3.5★ overall, from 2.5★ - 4★
I have written separate reviews for each story on Goodreads and Amazon. I will do my best to combine reviews here, and will add individual links below.

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK by LIV CONSTANTINE
2.5~2★
“I should just turn around and go. But I need answers. My stomach is in knots, my heart beating furiously.”

Sorry to say, I felt the same – except for the stomach and heart part. The first half of the story is about having substituted an absolute p*ick of a lover as the male figure in her life to stand in for her late, much-loved father.

“Benedict was the bad habit I couldn’t break, but I absolved myself by believing that everyone has a bad habit. I don’t smoke or do drugs. My addiction is the need to feel special.”

It is obvious to the reader that the only thing Benedict thinks is special is in his mirror.

Why did I continue? It’s short, and in the opening scene, she is dining alone on her birthday and suddenly sees her father looking in the restaurant window. Impossible! He’s been dead for 10 years. Is she nuts? Ask Aunt Sally, his sister? So… on I went.

The answer is a good twist that deserved a better story to lead up to it. Surely the Constantine sisters (who write as ‘Liv’), must produce better work than this to be best-sellers.
=======================================

THE GHOST WRITER by LORETH ANNE WHITE
3★
“They found her body battered and floating in the sea five days later. “

Welcome to the island. The body that was found in the sea was that of the previous ghostwriter hired by a successful, reclusive thriller author, said to be dying. The opening is stormy and atmospheric.

“ ‘There—you can see it through the gap in the fog.’ The old ferryman points. I lean forward to peer through the wheelhouse window streaked with seawater. Rain and wind lash at us as we buck into the whitecapped surge of a West Coast winter storm, cutting an erratic path toward Blackwood Island. It’s as though the sea itself is holding us back from the bleak private estate of the infamous and reclusive Gothic horror novelist Claudia Blackwood.”

Claudia has requested that Grace Logan come to the island and ghostwrite the true story of the murders she was accused of committing. At the time, she had no memory, but she says she finally remembers and wants her story told before it’s too late

There’s little, if any, phone coverage on the island, making this something of a locked-room mystery. Grace isn’t happy about that.

“Claustrophobia is my Achilles’ heel.”

Nevertheless, Grace is also a writer who came from the same town, so it’s a credible request, and if she can get the real story about the day of the murders, what a scoop it would be.

Everything about the island and the visit is straight out of one of Claudia’s thrillers.

But – I don’t know what happened with the editing. Claudia Blackwood is Claudia Blackwell. The island has both names as well, and it was certainly distracting because it made me wonder if I’d missed something. I’m reading an advance copy, so I hope it’s been fixed in the final one.

I enjoyed this one in the Never Tell collection. I have since seen some reviews that say the plot has been borrowed from a couple of other books, but since I’m unfamiliar with them, I can judge it only on what I read here, and it entertained me.
===================
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD by ANDREA BARTZ
4★
“ ‘Having trouble?’
We both jump at the gruff voice, then whip around to see a man on the front porch, a few feet behind us. His eyes flash when they meet mine—sometimes, from far away, people mistake me for a dude—and he quickly looks away. He’s in his late sixties or so, with a rind of gray hair and a fat mustache.”

That’s Hank, who lives with his wife on the other side of the road. He seems kind of nosy to Lauren and Kelsey, who’ve just moved into Lauren’s dream house. Hank says all the right things about city folk not being used to country ways, but he grabs Kelsey’s phone and puts his number in before she has a chance to object.

He seems to be giving Kelsey the once-over, too, as people often do. It makes Lauren nervous, but Kelsey reminds her why that might be.

“ ‘ Was he actually hostile, or does he make you nervous because he’s a big, brawny dude?’

‘Fair point.’ I’m sure a psychologist would point to my childhood: Mom’s rotating door of temperamental boyfriends, ruddy-nosed landlords pounding on the door.

‘I’ll try to be more open-minded about him.’ ”

And she does try, but it isn’t easy. This is the third story in the Never Tell Collection and the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far. Things are not what they seem, and I bet this could become the beginning of a full-length thriller.
======================

SCORPIONS by RACHEL HOWZELL HALL
4★
“I’m sweating and panting, frozen in place, hoping that I’ve blended in with the other frightened brown things in the desert.”

