J.D. Robb discussion
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Never Let You Go
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Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens - May 2017
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Thanks again for a great nomination, Charlene. Feel free to lead the discussion if you like. :)
I've been wanting to read this and I just checked with my library and it's available. I'll pick up next week after I get my email that it's in. I think this is the first book I got in time so that I can join in on the discussions. I've read some of the other books but I got them late due to the long wait lists.
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Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "This sounds like a real thriller! Must be popular right now as I'm #18 on the waiting list at my library. lolThanks again for a great nomination, Charlene. Feel free to lead the discussion if you..."
I've had this author on my list for a while...so excited to read this!
Im on a wait list for this at the library, don't know if I will get it in time for the discussion so I may have to join later on.
I have wanted to read this one for a while. Unfortunately Overdrive does not have it so have to try to get my hands on it.
If I can find it from the library or hoopla, I'll join in! Sounds like a good one.
It's on my list to look for at the library -- sounds good.
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Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "I've started this one and must say - it already has me looking over my shoulder!"maybe I should be glad I'm still on the wait list then since I'm home by myself for a bit!
I read this book and really enjoyed it! Stevens is one of my favourite authors.
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maybe I should be glad I'm still on the wait list then since I'm home by mysel..."
Maybe so...it is giving me the creeps!
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I believe this is my first book my Stevens. Sure has my heart racing!
Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Kris - My Novelesque Life wrote: "I read this book and really enjoyed it! Stevens is one of my favourite authors."I believe this is my first book my Stevens. Sure has my heart racing!"
Other than Those Girls, her books always keep me on edge! I hope enjoy, Sandra :)
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I just started this book. It's hard to put down.
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I have been really enjoying this one. but yes very creepy.
I just finished it. Usually I can finish a book in a single day, but this one took me several days to finish listening to it. I just kept wanting to slap Sophie upside the head. Maybe it's because I grew up in a situation like this myself. I was only around 5 or 6 when my mother finally left my father, but I remember quite a few times waking up to them fighting or watching him knock her down. The most memorable time was when I woke up to dad getting his gun out of the gun cabinet and hearing mom take off in the car. I stood on the front porch beside my dad while he shot at my mom as she drove away. As a teenager I did talk to my dad a few times and he always denied laying a finger on her. I guess he assumed that my siblings and I were too young to remember anything.
I haven't finished the book yet but I can relate. I was the mom who wasn't allowed to leave the house. If I visited my parents he called to make sure I was there. When he was drinking the verbal abuse was so horrible and then eventually the physical started but not too often. I wan.ted to leave so bad but my son didn't want to move away from his friends. So I bit the bullet and stayed, I ended up being married to him for 21 years.
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Paula wrote: "I haven't finished the book yet but I can relate. I was the mom who wasn't allowed to leave the house. If I visited my parents he called to make sure I was there. When he was drinking the verbal ab..."Sorry to hear that. I'm glad you came out of it alright in the end.
Kristi wrote: "Paula wrote: "I haven't finished the book yet but I can relate. I was the mom who wasn't allowed to leave the house. If I visited my parents he called to make sure I was there. When he was drinking..."Thank you Kristi. I'm now married to a wonderful man who would never treat me like that. His parents taught him well. I love his parents, they are in their late 80's now. I have to take anxiety meds and I'm still sometimes afraid to leave the house but I'm doing much better.
Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Really sorry to hear about your horrific situations, Kristi & Paula. Glad you're both finally out and doing okay."Thank you Sandra. These books are hard to read. I have to put it away every once in a while but then I'll pick it back up again. I just tell myself it's fiction.
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So terrible for a child of any age to go through. So sorry, Kristi.
Paula wrote: "Thank you Kristi. I'm now married to a wonderful man who would never treat me like that. His parents taught him well. I love his parents....."That's really great. It's lovely that life completely turned around for you. I understand about the anxiety. I'm perfectly fine here at home and I'm okay at work since I've been with the same company for the last 16 years. The problem is going anywhere else. I cannot stop at a gas station or store I haven't been to before...even if I pass it everyday. Plus I have to take known routes to and from. If there's a detour or something along the way then I will definitely have an anxiety attack.
As far as a comment at least partly on topic...this is the first book I've read by Chevy Stevens. I decided to read the synopsis' on some of the other books she has written and it seems like she writes a lot about domestic family situations. I liked the writing style of this book including the POV. I'll have to check out other books of hers. I just don't think I will listen to them in audio format since some of the situations she writes about may be things I would rather read than listen to.
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Kristi wrote: "Paula wrote: "Thank you Kristi. I'm now married to a wonderful man who would never treat me like that. His parents taught him well. I love his parents....."That's really great. It's lovely that li..."
