This was a very suspenseful thriller with lots of twists and turns that kept me on my toes. I did guess where some of the twists, and I think some parts were predictable, but there were lots of twists I did not see coming!

I really enjoyed reading from the villain's perspective and getting a look into his head. I even found myself rooting for him at times.

I do think that it could have been shortened a little bit. The first little bit and ending were really well done and fast-paced, but the middle felt very slow and was a little boring. However, it was still a very entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and MIRA for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What It's About: Lucas Forester has spent years working on a plan to inherit his wife Michelle's wealth. He finally put it into action and it seems to be working well as Michelle has been missing for thirty-one days now. Lucas only need to play the role of a grieving husband. Everything is going his way, until he receives a cryptic note with a photo and this changes everything.

My thoughts: WOWZA! This was a wild and highly entertaining book! I am a sucker for books told from a villain POV. Lucas is a character you will love and hate. He is a cold, calculating narcissist yet I find myself rooting for him because there is still some good in him. Ugh. What a complex character!

This book was really hard to put down. It has a solid plot with all the right key elements in it - suspense, twists, red herrings. I just had to keep flipping the pages and see how things end. All I can say is it was dang good! This is the kind of thriller that will stay with me for a long time! Yes, Lucas is going to live rent-free in my head now.

In a nutshell, READ this book!




Pub. Date: May 24th, 2022


***Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, author Hannah Mary McKinnon and NetGalley for this gifted reading copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon is incredible!

This psychological suspense is told only from the perspective of Lucas Forester.

Lucas is a psychotic husband who went after his wife PURELY for her money and then is up to diabolical behavior, not only while she goes missing acting in despair but even beyond you could comprehend.

This book had my attention from beginning to end. It is SO good!!!!!

The characters were well written, and I loved the perspective of the psycho husband.

Just when you think it couldn't get crazier, it does. But in the best possible way.

NEVER COMING HOME by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a fast-paced and sinister psychological thriller that I simply could not put down. I have read and loved all of this author’s books and couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest. The story is told entirely from the male protagonist’s point of view. Lucas Forrester is a manipulative con man who has risen well above his humble beginnings. From the moment he met Michelle, who is from an obscenely wealthy family, he vowed to marry her and find a way to gain access to her millions. But when her father insists on an air-tight pre-nuptial agreement, Lucas realizes the only way to get Michelle’s money is to get rid of her. He delves into the dark web and hires a hit man to kill Michelle. He is sure his devious plan is flawless and he plays his role as the grieving husband to perfection. But when cryptic notes and photos related to his wife’s disappearance begin appearing, Lucas is forced into a cat and mouse game that he can’t afford to lose. Told with sharp wit and dark humor, NEVER COMING HOME is wickedly entertaining. I think this is Hannah Mary McKinnon’s darkest yet most humorous book yet. I highly recommend it! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

NEVER COMING HOME is the second book I’ve read by Hannah Mary McKinnon and it is absolutely outstanding! It is an extremely well-written, fast-paced novel with well-drawn out characters, each one has their issues and their flaws, yet most of them are likeable. The plot is gripping and full of action and suspense. Lucas is grieving for his wife, Michelle. Or is he? He is taking care of his dad who is in long term care. He also cares deeply for his mother in law as she lays dying in her bed. This poor man right? Not so fast…….

Omg! This is by far the best book I have read this year. I’ve always loved Mary’s books and this one hooked me from page one. Once I started reading I couldn’t put NEVER COMING HOME down. Someone is messing with Lucas and dropping clues that they know what he did. It took me almost until the end of the book to figure out who was obsessed with Lucas. Be prepared to do nothing once you start reading this heart pounding tale. I’ve never read a novel before where I was in the head of a killer the entire time!

The tenseness of the situation, the combination of suspects, the weather, the background information of the characters, makes for a great paced, tension ridden novel, and when the stalker’s identity was finally uncovered, I was quite shocked. Everyone should read NEVER COMING HOME with all its twists and turns today!

NEVER COMING HOME is a real page-turner. I couldn’t put it down until I knew what had happened. Fans of psychological mysteries will enjoy this one. NEVER COMING HOME is so well written, that even though it jumps back and forth between the present and the past, it is still easy to follow. I actually felt bad for Lucas at first, praying to get to live a normal life after having lost so much and having been through so many struggles. NEVER COMING HOME is a suspenseful tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final pages. I highly recommend NEVER COMING HOME!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Collins and MIRA through Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.