We meet Frankie, alone in the California desert, throwing out cash she had stashed in her bra, but now it’s making her even hotter. “Frozen” may seem an odd word to use, but her condition is so extreme, I think it makes sense here.

Then the story goes back to four days earlier, where we see her life as an aide to a cranky, smelly old man with no redeeming features at all.

“Nothing on Ruben Mayer works, and everything that does work . . . leaks. His blood flows like gravy to a heart that probably resembles a burned meatball. His lungs sound like crumpled paper caught in an engine on a humid day. He has no natural teeth. His prostate is larger than Miami.”

He is demanding and foul (who wouldn’t be, in his condition?), and his wife can’t stand him. Frankie needs the money and had trouble finding a job after a three-month stay in jail for shoplifting. At a job interview, when asked about her strengths and weaknesses, she thinks.

“Strength: I can make a jailhouse McFlurry using ice cubes, powdered creamer, salt, milk, M&M’s, Sweet’n Low, and plastic baggies. This may be a strength 'and' a weakness, depending on the audience.”

But what about that desert? Well, now she’s on a treasure hunt, of sorts, looking for the cash from a heist Ruben and his late friends pulled off years ago. After Ruben dies, Frankie finds a note to her with a map to where it’s buried – in Death Valley.

But she’s no longer alone. There are two other people, and none of this trio is to be trusted. This is the fourth story in the Never Tell collection, and I enjoyed this one. Nobody is likeable, but that doesn’t lessen the suspense as we wonder who’s going to survive the scorpions and “frightened brown things” in the desert.
======================================

JACKRABBIT SKIN by IVY POCHODA
4★
“The ink makes her feel more permanent. More indelible. But also as if she’s looking at someone who isn’t her.”

Swan is a tattooist, separated from her husband who is keeping their house. Fair enough, it was his first anyway. Friends have offered her their container ‘house’ in the desert so she can be alone. So far, that’s not going well.

“Now she’s alone. Not broke, but close. She should have fixed the car when she still had a husband to shoulder the cost.”

When she finds the isolated community, Swan tries to settle in and keep to herself while enjoying a drink at the local bar and watching the locals. She always carries her sketchpad to draw new tattoo designs when something inspires her. Unfortunately, some of the locals don’t like being watched.

Then there’s her next-door (so-to-speak) neighbour, Kurt, who crunches his way through the ashes and remnants of his former home that burned down. He seems okay much of the time but seems to have a frighteningly fiery temper. She hears occasional gunshots.

Swan admires the real desert and is critical of the tourist ‘art’ and the Instagram, Airbnb culture that is making inroads.

“ And at the end of the day, the desert was the new hip frontier:
#wanderlust
#desertvibes
#backtonature
#soundbath
#moonbath
#stargazing
The landscape rolls on, just desolate enough.
Swan takes out her phone.
Click.
#desertescape.”

But she knows that’s only the insta-worthy appeal. Looking out of her container at night, it’s completely black in three directions. Wandering in the dark is dangerous, especially when some locals have threatened her about minding her own business.

“The shadows out in the desert are different. Starker. As if they have an existence independent of the objects that cast them. They move. They watch with an intensity that unsettles Swan. They spider between the chapparal and creosote.”

This is a story that seems to hold more than the 40+ pages Pochoda has used to tell it. I enjoy reading vignettes, slices of life like this. I don’t need to know more about what Swan was doing before, and I don’t feel I need to follow her after the final, terrifying climax. But I can imagine, and that’s half the fun of a good short story.

The author’s latest novel, Sing Her Down, just won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller (2023) over some strong competition. I think it sounds a bit too violent for me, but this story was a good one, and I enjoyed the tattooing.

In her acknowledgement, she writes:

“Thanks to Jeremy Swan for the ink and wisdom”

I think she has used his name (and art) well.
==============================

THE BAD FRIEND by CAROLINE KEPNES
4★
“Every so often you think about Tanya.

