This novel grabbed me by the throat, threw me into the front seat of a roller coaster, and had me screaming and gripping the handrail the entire ride! And what a ride it was: exhilarating speed, twists and turns, maybe even upside down for a while! Why do I love flawed and damaged characters so much? I assume it's because they remind us of our own failings and humanity and remind us that no one is perfect. Centering on two murders--one recent, one sixteen years ago--the book is told from the viewpoints of D. D, the investigator, Flora, her CI, and Evie, the suspected killer in both murders. What emerges is an often-brutal story of kidnapping, the dark web, arson, but above all, redemption. Still a huge fan of Lisa Gardner!

Lisa Gardner is a writing goddess!
Never Tell is an extension of her Detective D.D. Warren series - one of my personal favorite series.
The very first book of the author's I read was Find Her, and, oh my gosh, I categorize it as one of my top 5 favorite books in the thriller genre.
This book incorporated some of the best characters from that book, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed Never Tell so much. Plus, Gardner's style of writing honestly sucks you in - it's mesmerizing, dark, and definitely something special.
The plot for this book specifically was not what I was expecting, but in a good way! Gardner tricks you into believing one thing, but in actuality, it's the complete opposite; it's that mind-game type writing that is so very intriguing. You'll fly through this book so quickly, once you're done, you'll be left with that empty sensation that you get when you finish a great book.

Another great DD Warren story from Lisa Gardner...if you've followed this series, you'll appreciate this addition. If you haven't read any before, you can kind of jump in here :) You might miss out on a few nuances but overall you can get invested in the story and then go back to learn more about the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Never Tell by Lisa Gardner. Her plot revolves around two young woman Evie and Flora who have quite different experiences and never meet until the end of the book. Sergeant Detective D..D.. Warren has been moved to a supervisory position for Boston homicide but she is actively in working with both woman.. Flora is her CI who helps her with many cases involving abuse. Flora was kidnapped and held prisoner for over a .year. D.D. Warren arrests Evie for murdering her husband in the beginning of the book. Evie's story is complicated because when she was 16 her father was shot. She claimed that she has been holding a gun in front of him and discharged it by accident.. Each woman's story is told separately chapter by chapter.. Their stories merge at the end of the book. Though Evie and Flora had many frightening and tragic experiences they are able to move on with their lives and become friends. This is a well written mystery novel.

You can never go wrong with Lisa Gardner. Never Tell is a Detective D.D. Warren story and as always D.D. gets her man.
I will read anything Lisa Gardner puts out there and encourage you to as well if you are a mystery lover.

I'm giving this crime thriller five big stars because it really was an amazing read. I'm not normally a reader who enjoys multi-points of view but I gladly made an exception in this case. Told by three different women who exhibit strengths to admire, this story kept me riveted to the page the entire time. D.D. Warren is a police officer who isn't afraid to allow civilians to give her a helping hand with a difficult case. Flora Dane is the survivor of a horrific period of abduction and torture who fights every day to remain a survivor, never a victim. Evie Carter has been keeping secrets from her husband and what she finds when she arrives home after work one day means she will never have the chance to be totally honest with him.

This book kept my interest focused on the book from first page to last. The characters in this story are written to be real people and that's sometimes a hard thing for authors to do. The information necessary to provide the solution to the crimes is revealed in natural ways so that it feels as if someone is actually finding the information in real time. The investigative forays into the dark web were fascinating to me because I have absolutely no idea of how those things work. Lisa Gardner is doing a masterful job of handling the characterization of Flora Dane. Her character could go oh, so very wrong, but Gardner hasn't let that happen. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an eGalley of this novel.

This is the latest outing of Sgt D.D. Warren featuring Flora Dane. A man is murdered in his home office and the police arrive only to find his pregnant wife holding the murder weapon. D.D. recognizes the wife from an early case in her career. At that time, Evie Carter was just 16 and had accidentally shot her father. Could it be that the previous shooting was no accident? Why would she kill her husband?

Flora Dane, who survived being held captive for over a year by a sexual predator and murderer years earlier, sees Conrad Carter's picture on the news and remembers meeting him with her captor one night. She shares this information with D.D. who must take that into consideration in what had seemed to be a simple case of a woman killing her husband.

When an arsonist torches the Carter home, a safe containing driver's licenses for Conrad Carter under various aliases, they must uncover who he really was and what a mild-mannered window salesman was really doing on his many business trips. Does his murder have anything to do with the death of Evie's father so many years ago?