Unlike anything I have read before. You might think you know where this book is headed but buckle up… If you like a dark, twisty tale of love, deceit and murder this book is for you.

This wasn't quite up to par with HMM's previous novels, in my opinion, but it was still worth a read. I found the narrator to be very annoying (though I understand this was done on purpose), so it was hard to read at times. However, I liked the plot and I was a fan of the ending. Overall, a pretty good one.

4.5 ⭐ rounded up
I know I shouldn't, but I love Lucas. He is quite a conniving, clever con, thief, crook, liar and murderer. I loved every minute of watching his devious plan unfold.

Lucas's wife, Michelle, has been missing for a month. He is acting like the perfect son-in-law by staying by his dying MIL's side while she lives out the rest of her days. He makes her promises he has no intention of keeping. On the outside Lucas is the very concerned husband ~ on the inside he knows exactly what happened to her.
He grew up poor and has never known what it's like to be able to just throw money around, to never have to clip a coupon, to buy a new couch just because the 2 month old one doesn't look right.
He's been working up the perfect plan for a while to get Michelle's fortune ~ every detail is planned to the T.

Told solely by Lucas really showed what a meticulous job he did in planning everything out perfectly. He really made Michelle look like a terrible person, well maybe she really was.
I 💚 Roger ~ I hope he got a happily ever after.

This was some page turning, heart pounding, domestically/psychologically thrilling goodness, with a near perfect wrap up. I enjoyed the dark humor and the non-swear words. There were a couple tidbits I figured out, but overall I was impressed with the writing style.
This is my first time with this author and she is for sure on my radar now.

Clear your schedule before you start this book. Never Coming Home is a page turner and will have you from the first chapter.. As much as you will despise the characters your curiosity won’t wane until you find out how the story unravels.
Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, NetGalley, and Hannah Mary McKinnon for the opportunity to devour this ARC.
4.5/5 rounded to 5

I have been a Hannah Mary McKinnon fan for a while now and I feel like she is not given enough credit for her insanely crazy thrillers! Her book, You Will Remember Me, is one of the best thrillers I have ever read and it was in my top favorites of the year last year! Her newest book, Never Coming Home was one of my most-anticipated books of the year! It releases on 5/24 so make sure you get your hands on it!

Never Coming Home is one WILD ride! You are immediately thrown into the orbit of con man, Lucas Forester after he put a hit out on his wife, Michelle in an effort to inherit her significant wealth and set himself up for life. Lucas is so close to his goal when the hunter becomes the prey after a cryptic note and photo show up that reveals that someone knows what he did.

I was hooked from the very first page and absolutely flew through this book. Thankfully, I had the physical copy and the audiobook because I had to keep reading any chance I got. Alex Wyndham narrates all of Hannah Mary McKinnon’s books and he is flawless. He is so versatile and it made the audiobook such an experience! Despite how twisty the storyline is, I was able to guess part of the twist fairly early on which did not make the ending as mind-blowing as I had expected, but the lead up still SO good! You Will Remember Me is still my absolute favorite, but Hannah Mary McKinnon definitely delivered again!

Thank you so much HTP Books & Netgalley for the gifted copies and Harper Audio & Libro.fm for the gifted ALC!

Really enjoyed this thriller!

I loved how it started, we are thrown into the middle of a situation and have to piece together what has happened. Lucas is sitting at the bedside of his mother-in-law who is dying of cancer. We then discover that Lucas's wife Michelle is missing and no trace of her has been found. But appearances are deceiving, and Lucas isn't really the grieving, worried husband he is showing on the outside. What's really true is that, in order to gain access to Michelle's millions, he took a hit out on her life and is playing the long waiting game. His planning was meticulous--but someone seems to know what he did.

This book is told entirely from Lucas's point of view. He's a bad guy, but the reader can't help but like him and root for him a bit. Knowing what is going on inside of his head endears him to the reader more than if we didn't understand his motivation and reasoning. He's not entirely bad, he has a rescue dog and does seem devoted to both the dog and his ailing father in the UK. The ending twist is fun and makes the entire book very entertaining. There are a couple of sections that are a bit cliché and kind of silly, but overall I thought it was a clever, addictive read. This is the third novel I've read by this author and I feel like they keep getting better with each offering.

What’s it about (in a nutshell):
Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a psychological thriller about Lucas Forester and what happened to him after he had his wealthy wife killed by an anonymous hitman he found on the dark web.

