Don't Look Back
Written by Gregg Hurwitz
4/5
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About this audiobook
Eve Hardaway, newly single mother of one, is on a trip she’s long dreamed of—a rafting and hiking tour through the jungles and mountains of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Eve wanders off the trail, to a house in the distance with a menacing man in the yard beyond it, throwing machetes at a human-shaped target. Disturbed by the sight, Eve moves quickly and quietly back to her group, taking care to avoid being seen. As she creeps along, she finds a broken digital camera, marked with the name Teresa Hamilton. Later that night, in a rarely used tourist cabin, she finds a discarded prescription bottle—also with the name Teresa Hamilton. From the camera’s memory card, Eve discovers Teresa Hamilton took a photo of that same menacing looking man in the woods. Teresa Hamilton has since disappeared.
Now the man in the woods is after whoever was snooping around his house. With a violent past and deadly mission, he will do anything to avoid being discovered. A major storm wipes out the roads and all communication with the outside world. Now the tour group is trapped in the jungle with a dangerous predator with a secret to protect. With her only resource her determination to live, Eve must fight a dangerous foe and survive against incredible odds—if she's to make it back home alive.
Gregg Hurwitz
Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, and Troubleshooter. He holds a B.A. in English and psychology from Harvard University and a master's degree from Trinity College, Oxford University. He lives in Los Angeles.
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Reviews for Don't Look Back
105 ratings16 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I really like the orphan X series. They are some of my favorite books. This started Out slow and got tedious and boring. I skipped to the end and probably didn't even need to do that. Very disappointing
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great suspenseful read!! Narrators are excellent and perfect for the characters!!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Too long. The story could have been told in half the time. Over the top on bad things happening .
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was a little too long and quite a few holes in the story. Not my favorite of his novels.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is my least favorite of all Greg's audio books. The story really dragged on and it just wasn't good. The female reader was so - so but really bad when taking like a child. I don't even know how I made it to the end of this.
Every other book I've heard has been great! The Orphan X series is Amazing in every way. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good story... very loooooong and drawn out ...
Entertaining tho - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Well, this title took a turn I didn’t expect, and for that I’ll give it credit. Gregg Hurwitz is an author as well as a screenwriter and writer of comics, and that shows in this book. It’s written in a highly visual, cinematic style with some really pulse-pounding moments of action and drama. There are scenes that really jump out the reader. For that alone, this is well-worth a read. I did have a few problems with the book, but before I mention them I’ll say SPOILERS coming…First thing, I didn’t truly buy the villain being able to seemingly be everywhere at once, and certainly not as a lone agent able to move that many bodies and set up that many traps in record time. Yes, he’s evil, but he does have to operate within the bounds of time and space. Second thing, and this I truly have an issue with: When you put white people in jeopardy in a foreign setting, do not treat natives as quickly and easily disposed of chess pieces, especially early on in the narrative. Not only in the spirit of verisimilitude are the fish not out of water more likely to survive, but it’s just insulting to keep using the magical Mexican (in this case) trope. Yes, it’s nice that your non-white characters are noble. It’s even better when you invest enough in those characters to have them make the cut, too.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz is a highly recommended action/adventure thrill ride of terror.
When Eve Hardaway's husband dumps her for a younger woman and moves to Europe, leaving her and their son behind, she decides to push beyond her comfort zone. Instead of canceling the surprise trip she booked for their anniversary, Eve decides to go ahead and take the vacation to the Días Felices Ecolodge, an eco-tourism camp in the mountainous jungles of Oaxaca, Mexico. While out on a day excursion with the group, Eve discovers a camera lost by a woman who was a previous guest, on a ridge overlooking a house where she sees the disturbing sight of a man practicing throwing a machete at a human target. Later, when unpacking in her cabin, she discovers other items left behind by this same woman. When Eve asks about the woman, she is told that she decided to suddenly pack up and leave for Mexico City. With further research, Eve discovers that this woman was reported missing and never found.
As more clues and questions surface, suspicions begin to rise in the group and it becomes abundantly clear that they are likely all in danger from the sinister-looking man with the machete she saw in the jungle. Eve must rely on hidden resources she didn't even realize she had in order to survive this threat and not leave her son without a mother.
With their isolation in the jungle and threatening weather looming, Hurwitz does an excellent job ratcheting up the tension and making the threat to everyone feel more and more palpable and ominous. While careful readers are going to notice a few holes in the plot, most of us will likely just race through trying to read as fast as possible to see what on earth happens next. Hurwitz does an excellent job with the character of Eve. Although action/adventure books are not usually known for a depth of character development, Eve felt like a real person to me and I was cheering her on.
This is a perfect airplane book. It will keep you entertained and the time will pass quickly.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for review purposes.