It’s been a few years since you spoke. There wasn’t some big fight. You got married and you got pregnant. She got into law school. It happens. People drift. She would die if she saw you now. You’re in a yellow sweater and you’re a mom, waiting in the stinky lobby…”

Ellen, Ellie, El talks to herself in the second person throughout her story. I say ‘her’ story, although it’s the story of several people, but with Ellie, everything is about her. At first it seems odd for her to be narrating her story in the second person, with herself as the audience, but then it occurred to me that everything is about her, her, her – or rather – me, me, me, so she doesn’t need anyone else listening.

It opens with her and her brand new fiancé, Mr Nice Guy (Troy) in a booth waiting for Tanya to arrive with her date. As Troy talks, Ellie spots a nice-looking Tall Guy in boots and immediately begins fantasising about him, imagining that he has seen her and is secretly fantasising about her.

“He’s talking to you. Not the tall man. Troy. Your fiancé is talking to you.

‘Fries?’

‘Sure!’

Troy knows you want fries. You always want fries, but he always asks just in case. You run your fingers over your collarbone because of the other man, the tall man.

‘Sorry,’ Troy says.

He says that a lot when you drift, and you say what you say a lot: Me too, babe. I spaced out, but I’m back.’

He loves you more than you love him. You’ve wasted time with the tall guys, and you’re no idiot. You met him two years ago in a dive bar. You were out with Tanya. Reeling from your latest breakup, cursing men. Tanya said that wasn’t fair because your latest ‘obsession’ was like all the guys you go for. Openly, obviously bad. And here was Troy. A human safety net with his puppy-soft hair and his boyish freckles, quick to laugh, to blush, to love. Still the same now, Troy Sweet Troy.”

Ellie recounts her history to herself all the way up to the present, a lifetime later, where we learn she met the Tall Guy again, years after her engagement, in unusual circumstances. Eventually we finally hear a bit of the other side of her me-me-me story and where her self-absorption has led her.

Kepnes certainly covered a lot of territory for a short story, and I enjoyed seeing where she took her characters. It’s a different kind of suspense from the other stories in the collection, but it certainly hides quite a secret. This is my favourite of the six.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for a copy for review of the #NeverTell (Can You Keep a Secret?) collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy! What a great collection of stories by some truly unique and skilled thriller authors. I enjoyed this immensely! A quick read that is great to read more from favorite authors and discover some new ones. These short stories were engaging and packed a punch!

I only enjoyed a couple of the stories told in this book. I found most of the stories cringy and not considered thriller. Loreth Anne White's was my favorite.

Job well done...some of my favorite authors all in one place. There needs to be a repeat of this...just longer!

I enjoyed this collection. My favourite was The Bad Friend by Caroline Kepnes. The rest of the stories were interesting, but did not particularly hold my attention. I would like to explore a longer version of these stories.

Thank you #netgalley for my ARC in exchange of an honest review.
These were some interesting short stories by some of my favorite authors.
I didn’t find them to be exceptional except for the Loreth Anne White’s story which I absolutely loved. It was so spooky and the setting was just brilliant. Would definitely read a longer version of it.

This series was a great concept and one that I was looking forward to. I enjoyed the first one by Liv Constantine but unfortunately they fell flat from there on. I enjoyed the "never tell" theme that ran through therm all.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read these.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

"Never Tell: Can You Keep a Secret?" is a compelling anthology that weaves together the talents of six acclaimed authors of suspense—Liv Constantine, Loreth Anne White, Andrea Bartz, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ivy Pochoda, and Caroline Kepnes. Each author brings their unique voice to the collection, creating a tapestry of tales that explore the depths of human secrecy and the lengths to which people will go to protect their darkest truths.

The anthology opens with "Everywhere You Look" by Liv Constantine, a gripping narrative that sets the tone for the collection with its exploration of the past's persistent grip on the present. The story's New York setting is as much a character as the protagonist, whose chance encounter unravels a lifetime of lies. A 5 star story!

