I’m a little disappointed I didn’t love this more but I think this’ll satisfy readers a little less grumpy and picky than moi.

The most interesting thing about this story was the fact that we know who did the deed. And, in fact, we spend the entire time in the head of the one who has committed the crime. I quite liked that. But I found Lucas.. kind of insufferable? It wasn’t even the fact that he was a con-man mastermind responsible for his wife’s death, that he’d been orchestrating a particular end result for the entirety of their relationship. It was maybe moreso the narrative voice. And perhaps the pacing.

I never fully engaged in this story, I was completely uninterested in all of Lucas’ backstory, and while I enjoyed the enjoying, I’ll admit I did see part of it coming. It was still a good gotcha moment but it didn’t quite redeem the journey to where we finally get there (though I’ll likely round up on GR). I’m not quite sure this had the dark wit that was promised in the pitch, either.

This was my first read by McKinnon, and while she’s got a good few books out and seems to be well loved, I’ll admit I had never even heard of her. I’ll likely peek through her backlist to find another that might work better, though, because I have’t quite given up yet.

2.5

This book was solid throughout but the ending was in particular the best part. It was interesting having a bad guy narrator. It did drag in some parts though. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.


4.5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Life wasn’t kind to Lucas growing up, but he was always smart.

Now, after reinventing himself, he has the perfect plan to finally have the life he’s always wanted.

He engineers a plan to marry a wealthy woman. Then, he hires a hitman to kill her, to inherit her fortune.

He is meticulous in his planning. There’s no way he will ever get caught….
_________________________________

I love the way this story was crafted. The author must have had to write herself a lot of sticky notes to keep it all straight 😂
It all comes together flawlessly, at a engaging pace throughout.
I actually found myself pulling for Lucas, despite the despicable things he did - that’s a true talent.

This was my favorite HMM book so far! Told in first person perspective from the villain, it was fun to watch him losing his mind! I kept jumping from theory to theory to theory and back again! And yet I was still surprised at how the ending played out! It was a super fun twisty roller coaster of a book! Highly recommend!!!

Is hiring a hitman worth the risk and worry?

Lucas thought so until he started receiving blurry photos and notes about Michelle. Who are the photos and notes from, and who was in his backyard?

We meet Lucas who met Michelle at an art function and knew she would be able to take care of all his money worries. He loved her, but didn't want her - he only wanted the money.

He thought he had planned everything perfectly, but did he?

Lucas tells his story as we listen and as we learn and as Lucas starts to get paranoid.

There is no way, though, that anyone could suspect him or have figured out what he did…he was very careful and had planned this for a few years.

Getting nervous and hoping to find out if the hitman could have left clues anywhere, Lucas does something pretty risky and dumb.

Just what did you do, Lucas?

Lucas did what every thriller character does...he gave us an amazing, clever, can't-put-down read.​

And oh is it a good one.​

Do NOT miss this book. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Never Coming Home will keep you turning the pages, trying to keep one step ahead of the devoted husband, Lucas Forester as he attempts to conceal his role in the disappearance/murder of his wife, Michelle. Having come from a rough upbringing in England, Lucas decides the only way to make it big is to find a rich American woman and marry her. He meticulously plots for years, developing the sympathetic role of the loving and devoted husband to his uber rich wife and "perfect" son-in-law and brother-in-law to her family. When his mother-in-law is diagnosed as "terminal", Lucas's plans must kick into high gear before the old woman decides to leave the family fortune to charity instead of to Lucas. But Lucas's perfect plan has gone awry somewhere, he is receiving messages from someone regarding Michelle's killing. Frantic to keep his role and identity secret, Lucas goes on the hunt for the person who is now hunting him. Readers will try to figure out who this blackmailer could be and just when you think you've got it, another plot twist arrives. The ending leaves readers thinking, "wow, I never saw that coming" and neither did Lucas!

Hannah Mary McKinnon has written her next great thriller and you will not want to miss it! Never Coming Home is a devious, suspenseful mystery you will not be able to put down. Told from the male point of view, I highly recommend you buckle up and hop on this ride as he plans, grieves and orchestrates a very deceptive scheme that will keep you on the edge of your seat! The twist and turns are throughout the whole book and they will make you dizzy! You will keep reading this one right into the night just to find out what is coming next!!! McKinnon writes a heart pounding ending that only she can do!!!! I always look forward to her books, they are a must read!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Hannah Mary McKinnon for an advanced copy of this addicting book in exchange for my honest review.
#netgalley, #harlequintradepublishing, #HTPinfluencers #hannahmarymckinnon
#arc

Wealthy, beautiful Michelle is missing, and her husband of three years, Lucas Forester, is devastated. Or, really, not so much, since he's the one who hired someone to kill her for her money. He's feeling pretty smug about the whole thing, but when some photos and a mysterious note show up, Lucas is certain someone is onto him. Chaos ensues.