I always enjoy the D.D. Warren stories and Flora Dane has become a favorite character for me. I like the fact that even seven years later, her ordeal is never really in the past. She meets a man who has been writing her letters since her return wanting to learn more about her captor. He seems sincere and has his own reasons for investigating such crimes, but she can't shake the feeling that he could be a predator as well. He assists the FBI as they try to find out how her captor, Jacob Ness and Conrad Carter found each other on the dark web and why.

D.D. Warren and Flora are a great crime solving team. There's underlying compassion and caring for each other which both try to act too tough to show. Never Tell is an exciting, fast paced mystery from Lisa Gardner. Can't wait to read the next mystery they solve!

Once again I found myself drawn into a D.D. Warren book; Never Tell by Lisa Gardner. It was so difficult to put down. Never Tell involved D.D. Warren working with Flora her C.I. to solve the case of a murdered husband. The idea that Evie Carter, his wife, who held the weapon when confronted by the police,was just all too easy and the reader knew that the the killer and the murder were way out of sink. The storyline was put together by each chapter being told/titled by the character's opinion, insight, or actions at the time. Lisa Gardner entwined the stories of Flora's background 6 years earlier as the hostage of Jacob Ness, with the death of Evie Carter's father, and the murder of her husband, Conrad Carter. It was a jigsaw puzzle with pieces of evidence strewn helter skelter throughout each chapter. As the reader, I found myself being the detective along with D.D. Warren and Flora. This novel was so well written. If you are a mystery lover, I encourage you to read Never Tell by Lisa Gardner.
I appreciate Dutton of Penguin Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read the proof of this book due out in March of 2019.

Tl;dr: Never Tell is an outstanding suspense/thriller that starts off fast and then goes even faster all the way to the end *and* while featuring not one, not two, but three fascinating female leads.

I've been reading Lisa Gardner for ages, so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of Never Tell. Fans of D. D. Warren and Gardner's newest, and imo, fascinating share-the-lead character, Flora Dane, are in for a fast-paced, satisfying read.

One of the things I like best about Ms. Gardner's writing is that even if you are new to her books, they're still a good read. It's no small feat to hand out enough backstory to hook new readers while not boring longtime fans, but she always manages to do so, which is why I've been reading her books since The Perfect Husband (pre-D.D.!!)

Never Tell opens with an anxious, pregnant Evie Carter returning home to face her husband Conrad.

Minutes later, the police arrive. Conrad has been shot three times. His computer has been shot twelve times. And Evie is holding the gun.

Evie is arrested for Conrad's murder and D.D. is on the case--turns out, Evie shot her father about sixteen years ago, but claimed it was an accident. It was one of D. D.'s first cases and she's never been totally convinced that Evie's father died accidentally, making her very suspicious.

Then Flora appears near the crime scene. Turns out, she's pretty sure she's seen the dead husband, Connor, before--and under the worst possible circumstances. In Never Tell, Flora has to go back to memories of a time she doesn't want to revisit even as she can never forget. I won't say more because I think Flora is Ms. Gardner's best character yet, and her story is very much worth reading.

Of course, it's great to read about D.D. again--while motherhood has mellowed her out a little, she's still a no nonsense, incredibly perceptive cop who is willing to examine every angle she needs to-- even if she finds that each angle leads to another. Or three.

Rounding out the cast of main characters is Evie, who is actually--imo--almost as fascinating as Flora. She's so smart, but has spent her entire life living in the shadow of her genius father who died at her hands. (You can guess that twist, but it still works) And it turns out that marriage to Conrad was not easy--but exactly why...well, that's one of the reasons why Never Tell is one of those books you start, vowing to read only X number of chapters only to end up reading way, way more than that.

Longtime fans and new readers are in for a gripping and well done thriller with Never Tell. While it's not perfect--it is very, very obvious who drives the more muder-y (murdery??) aspects of the plot--it is very, very good. 4.25 rounded up to five because Flora! And also because I would have preordered this about three chapters in--except I've already done that because Ms. Gardner's books are just that good.

If you're a fan of Gardner's other books, then you will enjoy this one. Same formula, nothing really groundbreaking here but a nice little thriller that can easily be finished in a day or two.

Boston Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren and vigilante Flora Dane (a survivor of a serial killer, who now advocates for other women) are back in Lisa Gardner's "Never Tell".

It starts with the discovery of a man shot dead in his home office. It seems a slam dunk that his pregnant wife killed Conrad - Evie is found standing over the body after repeatedly shooting his computer.

Warren knows Evie from a previous case when, as a child, she shot her own father. It was ruled an accident at the time. On the other hand, Flora Dane, recognizes Conrad as a man who might have been trying to help her when she was a captive. Was he a predator or something else?