Loreth Anne White's "The Ghost Writer" delves into the Gothic, offering a chilling account of a reclusive author whose decision to reveal her most infamous secret has unforeseen consequences. The atmospheric tension is palpable, making it a standout piece in the collection.

Andrea Bartz's "The Other Side of the Road" presents a cautionary tale about the cost of ambition and the price of a dream house that comes with more than just a mortgage. It's a modern-day fable that warns of the dangers lurking beneath the surface of our desires.

In "Scorpions," Rachel Howzell Hall crafts a narrative rich with intrigue and betrayal. A man's lifetime of secrets becomes a treasure hunt with a venomous twist, showcasing Hall's ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Ivy Pochoda's "Jackrabbit Skin" is a visceral exploration of the rage and secrets that can fester beneath the surface. It's an unsettling story that gets under your skin and stays there (my personal favorite, 6 stars for this one)!

Closing the collection is Caroline Kepnes' "The Bad Friend," a psychological deep dive into the complexities of friendship and the destructive power of secrets. Kepnes' mastery of suspense shines through, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of their relationships.

Overall, "Never Tell" is a masterclass in suspense, with each author contributing a story that is both distinct and harmonious within the collection. The central theme of secrets—how they shape us, haunt us, and ultimately expose us—is executed with precision and depth. This anthology is a must-read for fans of the genre and a testament to the enduring power of a well-kept secret.

Loved this anthology. As with any anthology some of the stories were better than others. But over all it was a good sampler of the different authors. My fave was Caroline kepnes story

Loved this anthology. As with any anthology some of the stories were better than others. But over all it was a good sampler of the different authors. My fave was loreth Anne whites short story

This one was 50/50 for me. Half the stories I loved, the other half I almost wish I hadn't read. Overall a fun concept and I love how the "never tell" concept was portrayed in each story.

Never Tell is a short story collection by authors most of us know and love. I love Constantine's writing so my favorite short story in the collection was Everywhere You Look by Liv Constantine. I have been really into anthologies so this was right on time. Whether you want to enjoy something new from your favorite author or find a new voice in fiction, this is the collection for you.

In this short story collection, there are six books by well-known authors. It is a great way to read a short story from a favorite author and experience/find new authors to love. My favorite story and author from this collection was Everywhere You Look by Liv Constantine. I just love her writing style and always look forward to anything she writes. My favorite from a new to me author was The Ghost Writer by Loreth Anne White. However, all of these were interesting and a great way to spend time. I'm really enjoying these collections from Amazon!

"Never Tell" is a great collection of short stories form a range of female authors. Each one centers on the disclosure or revelation of a secret, all of which have major implications for the lives of the protagonists. The stories all felt appropriate for shorter or novelette length, highly engaging and ending right when they needed to. Although I'm familiar with a few of the authors, the story served as a good introduction to their styles and I look forward to reading more of their works in the future.

4.5★s
Everywhere You Look is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Liv Constantine. At twenty-eight, Jade Grey has been mourning the loss of her father for ten years and now, with the betrayal of the man she’d hoped to marry, is ready to end her life. But, as she honours the filial tradition of a dinner in New York before she ends her life, she catches a glimpse of the impossible: her father, outside the restaurant. Have the last ten years been a lie? No matter how much friends and family try to convince her she must be mistaken, Jade is determined to find out the truth. Short but packed with intrigue. 5stars

The Ghost Writer is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Loreth Anne White. Being not long widowed by a traumatic incident is only one reason that true crime writer, Grace Logan could reject her editor’s recommendation to travel to The Overlook on Claudia Blackwood’s private island to ghost-write the woman’s memoir. Another might be that the previous ghostwriter fell to her death off the cliff. As a teen, Blackwood was implicated but never found guilty of the murder of two teens and a minor. Against her better judgement, Grace accepts the invitation on the promise that Blackwood will reveal new information about the killings. A gothic thriller with a clever twist that might have an unreliable narrator. 4 stars

