for a very plausible story.

I have loved Tracy’s other novels and I’d definitely going to be reading her next - but this one wasn't my favourite. It is clever however, clever in the opening scenes and how Anna deals with the situation and the aftermath - well I could imagine how she must feel - the fact she’s killed a boy she thought was going to attack her and her daughter on the beach.

The rest of the novel was drawn out though and the back and forth - the anguish, guilt, despair, excitement of the media... all very believable and real. It was all going towards out finding what really happened and what really was going on that night...

The answers weren’t what I expected that’s for sure, but I didn’t feel satisfied with the reasons and the why fors. If you can suspend disbelief then it could work, and the arguments to come from this book - would YOU do anything to protect your child will linger on long after the book has finished.

I normally like a good novel but, this was just too dark and hard for me. I couldn't finish.

I did enjoy reading this book-and couldn't stop until I found out who the stalker was.
The story seemed quite rushed towards the end- which may have given it pace, but the slow burn to start with actually I thought gave more tension to the book.
I actually think it was a fairly credible plot with the usual gaps in police and court knowledge