Of course, we know that nothing will be as it seems in a Gardner thriller and that's certainly true of this one - dive in and enjoy!

i will be reviewing this title editorially for Library Journal be sure and look for my review in early 2019 in the printed or online edition

So just when you thought you’d learned just about everything about Flora Danes, Lisa Gardner proves you wrong. All past books kind of scratch at the surface but D.D. Warren through the ingenious writing of Lisa Gardner would never stop there. In NEVER TELL we are once again instantly immersed in a crime drama with so many levels it seems impossible to corral all the information and get to the real story. You know dig through the haystack for the elusive needle.
At first you might find yourself questioning the immense saturation of facts pertaining to Flora Dane again wondering at the fact that there was a treasure trove of information that never made it to the pages of Find Her.
Once again we follow the story told through the eyes of the main characters, in this case that would be D.D. Warren, Evie and of course Flora. Three women now forever linked through drama and tragedy that spanned many years. To each these years equaled a life time in their own unique, personal way and yet there does seem to be a common thread. And that’s what NEVER TELL is all about – finding that common thread which means delving deep into the events new and old and ultimately dredging up better forgotten memories.
Full of surprises and insight – a cleverly thought out page turner – one not easily forgotten. NEVER TELL is destined to take up your days and night as Lisa Gardner digs up every possible event that leads towards solving what turns out to be a multitude of crimes. The scope of the investigation is amazing and the author’s research is noteworthy.
NEVER TELL is about a murder and then the ensuing cover-up. It looks pretty cut and dry but this is a work by Lisa Gardner so stay alert because we all know that it can’t be that easy. The cast of characters are so well written and conceived that they feel real. And armed with a huge amount of facts and details NEVER TELL comes to a conclusion that will truly surprise. Lisa Gardner writes smart books and this one is no exception.

A lot of stirring the pot of past secrets and current crimes await the reader of the New York Times best selling author, Lisa Gardner’s newest mystery NEVER TELL. How many secrets can a family have. Sergeant D.D. Warren and confidential informant, Flora Danes race to find the murderer before it all goes up in flames. Evie, an unassuming math teacher, has been charged with murdering her husband. This open and shut case is anything but.... lies, secrets and murders intrigue the reader in this unpredictable thriller. Mysteries of the dark web, arson and family dysfunction are all woven in to this story. You will not be able to put this book down until you are finished and the mystery is solved.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this novel thanks to Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Another crime thriller with DD Warren as the main character. This storyline doesn’t disappoint with its twists and turns. It was a bit of a dark plot for me to get through, but it also added to the mystery and the guessing of who dunnit. Even with it being the 10th book in the series, you can easily pick this up as your first and read as a stand alone.

As the 10th book in the series, it’s obvious that fans love Lisa Gardner and her thrill ride writing. This one will charm fans and have them asking for more.

I really enjoyed reading Never Tell. It was hard to put down. This story was interesting from beginning to end. As a fan of Lisa Gardener and her characters, I enjoyed reading about Detective DD and Flora again. I didn't want to book to end and look forward to what Lisa writes next.

Thisis another book in the D D Warren series and it is great. It grabs you from the first chapter and I hated to see it end. It has lots of twists and leaves you wondering what is going to happen but she does a great job of tying up all of the different plots. I was glad to see Flora return to the series

You are probably very familiar with Lisa Gardner’s books including The Neighbors, Right Behind You, and many, many others. She is a tremendously gifted author who can tell a great story that will suck you in and won’t let you go! It’s the kind of suspenseful story that will make you forget about everything else you have to do, you will want to sit and read!

SYNOPSIS:

A man is dead, shot three times in his home office. But his computer has been shot twelve times, and when the cops arrive, his pregnant wife is holding the gun.

D. D. Warren arrives on the scene and recognizes the woman–Evie Carter–from a case many years back. Evie’s father was killed in a shooting that was ruled an accident. But for D.D., two coincidental murders is too many.

Flora Dane sees the murder of Conrad Carter on the TV news and immediately knows his face. She remembers a night when she was still a victim–a hostage–and her captor knew this man. Overcome with guilt that she never tracked him down, Flora is now determined to learn the truth of Conrad’s murder.

But D.D. and Flora are about to discover that in this case the truth is a devilishly elusive thing. As layer by layer they peel away the half-truths and outright lies, they wonder: How many secrets can one family have?



If you are seeking a book that is thrilling and suspenseful, this is for you!

February 2019