The Other Side of the Road is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Andrea Bartz. Newly-wed and expecting, Kelsey and Lauren quit Brooklyn after a long search to move into their dream house in Krumville. The only flies in the ointment are the extremely nosy neighbours opposite, and finding out that the previous owner died after a disagreement with the creepy husband of that couple. While Kelsey is away for work, Lauren finds some disturbing items that have her worried for her safety. .. Cleverly plotted with a truly nasty twist. 5 stars

Scorpions is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Rachel Howzell Hall. Once she had ahead of her a promising career as a rocket scientist; now, at twenty-five, a series of unfortunate incidents and vital things overlooked, and Francesca is an ex-con caring for eighty-seven-year-old obnoxious Ruben Mayer. Who turns out to be Victor Rangel, the only survivor of an armoured car heist. And when he dies, because “of all the people I hated, I hated you the least”, he gives her the directions to the loot, hidden in a mine shaft in Death Valley, where the most common lifeform is scorpions. But Frankie’s not the only one who knows about the stash… Classic Howzell Hall. 5 stars

Jackrabbit Skin is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Ivy Pochoda. When skin artist Swan splits from her husband Paul, she quits LA, homeless and almost broke, and heads for the desert, where her friends have offered the use of a container in the tightly-bound community of Miracle Wash. The locals might be friendly, eventually. The house opposite was burnt down, but that probably was a one off? The neighbour who hangs out there is snarky, but maybe there’s a reason? Her sketches attract a customer wanting a tattoo, but that garners the disapproval of the community. Why? A well-plotted tale with an excellent, if chilling, twist. 5 stars

The Bad Friend is a short story in the Never Tell Collection by Caroline Kepnes. Pregnant and engaged to the good, kind Troy (who doesn’t excite her), Ellen and her fiancé are at a restaurant waiting for her best friend Tanya (late as usual) and her latest (probably another loser) boyfriend. A tall, gorgeous, blue-eyed man catches her eye. He winks. She stares. Is he flirting with her? It’s a shock when this is the guy Tanya brings to meet them. Ross Tate continues the looks, winks. But Ellen is engaged, and her baby girl will be someone she can love, someone who will love her. Fast forward a few years, Ellen has lost contact with Tanya, her boredom leads to divorce from Troy and, a few years on, a hook-up with guess who! But is this a good idea? A second-person narrative in which the protagonist isn’t very likeable, and maybe gets what she deserves? A jaw-dropping twist. 4 stars
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories.

I really enjoyed this short stories collection! They were all super twisty and full of secrets, I loved how all were intriguing and addictive!

ARC provided off NetGalley for Never Tell Collection
#1 Honestly, I expected a better twist? The ending was too light for me given my expectations from The Last Mrs Parrish. Enjoyed otherwise!
#2 Loved this twist! Short and atmospheric with a great ending
#3 This collection keeps getting better and better!! Loved this one, houses in the woods with big windows always give me the creeps
#4 The story here was good and I enjoyed the main character's voice but after the last two it was slightly more lacklustre of a story in terms of thrillers.
#5 I really enjoyed this one, the meandering, the desert, the characters were all too real which is frightening. This author was one of the few in the collection I'd not read any novels from but I will be adding them to my tbr!
#6 This was a dark one to end the series, everyone deeply unlikable and also in the end a bit mundane.

1- EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK was very engaging, I only wish it had been longer.

2-THE GHOST WRITER was my favorite! I loved the Gothic vibes and the twist - Excellent!!
3-THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD was my second favorite of the collection.
It definitely has the potential for a full length novel.

4-SCORPIONS was an entertaining, twisty read that I enjoyed.
5-JACKRABBIT SKIN was odd and a bit puzzling and did not suck me in.

6-THE BAD FRIEND was my least favorite of the bunch.
I was not a fan of the odd second person POV.

Six novellas written by six of my favorite authors. I was anticipating to be blown away, and I was. Their talents know no bounds. These books were eerie, twisty, shocking, an very fast-paced! I hope this isn't the last time readers are graced with something this incredible.

(I will be individually reviewing all novella on my Instagram platform soon)

I enjoyed this anthology of six novellas from six thriller authors I have always enjoyed reading books from. Liv Constantine and Caroline Kepnes were my favorite.