BOOK REVIEW: DON’T GO BACK BY MARK WEST

14/3/2022

Don’t Go Back by mark West – Review by Penny Jones

Don’t Go Back is the newest release by British author Mark West. It’s a fast paced psychological thriller, which grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go.
Set over two timelines the story follows our protagonist Beth Parker as she returns to her childhood home of Seagrave, a quintessential British seaside town, following the sudden death of her childhood friend Kate.

Beth hasn’t seen Kate since that summer, the summer before she left for university when she thought she’d left Seagrave behind her for good. Now married and trying for a baby, Beth wants nothing more that to put her past behind her and forget about that terrible summer, but there is someone from her past that is keen to remind her that there is a good reason you don’t go back.

Mark West has found a perfect balance between plot and character in Don’t Go Back. I tend to be a bit squeamish with thrillers, as I dislike graphic torture scenes and gratuitous violence for no reason but the sake of it; but this is something that Mark has not had to rely on in his writing. His ability to ramp up the suspense and terror is never overshadowed by schlock tactics; and a simple turn of phrase by a character can chill your blood, as your mind fills in, in advance just what horror is about to unfold.

With well-rounded characters Mark makes you feel real compassion for them, whilst at the same time loathing them. With a story that is so frighteningly realistic, you can’t help but feel empathy for his characters.

An ideal holiday read, I can see Don’t Go Back being this years must buy blockbuster.

DON'T GO BACK: An absolutely gripping psychological suspense thriller by Mark West

A captivating thriller about a woman whose past suddenly catches up with her

When Beth receives news that a once-close friend has died, after years away she reluctantly returns to the seaside town where she grew up.

Beth becomes increasingly unsettled as she attends the funeral, encounters people from her past, and visits her teenage haunts.

She is forced to take herself back to the awful summer when she left for good. Yet it is not just memories that are resurfacing, but simmering resentments.

Someone else hasn’t quite so readily put their past behind them, and unwittingly Beth will become the key to their catharsis.

As she puts two and two together, the question is: whatever possessed her to return?

DON’T GO BACK is a truly nail-biting read that will appeal to fans of Claire McGowan, Vanessa Garbin, Teresa Driscoll, Linwood Barclay and Anna Willett.

This is the best book you’ll read all year!

Mark West lives in Northamptonshire with his wife Alison and their son Matthew. Since discovering the horror small press in 1998 he has published over eighty short stories, two novels, a novelette, a chapbook, two collections and six novellas (one of which, Drive, was nominated for a British Fantasy Award). His debut mainstream thriller, Don’t Go Back, was recently published by The Book Folks.

Away from writing, he enjoys reading, walking, watching films and playing Dudeball with his son.

He can be contacted through his website at www.markwest.org.uk and is also on Twitter as @MarkEWest

Penny Jones

Penny Jones knew she was a writer when she started to talk about herself in the third person (her family knew when Santa bought her a typewriter for Christmas when she was three). Penny’s debut collection “Suffer Little Children” published by Black Shuck Books was shortlisted for the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer, and her short story “Dendrochronology” published by Hersham Horror was shortlisted for the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Story.
She loves reading and will read pretty much anything you put in front of her, but her favourite authors are Stephen King, Shirley Jackson and John Wyndham. In fact Penny only got into writing to buy books, when she realised that there wasn’t that much money in writing she stayed for the cake.