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
The cover looks like maybe a person waiting for someone, and the figure may be a woman. The quote on the cover promises a “highly entertaining, bone-chilling must-read.” I love the sound of that! The blurb tells of a husband who successfully puts a hit out on his wife, who sounds like the worst of the wealthy top 1%. But then the husband becomes prey to someone. My guess before I started: the wife learned what the husband was doing, paid off the hitman, and faked her own death.

Actual Reading Experience:
That ending! I have no words! Just - that ending! It is shocking and satisfying in a weird dark way and shocking and darkly funny, and did I mention it is shocking? It is jaw on the floor shocking. I’m currently working around my jaw because even though I finished this book a few days ago, it is still on the floor. Was I right in my prediction? You know that I will never tell you. You just have to read it for yourself.

The story is told in first-person narration through Lucas – yes, the man who had his wife killed to get around an iron-clad prenup and inherit her money. Yes, that one. He is a murderer and an excellent narrator, oddly enough. He is witty with a dark sense of humor that actually has me laughing out loud at various points. And I really loved when he addressed the reader directly. It is easy to see why Michelle would marry him even though he is not a man of means by any stretch of the imagination. He is instantly likable even to me, the reader, and I went into the story knowing he is a murderer.
The pace is fast, primarily. It does get bogged down a bit when Lucas ruminates about his past, but as weird things begin happening to him, the pace picks up and just continues to pick up speed until that ending! Did I mention how shocking that ending is?

Characters:
Lucas is the only character developed with loads of fun nuances, layers, scars, and worts. He is telling the story, so all other characters are seen through his eyes. Based on his telling, I’m not sure that he knows them all very well or even cares. But that means that the reader also doesn’t get to know them well, which was really okay with me.

Reminds Me Of:
I can’t say that this story reminds me of any other books. Still, I have read two other books by this author, and I had similar reactions. “Shocking” and “wow” are words I use multiple times when talking about Sister Dear and You Will Remember Me. But, I think this story amped it up even more by having the murderer narrate in such a likable manner, plus the breadth and scope of that ending. I’ve never read anything like that before, not even in McKinnon’s other books.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you love jaw-dropping thrillers with loads of dark wit and humor, Never Coming Home should be on the top of your to-be-read pile.

Thrillers and mysteries have always been my most favourite genre. I've been mood reading a few of them lately and I love how they make my pulse pick up, jaw drop and I have to try and keep myself from skimming just to figure it all out.

This upcoming release did all of those things for me. What was refreshing about this novel was it is told from one POV: the villian. So good right?! You hate him and you kinda want to see things work out in his favour after he murders his wife for her inheritance. Such a different idea!

I was pretty quickly hooked by this one, it slowed down the middle a bit (*this might be cause by my cold effecting my reading pace - I had zero energy!) but the ending was good. I had guessed a large part of the twist correctly but definitely not all of it!

I saw someone else describe this as a popcorn thriller and that's totally accurate! It would make a fantastic movie!

Well! Lucas dug himself out of poverty in the UK, changed his physique, changed his name, changed his destiny, and then he met Michelle and everything changed. He marries her, moves to the US. and settles in for his plan- to kill her. And now he's done it, using a hit man, but now too someone else is gaslighting him. Is Michelle still alive? Or is her brother Travis, a wasted drug and alcohol abuser living with him in their home playing tricks? The only person he trusts is Roger the dog and maybe, just a little, his mother in law Nora, who is dying. Things start to go really sideways when he sets out to find the truth, a truth that came as a surprise to me (and might be just a tad out there but makes for a boffo read). McKinnon has written a thriller with small details (Lucas' method of comma with the murderer, Michelle's wardrobe, and so on) that are important. She's also a good storyteller who will have you turning the pages. I won't say I rooted for Lucas but I did root for the dog. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Didn't want to put this one down.

Lucas Forester is the antagonist in this twisted tale about domestic drama and thrills up the wazoo. He is a guy I just couldn’t hate because he was so intelligent and figured out all of the possible scenarios before he acted. His very wealthy wife Michelle is missing and Lucas has a plan already in play for when she is declared dead. Several plans, in fact. He had lots of ideas for what he could do while he waits for Michelle to be found, one way or another. In fact, the entire plot revolves around Lucas’s plans which are constantly evolving as the situation changes. The characters are mostly likable but very complex. The book has a well-developed plot, but the whole story is actually centered around the characters and what makes them act the way they do. All of them are sympathetic characters except for Lucas who is just plain old despicable. I think I liked him because he is like Wiley Coyote, always trying to catch the roadrunner and always running into trouble for his efforts. The plot has some great twists in it and innumerable red herrings. This is the kind of book that I really get caught up in because it kept me guessing all the way until the end. And the surprise twist at the end is just perfect, absolutely perfect! I would love this book to be made into a movie because I can just picture the story unwinding on the big screen, complete with deception and maliciousness as well as the conniving that takes place. This was such a good book and so well-written that I was sorry that it had to end. Fans of domestic thrillers will want to get this book and discuss it with others.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Thank you to Hannah Mary McKinnon and Netgalley for my advance eCopy of this!

