I received a free in corrected prof copy of “ Don’t Ever Forget” by Matthew Farrell from Net Galley to read and review.

I read Matthew Farrell’s previous mystery novels and thought them very good , so I was looking forward to reading this one. It was a bit of of a disappointment, not because that it lacked in tension or plot twists or due to not having an intriguing premise. No, it was because the plot was a bit too confusing and there so many characters , often referred to by first name that it was easy to lose track of events.
The book begins well. A woman is driving down a dark, lonely highway in a rainstorm, when she sees headlights coming up fast in her rear-view mirror. She is already distraught, for reasons at this point not yet clear to the reader, and she speeds up, dangerously so on the rain-slicked road. Then the red/ blue flashers that can only be from a police car, appear in her mirror.That is the worst of all possible outcomes because not only was she speeding and driving too fast for conditions, but because there is a body in her car’s trunk. After pulling her over, the officer asks for her documents, and when he lights up the inside of the car with his flashlight, he sees blood and her hands and clothes. Just as he steps back to draw his weapon, a hooded figure appears behind the cop and bludgeons him to death.
Now , you must admit that that is a gotcha opener for a novel, just what I expected from Mr. Farrell’s exciting style of writing.
So now, we have two crimes to investigate- the dead police trooper and the body in the trunk.
Concurrently , and as yet unrelated to other events in the book, we have Susan Adler , NYSP investigator , assigned to a case of a missing private duty nurse Rachael Garland. Also missing is James Daniel an elderly Alzheimer’s afflicted man who is in her care. His house has been ransacked and there are signs of violence. Both people, or their bodies, are gone.
Then the second investigation comes into focus with the car with the body in the trunk is found in a nearby wooded lake. Police suspect that the body is the missing nurse- but where is the elderly man? So far so good.
It is from here on that the story line becomes complicating and confusing.
We find that the Alzheimer’s patient, James Darville, is being held in a basement room. ( Rachael ‘ s whereabouts yet unrevealed )He is being questioned by a man, Trevor and a woman, Cindy, who are his jailers. They try to get their captive to respond to persistent questions : his name, his date of birth, his family ties , but everything is lost to his disease. They also ask him if he recognizes some names and pictures. Why? Because these two suspect him of being a serial abductor and murderer of young children. The questions loom: where did these captors come from , why are they doing this , how are they related to James? Answers are slow in coming, leaving me wondering and going pages back to see if I had missed something important.
It seems that a mysterious man named Hagen has set the plan in motion . He kidnapped Trevor’ s wife and child and threatened to kill both unless answers are forthcoming. Cindy, the woman is there because her sister is missing . That relationship was never adequately explained for me, though I checked back to see what I had missed. A third captor then appears on the scene. His mother needs a liver transplant that Hagen could provide if her son David a third captor, gets results. If your head is spinning from this review, just imagine me, flipping back through digital pages to find connections. In fact, by mid-book I was writing down names and links between people like a detective with a whiteboard.
Moreover, Detective Susan Adler’s family problems, the cause of which the author barely sketches in, slow her perceptions into the case . If you have not read previous books, you will not know why her children are traumatized , why her mother recovering from wounds, nor why she does not have a detective partner and refuses offers of one. That investigation involves some road trips that seem to be inserted in order to build some romantic possibilities between Susan and a character form a previous novelI know that the sudden plot twist meme is the thing in thrillers nowadays, but it’s usually one per novel at the end, but in this book there were many sudden reveals. The big one at the end is quite enough. “ Don’t Ever Forget” needed plot tightening and definition of character. I still think that the author is one to read, though.

This is my third by Matthew Farrell and I have to say this one is my most favorite so far. His books only get better and better. They have the right amount of thrill, suspense, and murder mystery. They are turn pagers that keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat. I'm a big fan and highly recommend his books and will continue to read them!!

DON’T EVER FORGET is fast, thrilling and impossible to put down. Author Matthew Farrell is adept at slipping bits and pieces of a twisty tale together as the forward movement of the story just won’t let up. I have enjoyed both the previous books that involved the two characters that team up together in this one; yet it clearly is the beginning of a new series. Someone is pulling the strings on some kind of heist or kidnapping or murder-for-hire or mayhem we just can’t figure out but the bodies are piling up and there seems to be a clock ticking. It’s a good, creepy tale and worth reading as fast as you can because it’s so good. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Dash cam video of the murder of a State Police officer raises more questions than it answers. This is a complex procedural that has perhaps a bit too much going on but which kept me turning the pages.