I love a book with the bad guy as the narrator (hello, YOU). There's something so fun about rooting for a terrible human who lies nonstop and plans his wife's murder and thinks he's smarter than every single person on earth. I didn't *want* him to get away with it, but I maybe kind of did? Anyway, this is a fun, super bingeable thriller. A few things are pretty obvious, but seeing it all unfold was highly entertaining anyway. And the ending was perfection.

“Never Coming Home” is a book you won’t want to put down. Lucas’ wife is missing and he has a secret. He wanted her dead and thought he had gotten away with it. Then letters start showing up that tell him he’s not the only one who knows his secret. The pacing was great, there weren’t any lulls throughout the book. I find it unique to read a novel from the bad guy's point of view. It offered such great insight into the mind of a killer. Lucas was such an interesting character and I found myself fascinated by him, scared of him, but also simultaneously rooting for him. I think because the story is written from his POV, even when he is making terrible choices, you’re still on his side. I enjoyed getting to find out the backstory to Lucas’ life as well, because that helped me understand his character and his choices even more. I was completely blindsided by the absolutely perfect, satisfying ending. I loved this book from start to finish and would highly recommend to anyone who loves a fast paced domestic thriller. I think that this is Hannah Mary McKinnon’s best book yet. Thriller fans, put this on your TBR pile for 2022. I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoy mystery/thrillers. Thank you to Hannah Mary McKinnon, Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my thoughts.

I find it difficult to enjoy a story when I dislike the main character. Never Coming Home (Hannah Mary McKinnon) has a man named (Michael) Lucas whose only redeeming quality is that he loves his father. Lucas will go to any lengths to get money and save his own skin. I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Books for an early copy to review.

There is no such thing as a perfect murder, and if you are sure you have just gotten away with it, think again. Enter Lucas Forester, who thanks to an ironclad prenup, decides the only way to acquire his wife's fortune is to kill her for it. After all, she is busy spending it on silly things like a new car for him. It is a fun change to read a book from the villain's point of view, especially when that villain is so sure he has done everything right, yet nothing seems to go completely right for him. You can't quite hate Lucas for his ruthlessness, especially because he is so kind to a dog he rescues (nice touch there). While I found part of the end predictable, there were some surprises and it is definitely worth hanging in to see how the author wraps up this villainous story.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Hannah Mary McKinnon for the advanced copy of Never Coming Home in exchange for my honest review.

Lucas Forester has been planning for years to get his hands on his wife's money. It's not that he loathes her, he just feels he's more entitled to her fortune than she is. His plan: take out a hit on her.

He's feeling incredibly proud of himself when everything goes off without a hitch... or so he thinks. When weird photos and notes start showing up at his home, he is left wondering if there's something he missed.

This story started off super strong, and I actually found it really intriguing that we find out right off the bat Lucas's wife, Michelle, isn't actually missing and that Lucas hired a hitman to take her out. I'd say about 40% in, I became less invested in the story and wasn't quite as hooked as I was in the beginning.

I think it's fair to say that the big reveal in this book has two parts. Unfortunately I predicted the first part super early into the book, and that ultimately took away from the ending for me. The second part, however, I did find quite intriguing.

This is ultimately a well-written book, as I utterly despised Lucas, and I can always appreciate when an author makes me have such big feelings about a fictional character.

This was a fun, albeit unrealistic read. It centers on Lucas who plans to kill his wife in order to inherent all her money. The book takes you through the planning and aftermath of what Lucas has set up in order to get his wife out of the way.

The author managed to make Lucas not exactly likable, but as likable as a cold blooded killer can be. His backstory was done well and his overall attitude was fun to read about, even though I definitely had to suspend my disbelief throughout.

I didn’t love the end- it was somewhat predictable and contrived; someone else mentioned that it felt like the end of a Scooby Doo mystery and I laughed out loud because it was such an accurate depiction.