Man…does Hannah know how to write about bad people well! Whew!!!! I actually wanted Lucas to succeed in all of his lies/deceit and criminality. I mean, I just couldn’t help but love him! This novel drips with dark humor and is just delicious. I love that Lucas psycho analyzes himself and is always one step ahead.

I enjoyed that the story took place from Lucas’ POV alone. It really helped the twists pop and come to life. Its hard to see things coming when you only get one side. I also enjoyed the way that pieces of all the characters pasts trickled in throughout the story. You weren’t given it all at one time which I felt was unique and also helped fuel the propulsion.

As per usual Hannah nailed it. She kept it fresh, entertaining, dark and fun. Another flawless story!

3.5/4 - A psychological thriller about a husband who thinks he's come up with a foolproof plan to rid himself of his wife and inherit millions. But is it truly possible to come up with the perfect diabolical scheme?

Lucas Forest is a con artist and has been for a long time. After growing up fairly poor when he met Michelle he couldn't help but see dollar-signs. Now, he didn't hate Michelle, but she definitely wasn't someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Especially since she, in Lucas's opinion, spent much too extravagantly and was a little pretentious. Lucas spent years working on his plan, right down to the tiniest detail until he felt he had it perfect. Sadly for Michelle, the plan included a hit being put on her.

A month after Michelle goes missing Lucas is putting on the performance of a lifetime, acting as the grieving husband when he receives a cryptic note and all of a sudden he questions everything. Someone is on to him, but who?

I love a story with a completely unreliable narrator! This was a wickedly fun read, a great pace and a little hint of feminism thrown in for good measure. Lucas is one of those characters that you know you're supposed to hate but a small part of you does like parts of him, just a little. The ending was good but not great for me. It was a bit rushed and a tad over-the-top for my liking but still enjoyable.

A fun read for anyone who likes a fast-paced, page-turner who doesn't mind a little bit of implausibility in their plot twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon, starts off with a bang. McKinnon gives us a very interesting perspective because readers know from the book blurb that the husband Lucas is guilty of his wife Michelle's disappearance. The million-dollar question is will Lucas get away with it?.

Synopsis:
Michelle is filthy rich and absolutely loves spending money. She has the happiest marriage to Lucas or does she? It seems Lucas is not the dreamy husband Michelle thinks he is. In fact, Lucas has been planning to get rid of Michelle so he can get his dirty hands on her money. He has a hit on Michelle's head and thinks he has succeeded in his plan until he receives damning evidence sent to him from an anonymous source. Someone knows his secret, but who is it?

Never Coming Home is available on May 24th. The story is solid, but slow-burning. Overall, it is an enjoyable and satisfying book. (3.5 ⭐⭐⭐ 💫)

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Deliciously devious! Well plotted story keeps you glued to the page waiting for the next move. While I thought I knew where this was going, there were so many twists and turns that made it even more enjoyable!

Many thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for this ARC!

Book Review
Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Let me Set the stage…..
Rich wife. Con-man husband. A murder for hire. A payoff. A sick mother in law. A secret. A new player. Someone knows.

Lucas Forester
A con artist with few morals, narcissistic, charming,vain, confident
A meticulous manipulator…
A Loving son and pet owner
Is it wrong to root for the villain? A
Small part of Me wanted Lucas to get away with everything… a small part….

HMM’s writing and pacing are on point. The reader is carried along with Lucas as he tries to figure out how his plans are unravelling and who exactly knows what.

The reader anxiously awaits to see their predictions come to fruition and then…..HMM blindsides the reader
so elegantly…. a fitting end,
Karma is a bitch
CLUCK

Shout out to the women Michelle, Anjali, Diane,Nora- Never doubt a women scorned. We are a vengeful breed.

A standing ovation for Hannah Mary McKinnon’s Never Coming Home.
Brilliantly written and executed I hope this book finds its way to TV or movie production!!

Thanks to Mira books for my
Gifted copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed
Are My Own