So sorry Kristi that you have to go through this. This is also the first book of hers that I have read too. I have never listened to an audio book. I've been reading as long as I can remember. I need the book in my hands or at night the Kindle. It's a big escape from my thoughts and memories at times. I don't have to worry about my ex, he had a heart attack 2 years ago. I still cried when I was notified of his passing.
Couldn't wait any longer...had to start this one! Very uncomfortable so far...
Just finished....very intense I didn't want to put it down.
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And it stays that way all the way through!!
MsG wrote: "Kristi and Paula and anyone else reading this that experienced any form of abuse, I am so sorry for your pain."Thank you MsG. Reading this is almost like reading parts of my life.
At about 75% now...did not expect that at all!!
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Quite a twist, right?!!
The book is waiting for me at the (new) library. I'll have to get there soon to pick it up.
I just finished this a few minutes ago. Did not end how I thought it would.
Finished on the way home...phew, that last bit was intense!
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WOW really liked this book. Really liked how well written it was so you hate Andrew in the beginning and when he gets released you go back and forth if it was him or its not. Then when I figured Andrew was being set up I tettered back and forth between all the characters. Then I really felt bad for Andrew as he was trying so hard to do right by Sophie.
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I didn't figure it out but once I realized it was Marcus there were some signs that I had missed.
I realize that Andrew wasn't the person behind all of the stuff, but it still annoyed me that Sophie kept going behind her mother's back to see her father. Sophie believed everything he said. She figured she would be able to tell if he was being honest or not, yet she kept seeing bits of his true colors come through and blew it off. She saw how her mother was still completely terrified of him, and it seemed like she didn't really care. She figured that he might have hurt her mother in the past, but he never hurt her. Andrew mentions being sorry that he lost Lindsey, but he never mentions anything about being sorry for abusing her. If I'm remembering right he mentioned doing a twelve step program for his alcohol and anger issues while in prison, but again one of the steps is to make amends to those you hurt....he never did that.
As to Marcus being behind it all. I didn't really see it coming. I realize everyone seemed a little guilty at one point or another, so it definitely kept me guessing. It was a great twist.
Sandra ~ ♥ Cross My Heart ♥ wrote: "Open discussions on Never Let You Go start tomorrow (15th)!"Just got this one from the library today. Will read in next day or two.
Ok...I came in to this thread yesterday and typed up a big long essay on what I liked about the POVs in this book, etc., and now it's not here! What the heck?I'm going to try to remember what I said...
First off, I really enjoyed this one. I found it to be really uncomfortable at points, and I thought the author did a great job using the 1st person POVs to get us inside Lindsey and Sophie's heads. You could feel the tension that Lindsey was experiencing during her marriage...and I think it was very true to life. Sophie - what to say about Sophie? I could totally sympathize...she really was just a kid who wanted to get to know and believe the best about her father - ex-con or not. Pretty natural reaction, in my opinion.
Question: If you suspected Marcus, what led you to this conclusion? Was there something he did or said that led you to suspect him? For me, it was when Lindsey was telling him about the pills she had given Andrew...and when she mentioned the woman he had killed in the accident, Marcus piped in with her name. At that point, I knew it was him. Did anyone figure him out earlier than this?
Another question: Were you surprised by the twist (when they found Andrew dead?) I know I was...I had to go back and check to make sure of what I had read. Did anyone think that he was truly trying to protect Sophie?
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I'm going to try to remember what I s..."
I enjoyed the 1st person pov's of Lindsey & Sophie because it was an open window to everything they thought and felt...it made readers privy to Lindsey's terror and made me understand Sophie's actions as I felt how strongly she wanted to believe her father. What did she do wrong? Went behind her mother's back...but again, it was pretty typical given her age.
I suspected Marcus as he began to become "too good to be true" for me. I started thinking about who had access to the info and also started ruling out possible candidates. I was SURE when he mentioned the name, as Charlene mentions above. I ruled out Sophie's boyfriend pretty early on even though the author made him suspect - but I just felt it was too obvious.
I was never sure about Andrew. While I felt like it wasn't going to be him because I expected some kind of twist, I still didn't know whether he had changed at all or not. As someone mentioned above, he never apologized or took ownership of his abuse of Lindsey I'm glad for Sophie's sake though that it wasn't him and at least she wouldn't have to live with that.
Thanks for a great nomination, Charlene!
Synopsis:
Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband was sent to jail and she started over with a new life. Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When her ex-husband is finally released, Lindsey believes she’s cut all ties. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it’s her ex-husband, even though he claims he’s a different person. But can he really change? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?