A vehicle stop gone wrong. That’s the case police investigator Susan Adler is called to, but it turns into so much more than that. The trooper’s body cam reveals a vehicle of a nurse. A nurse who has been missing for days, along with her elderly client. As investigators dig, they discover the old man not only has dementia, but is connected to two child murders that have long been listed as cold cases. Where are they? Why were they taken? Susan Alder will find out.
This book was pretty typical cop show drama. There was enough of an urgent feeling to keep me reading, but I felt like Susan’s storyline was the slower half of the story. I would rather stick with the intense action.
James is the elderly man with dementia. I love having a voice that I don’t know if I can trust and he provides that voice. His dementia is making him quick to forget things and his past is fuzzy. The ghosts of the children that haunt him are an added layer. Is he a killer?
In the end, I felt the book was well written. While books from the perspective of investigators isn’t my usual read, I appreciated this one and gave it 4 stars. I don’t know that I would read more from this series though.

#DontEverForget #NetGalley
Thanks NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Matthew Farrell for a copy to review.
The book was hooking enough to keep reading. Through it I kept wondering, the reader seems to know the truth while the police is trying to crack the puzzle.
I feel like there was lots left unexplained at the end. And the fact that people could be that sick and twisted is frustrating and sad.
I would like to read the next part of the series though to decide as I liked the writing style and the structure of the book but I am not that sure about the story itself.

The premise sounded awesome. I wish the story was as concise as the premise, or at least lean more towards that. There were so many characters, that I was losing track of who was who. The moments of respite believe or not are with the Inspector (Susan) be at home or work, she was easy to understand, to relate to and provided a sense of peace in the turmoil of Don't Ever Forget. I will say the author has excellent twists, turns, and surprises. It could have been a fantastic book with a little less over the top. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer and Matthew Farrel for the arc. I freely volunteer my thoughts and opinions.

This new book by Matthew Farrell combines characters from his two previous books, and is the start of a new series with the two working together. Susan Adler is a police investigator for the state troopers and Liam Dwyer is a forensic investigator. Susan is called to the scene when a trooper is murdered on the side of the road, the tragedy captured on his dash cam. The car that was stopped by the trooper is soon found abandoned in the water and the hunt is on for the owner. They come to find that no one has seen or heard from the woman in days. What's worse, she's a nurse for an elderly gentleman with dementia who is also missing. The police now worry that she has taken him and disappeared. An unlikely scenario, but it's the conclusion they reach based upon what they find in the man's torn apart home.

Meanwhile, the reader is shown the point of view of others seemingly involved. How and why, we have no idea, so it can be confusing at first, observing their interactions with no clue as to who they are. That's one of the things I like about this author, he kind of drops the reader in it sometimes, and it's up to you to pay attention as to how the current situation came about. It will all be explained, but not in a linear, straightforward way. During the course of the investigation, Susan asks for assistance from Liam, which is where he comes in. We learn how they became friends and that they stay in touch, living in different states. Liam is able to use his background and connections to help Susan hunt down the nurse and her patient.

We also see from the elderly man's perspective, during the present and back in his past when all of the current events were set in motion. .Everything begins to fall into place for the reader, but how will Susan learn what we know when it's trapped in the man's failing mind? Is he really an innocent victim in all this or is he the one with the most to hide? You'll have to read it to find out and I recommend that you do!

When a state trooper is murdered during a traffic stop on the highway, police investigator Susan Adler is called to the scene. They have the trooper’s dash cam video and the owner of the car is a local nurse who is missing. This leads Susan to the woman’s patient, an elderly man who is suffering from dementia and he is also missing. The story starts with a man whose family has been kidnapped and he will do whatever it takes to get his family back, including murder and kidnapping. A very confusing story with twists and turns that don’t become immediately apparent. I would have liked a little more explanation in the beginning as I felt a lost as to what was really happening. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)