Overall the book was a fun read as long as you go in with the expectation that this is a bit of a dark fairy take versus a true psychology thriller. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A character driven, dark psychological thriller comes your way via Hannah Mary McKinnon. I like her style of pivotal points that leads down to life-defining events. When Lucas Forrester has redeeming qualities to bring himself out of his father's lack of paternal instinct, he creates an identity that turns even darker than his father's. He hones in on a wealthy, beautiful and extravagant Michelle to be his wife. His decisions are despicable and evil but come with a dark humor that I found entertaining.

Lucas tolerates his wife's quirks and annoyances to rob her of her life and riches. He dives into the dark web to find a hit-man to dispose of her and soon plays the role of a grieving husband. Receiving partial images, and cryptic notes, paranoia sets in. He makes irrational moves even toying with Michelle's dying mother and her drug intolerant brother Travis to hopefully gain all of the family's inheritance.

Told by the antagonist Lucas, you endure his humor and psycho analysis of his crime. It is shocking and sometimes justified when allegiances and collaboration from an even more sinister group enter the scene. There are twists and sometimes obvious situations that occur leaving the ending expected and unexpected, which you may not understand that description until you have read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Don’t you just love it when someone evil gets what’s coming to them? If so…Get the popcorn, (big bag!) get yourself good and comfortable, and ready…Chapter one!

Lucas is soon to inherit his wealthy wife’s estate. One ittsy-bittsy problem. His loving wife isn’t dead – YET!

But Lucas can take care of that pesty problem.

Best laid plans…

Unfortunately for him, things don’t go as smoothly as he hoped. He’s been receiving disturbing, anonymous notes informing him that someone knows exactly what he did!

Well, well, well, Lucas. Isn’t Karma a b****!

This was a fun thriller told from Lucas’ POV. I positively relished watching him squirm as the heat turned up!

For a thriller somewhat on the lighter side this, will fit the bill perfectly. A great summer (or spring time) read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/ MIRA

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lucas's wife goes missing. He is not terribly upset about her disappearance.

I did not like this book and did not finish it. I felt it was too predictable and did not pique my interest. It did not get me questioning what was going to happen, which is something I look for in a book. I read A LOT, and have been known to keep reading even when I'm not totally into a book in the hope that it will get better. That did not happen in this case. Honestly, I didn't think it was written very well like maybe it should have had more editorial review before it gets published. I do not want to give this book a star rating, but apparently, I am forced to give one.

Okay, WOW. I don’t think I have ever read an ending that made my jaw drop like this one. Of all the possible ways this story could have ended, Mary absolutely knocked it out of the park with her choice.

This thriller was so creepy, and eerie I kept looking over my shoulder every night I was up late reading. It was also so nice to read a book with the setting in Boston.

Lucas was such an interesting character and I found myself fascinated by him, scared of him, but also simultaneously rooting for him. I think because the story is written from his POV, even when he is making terrible choices (like hiring a hit man to kill his wife), you’re still on his side. I enjoyed getting to find out the backstory to Lucas’ life as well, because that helped me understand his character and his choices even more.

Overall, I think this is going to be one of the best thrillers of 2022! Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an advanced copy of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you like a dark and twisted mystery as your beach or poolside read, put Never Coming Home on your summer reading list. This books comes out in late May and is perfect for fans of Samantha Downing and Tarryn Fisher.

We all know the wife goes missing plots, but this little gem takes us through the story from the despicable husband’s prospective. Lucas thinks he has it all figured out…missing wife=huge inheritance. Maybe he does? Maybe he doesn’t? It’s a fun jaunt to find out if good or evil will prevail. I hate to admit it, but Lucas might just be a likeable villain for a few brief moments? Eek. The movement of plot also reminded me of the tv show Good Behavior…deplorable people who are appealing one minute and have you with a little smirk on your face the next.

A new author to me, and the promise of a darkly humorous thriller I picked this up with high hopes. I was hoping for something like a Peter Swanson or Samantha Downing style.

Lucas is the husband, Michelle his wife has disappeared, believed to be kidnapped, while Nora's mother lies terminally ill waiting to die.

No spoilers, Lucas is revealed from the start to be behind a hitman plot to kill Michelle to cash in on the family fortunes. Brave, making your main character a murder plotting fiend.

It gets off to a good start, I felt it had real potential, and when we learn about Lucas's past I was very nearly won over. His planning is meticulous, to me it felt over-explained and slow.

I was hoping it would pick up in the second half, accelerating to a tense finale or epic twists, but it didn't, I didn't get any real tension. I could see the the main twist coming, found it hard not to with so few characters.

The plot was fairly good, Lucas's past life was my favourite bit. I wanted it to work, but sadly for me it didn't. Others may love it, and I hope it finds an audience.


Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing