Michael Koryta is one of this fan’s favourite writers.
Never Far Away is a mystery/thriller that definitely lives up to his standard of excellence.
With a blockbuster start, we find ourselves at a potential murder scene. Not for the squeamish, negotiations are being undertaken regarding the best way to kill Nina Morgan.
Leah Trenton was once a witness to a serious crime. She sacrificed herself and abandoned her family in order to save them. Without her, she thought that they would be safe forever. She was wrong.
Years later, tragedy strikes. When the Morgan children, Hailey (13) and Nick (11), find themselves alone, they make an urgent phone call to Leah, the aunt they have never known.
Leah’s past blasts into the forefront. A bush pilot and guide who has been barely living below the radar, she makes an emergency run from the wilderness. With scarcely a moment for bonding or bliss, she snatches the siblings from their home to once again protect them from impending danger.
Hailey especially, is less than enamoured with their abrupt departure and the prospect of relinquishing all that teenagers hold dear, just because a tight-lipped estranged aunt who she doesn’t know or trust says so.
It is that attitude and some costly mistakes that place everyone in peril. Someone must die.
Leah must ensure that the children are safe. In addition, she must find a way to stop them from being relentlessly pursued by those who know her secrets.
Never Far Away is an excellent, evocative read that often sends chills up your spine. Koryta does a superb job of enticing readers into the storyline, helping us to share the pain of secrecy and the fear of imminent danger.
Excitement is strong. Tensions are high, and Koryta expertly keeps us on edge so that we never know what’s coming around the next bend.
The characters are excellent. Even minor ones are interesting and well-defined. Villains Dax and Bleak are particularly compelling. Their personas are quite chilling, but for different reasons.
Suspenseful and dramatic, Never Far Away is a great escape that is easy to get lost in. Once you start, you will not want to put it down.
Never Far Away by Michael Koryta is the best read I’ve had in a while. I highly recommend it.
Never Far Away
Michael Koryta
Little, Brown and Company 2021
374 pages
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