Book Review: Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Good things come to those who wait was a total pile of crap. Good things come to those who make them happen...and then wait for the payoff. Mine was on its way.”

Lucas Forester married his wealthy wife, Michelle, for her money with the sole purpose of divorcing her and claiming a hefty chunk of her assets for himself. However, her father’s insistence on a prenup forces him to change his initial plans. Lucas is a conman and from the moment he met Michelle in an Art Gallery in London, he knew what he wanted. He now intends to have his wife killed and claim all of her assets for himself. He is smart and calculating and does not mind biding his time (in this case, a few years) playing the perfect devoted husband before setting things in motion.

His meticulous planning down to the last detail includes hiring a hitman through the Dark Web to kidnap and murder Michelle without leaving any trace of evidence leading back to him and plans to manipulate the perceptions of those around him is impressive! While he waits out the days after the kidnapping, playing the role of a concerned husband desperately waiting for news of his missing wife, he also spends time looking out for his addict brother-in-law (or is he?) and his terminally ill mother-in-law. However, when he finds mysterious messages and grainy pictures of his wife in envelopes left in places in his home and at work, he realizes someone knows what he did. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game, with Lucas trying to figure out who and what he is up against.

What makes this book even more interesting is that the entire story is narrated from the POV of the despicable male protagonist, Lucas in the first person. The author does a great job of giving the reader a vivid look into what’s going on in Lucas's head- at times his purely diabolical thoughts and manipulations, his darkly witty reflections and as the story progresses, his confusion and inability to comprehend the failure of his seemingly flawless plan. I spent more time listening to the audiobook than reading this novel and that definitely made a difference in how I rated this book. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the book this much if it hadn’t been for the brilliant narration by Alex Wyndham whose ability to perfectly convey Lucas’s thoughts and reactions to what is happening around him made for a superbly entertaining read.

Smartly crafted, laced with dark humor, and with a villain you (almost) start feeling sorry for before you remind yourself how evil he really is, Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a wickedly entertaining read. Though it was not difficult to figure out a part of the final reveal, the author does not fail to add quite a few surprises along the way.