Don't Look Back

by Jeff Magnuson

" Don't Look Back is well plotted and the author's deft use of suspense makes it an irresistible read. You will be immersed into the narrative to the point that you won't feel the passage of time. " - Readers' Favorite Jason Markum is an ordinary high school sophomore facing a suspension after getting blamed by the class bully. Ted Collins is a wealthy technology developer whose greed is about to catch up with him as he completes a new project for a secret government group. When part of this project—technology that’s never been seen before, in the form of a circular red chip—finds its way into the hands of Jason and his friend, Lori, they soon discover an alarming new world. The secrets in their possession have a greater power than anyone can imagine and Jason and Lori will need to act quickly if they are going to get him off the hook at school or both face consequences far worse than a suspension.

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 4, 2019

About the author

Jeff Magnuson is the author of five books, including the multi-award-winning Charley's Cat Family. He earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is now a full-time writer and career consultant living in northern New Jersey. You can connect with him right here, on Instagram, Facebook (@jeffmagnusonwrites) and at www.jeffmagnusonwrites.com.

Reviews

[Sophia Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very compelling plot line with thought provoking themes centering around the future of technology. This book was a quick and straightforward read, keeping the audience engaged with the fast paced story line. The one downfall of the book is the lack of detail as it feels like the reader is only given enough information to scrape by, barely grasping the somewhat complicated character relationships.

[Nick Rath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why has nobody read (or at least reviewed) this book? I mean seriously, Don’t Look Back could easily compete with some of the other thriller books out there that receive all of the praise that they could possibly need. Jeff Magnuson relies heavily on building suspense to carry the plot of this book, and it works out perfectly. The book follows the fairly formulaic pattern for the thriller genre where a group of characters need to act fast to avoid a bad outcome, but there are a few differences that really drew my interest. Jason and Lori are solid characters that certainly could have had worse dialogue, and I appreciate the fact that technology was the basis of the plot's conflict. It's always interesting to read a fictitious book involving futuristic technology because I like to contemplate how close we are in society to having these technologies. Magnuson is able to leave the page count at just above 200 pages, which is a great length for the story being told. Please go read this book and give it the support it deserves!

[Kate Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realise this was going to be such a short story. It was like reading a long blurb. It was a short story which you have to then read the next book to finish the back story.
I wouldn't normally read this type of book but I gave it a go. The front story wasn't too bad but would be good if everything was in one book rather than being spread across a few. I didn't really make me want to continue reading.
The format the book was in was not good it didn't read write. The chapters were not clear and the lines kept splitting to a new line halfway through so the reading was not easy. Also the pages numbers were halfway through a line or page. It made the book hard to read and not enjoyable.
I was confused when reading part of the story as this all related to the back story which wasn't really gone into.
I probably wouldn't read the next book in the series because this one didn't really grab my interest and the format just made it awkward to read.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.

[Alder Whiteford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Look Back is a fast paced, engaging thriller novel, that is centered around both the development and impact of futuristic technology. As a contemporary reader, this theme connects almost perfectly with the modern world, that currently is undergoing what many might call a "technological revolution." This then influences readers to reflect upon their own life and what might come of the future.

My one grievance with the book is derived from Magnuson's failure to thoroughly flush out the characters' personalities. At certain points, I felt disconnected from the protagonists, who's more interesting features were lost at the expense of building suspense.

[Katie Marbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book moved pretty fast which was nice. It lacked depth that I look for in books which made it feel more like a YA novel. The story was alright, but not anything super interesting. An extreme downfall for me was that the technology that was the focal point of the whole novel didn’t seem super realistic. I wish the author would have spent more time on Nicolas and the technological development rather than centering on the high schoolers.

[Jeff Magnuson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read it like 30 times. It's good.