Excerpt
gregghurwitz.net/the-books/dont-look-back/ - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recently divorced Eve Hardaway, mother of a young boy tries to find herself by taking an adventure trip in the jungles of Mexico. With a group of other Americans and their tour guides, they go exploring. But two things happen that changes the lives of everyone; Eve spots a lone man who seems to be abducting a local and she finds a camera of the previous occupant of her cabin. She soon discovers that this woman went missing and the mystery man wants to be left alone (and to the extant he will kill for it). Unprepared and inexperienced the campers now have to fight their way out while the killer stalks them one by one.This is a fast-paced novel that at first I thought would be your usual cat and mouse in the woods story. But Eve grows as a human being as she outwits the man after her (who turns out to be much wanted jihadist in hiding).It’s one of the books that you start to read thinking it may or not be attention getting and then; boom it hit me and I couldn’t put it down!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gregg Hurwitz is a great storyteller, and in Don't Look Back, he takes on a Mexican vacation adventure that turns into a nightmare... in just a matter of days. In fact, toward the end of the book, you have to look back to see how fast -- and badly -- things change for the main character and the others dealing with a bad-guy hiding out in the jungle. Riveting at times, and each time you think it's over, the story keeps going. This is the first of his books I have read, but I plan to add him to my list of authors to read!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not my favorite Hurwitz story to date. The jungle got very monotonous after a short time. I did like the variety of characters and personalities. And my favorite part was how Eve and her boy called each other Little and Big, silly I know but sometimes it's the little things. Hurwitz is still a fantastic author, this one just didn't really do it for me.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A word of warning: I wouldn't advise you to start reading this book unless you have a large block of undisturbed time. When I began reading Don't Look Back, I lost all track of time, was late for an appointment, and the entire time I was gone, I was champing at the bit to get back to Eve Hardaway's story.Author Gregg Hurwitz wanted to create a character who could be completely outmatched physically, a character who would be forced to survive by wits alone, hence Eve Hardaway, his first female main character. Eve is superb. Yes, Don't Look Back is a lightning-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller, but more than that it's wonderful character study of a woman forced to rediscover her true self in order to survive. One way Hurwitz conveys how far Eve has wandered from the person she used to be is in conversation with others. She'll think what she really wants to say, but her actual response is always something meek and mild. These responses gradually change, and as they do, readers will cheer her on. This is definitely Eve's show, but her fellow tourists and the owners of the tour company are well-drawn. However, I do have to admit that my interest in them was more along the lines of betting which ones would die. The most controversial character is the man hiding in the jungle. His reasons for originally going there are frightening, and although his political rants are difficult to swallow, they do indeed show how his beliefs and his actions have driven him insane.If you don't want political extremism or the torture and killing of animals in your fiction, Don't Look Back may not be the book for you. On the other hand, you may well find it just as riveting as I did.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's no secret that I love to read thrillers. When asked for recommendations at the library, I offer up Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben and Gregg Hurwitz as really good authors in this genre. Hurwitz's latest book, Don't Look Back, uses a premise that I never tire of - an everyday person put into an untenable situation with everything on the line. Fun escapist reading, akin to watching action movies. After a divorce, Eve decides to follow through with a planned trip to a wilderness escape in Mexico, despite the fact that she'll now be travelling alone. When she wanders off the path on one of the first outings, she comes across a frightening looking man practicing throwing machetes at a human target. She quickly ducks down and finds a broken camera on the ground. She grabs it and quickly runs away. But when she looks at the photos, she sees disturbing images of this same man. She also discovers that the owner of the camera is a former guest of the resort - now gone missing. All the right ingredients are here for a thrilling read - a very scary guy with his own agenda who you won't see coming, a tropical storm that knocks the power out and along with it any outside communications. Throw in that everyday woman with a young son back in the States and you've got a great David and Goliath match. Welcome to the jungle.... Eve is a well drawn protagonist, not overly capable in the beginning, but growing into her untapped strengths as the danger grows. There's a mixed cast of supporting characters, but much like those scary suspense films, not all of them make it 'til the end. Hurwitz's choice of setting was well described and offered up lots of additional danger via the jungle and the wildlife. The swarm ants make my skin crawl..... As for the antagonist, his agenda is an oft used one lately, but it's still very effective at engaging and enraging the reader. And will have readers frantically urging Eve on. Although I did find myself skimming over some of his diatribes. Hurwitz has crafted a page turning thriller that you'll end up devouring in no time flat. Don't Look Back went to the beach with me one day and was almost done by the time I headed home. The action is non-stop and the tension ratchets up and up with every page turned. Over the top? Yes, in parts it is, but go with it, it's a heck of a good escapist piece of fiction. Think scary movie at the drive in.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A readable story., but not much more. The characters were flat and the plot improbable.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kick-ass Chick of the Week goes to Eve Hardaway in Gregg Hurwitz' s Don't Look Back. Eve decides to go solo on a trip to Oaxaca since her husband has left for other places and other persons. Leaving her much loved son, she joins a group (with their own issues) on what is supposed to be an adventure filled with rafting, hiking and visiting ruins but turns into something else."They breathed for a time, the arm centered between them like a grotesque centerpiece. Rainwater washed the outburst hand, mud trickling off in rivulets, unearthing the pale skin."This is where the story becomes a mashup of standard summer horror flicks and the single woman adventure trip gone wrong. "Don't go there" and "Make sure he's dead" will go right along with "kick his ass" as you read more of the often predictable and unbelievable week. But it works. The writing is good, there are some twists, the dialogue flows, it is gory and fun. And it empowers women. As Eve says, "When did I stop being something worth fighting for?" You didn't.Provided by publisher
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the first book I have read by Gregg Hurwitz and I was very impressed. It started relatively slow with the back story, but the suspense began quickly. It is the story of a lady who is recently a single mother (to divorce) and decides to take the Mexican vacation she bought for her and her hubby's anniversary.The 'resort' she stays at is quite isolated, and the story unfolds as she sees something that she shouldn't have and puts all of the guests lives at risk. The story was quite believable except for one part for me.....if you know that there is someone trying to kill all of you why would you all go to sleep and leave no one awake to stand guard? LOLOther than that one point I found it a very entertaining read and would recommend it for lovers of suspense and horror.I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.