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    Never Knowing: A Novel
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    Never Knowing: A Novel
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    Never Knowing: A Novel
    Ebook447 pages7 hours

    Never Knowing: A Novel

    By Chevy Stevens

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    From the acclaimed author of Still Missing comes a psychological thriller about one woman's search into her past and the deadly truth she uncovers.

    All her life, Sara Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents. As an adopted child with two sisters who were born naturally to her parents, Sara did not have an ideal home life. The question of why she was given up for adoption has always haunted her. Finally, she is ready to take steps and to find closure.

    But some questions are better left unanswered.

    After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother---only to be met with horror and rejection. Then she discovers the devastating truth: Her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades. But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her father is him finding out about her.

    What if murder is in your blood?

    Never Knowing is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman's quest to understand herself, her origins, and her family. That is, if she can survive. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJul 5, 2011
    ISBN9781429925129
    Unavailable
    Never Knowing: A Novel
    Author

    Chevy Stevens

    CHEVY STEVENS lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and daughter. When she isn’t working on her next book, she’s hiking with her two dogs on her favorite mountain trails and spending time with her family. Chevy's current obsessions are vintage Airstreams, Hollywood memoirs, all things mid-century modern, and stand-up comedians--not necessarily in that order. Her books, including Still Missing, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, have been published in more than thirty countries.

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    Reviews for Never Knowing

    3.5/5

    355 ratings63 reviews

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    • 3/5
      not bad... and I understand the concept of having your main character flawed, to add interest to the story.. but this time, the main character was SO flawed, I sometimes had a hard time caring about her. The end - while it was supposed to be a surprise, was somewhat predictable.
    • 3/5
      This is a really fast read and a lot of fun also. My major complaint is in the last 75 pages. I admit I expect a lot from a books ending and it seems more often than not I am disappointed. I would still recommend it and some people might love the ending. Just not me.
    • 5/5
      One of the best psychological thrillers that I've read to date, gripping and suspenseful with the turn of each page, never knowing what's about too happen around the next bend.
    • 4/5
      I had a hard time rating this book for several reasons: It's a good story, suspenseful and interesting. I wanted to see what happened next. It's extremely easy to read, which should appeal to many readers. You won't have to look up any words in the dictionary. The writing, however, seemed very adolescent to me, extremely cliched. I thought this might be a tool the author used on purpose, since the story is told from the main character's point of view, in her voice, and she's often speaking to her psychiatrist about what is happening in her life. That part was clever. When I read the tributes and thanks at the end, the author's voice was the same in that as in the story. So this seems like a book written by someone young for young people. It contains the cliches and well worn phrases used by many young people today, almost too many for readers who prefer more literary, sophisticated, and challenging reads.

      The author is good at suspense, though the end seemed rushed to me and too tied up neatly. Despite the suspense and solid story, there is needless repetition in some places and the story dragged slightly in others but not enough to put off the reader. The story seemed to go slowly until the end, and then where much is happening, it sped up and was more concise. I wanted to give this book 3 1/2 stars, but when in doubt, I round up.

      The main character seemed immature and headstrong, despite being a mother. It was unsettling how much she didn't learn or change from significant experiences in the book. Yes, there are people like that in the world. Sara's actions don't coordinate with what she says about herself, over and over -- that she can't keep it together, but she always does in ghastly situations. There is too much telling and not enough showing in the story.

      The biological mother character was never really developed in the story, and I was left with questions about Sandy. Sandy could have been a more pivotal character easily; maybe she'd been a victim or was related to someone who was? It would have explained her behavior. Nothing else in the story did.

      I predict not only that many people will like this book for the suspense and simplicity of language, and maybe for the young, modern cliches, but that the author may get better over time if she writes more books. She has the right idea -- a good story at the heart of it all. I enjoyed the book very much, although the constant youthful language and telling shouted to me.

      The story is about a young single mother finding her birth mother and father and learning some horrible facts about them. Then a series of manipulative and scary events happen, and along with all this there are family issues. Keep writing, Chevy! Show, show, show. Allow the reader to deduce and understand without telling.
    • 5/5
      Yet another brilliant novel. Great character development and a suspenseful plot
    • 3/5
      452 pages of a story that should have taken half as much. Ad adopted woman searches for her birth parents and finds that she is the product of rape and her father is a famous serial killer- still on the loose. The protagonist Sara Gallagher is extremely unlikable. The story is told through her speaking to her psychiatrist. She is whiny, flighty, highly emotional and I just wanted her to be quiet. Her 6 year old daughter Ally is a brat, but Sara blames herself for it. Her fiance, Evan, seems nice but I can't believe anyone would put up with her! The story is very predictable with a slight twist at the end, but by then I just wanted to get back the time I spent reading this interminable novel.
    • 3/5
      Never Knowing is the story of Sara Gallagher, a young woman who is searching for her birth mother. When she finds her, she discovers that her father is an infamous criminal, and he soon finds out about her. It's a tight, suspenseful story.This novel is told through conversations between Sara and her therapist. While I thought this narrative device worked pretty well in Chevy Stevens' "Still Missing", it feels more contrived here. It doesn't seem realistic that in relating the story to a therapist, it would all come out sequentially. Wouldn't you think they'd discuss the most traumatic stuff first, and fill in details with questions and answers? This kept grating on me; I could not believe this was really was a series of therapy sessions, so it was hard to get absorbed in the story being told. I think I would've loved it as a straight narrative.Disclosure: I received this book from Amazon Vine, in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      "NEVER KNOWING" BY CHEVY STEVENSAs the title says, sometimes it's better to 'not know' . When Sarah Gallagher goes on a search for her birth mother she soon realizes she should have left well enough alone. This story is haunting and intense, a non-stop page turner!-Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud Book Club
    • 5/5
      It isn’t unusual for an adoptee to want to know their past, but when Sara Gallagher seeks her birth parent she is in for a shock. Her father is a serial killer and her mother was his only victim able to escape. Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens is an incredibly tense psychological thriller. It was fast-paced and held my interest – actually I hated to put it down. I liked the character of Sara, not in spite of, but because she was so flawed. It was interesting to see her looking at her own behaviors and wondering if they were inherited from her bio-father or learned from her adopted parents. Her fiancé, Evan, added interesting support and also plenty of conflict. Several characters kept me guessing whether they were good or bad until the end. It took a while for me to appreciate the conversations at the beginning of the chapters which were between Sara and her therapist. I have never had any experience with psychologists, so I found the conversations uncomfortable at first. All of her insecurities worked very well in this story and added to the tension.
    • 4/5
      I was contacted by the publisher to receive a free ARC of this book. I read it in two days. Stevens knows how to write an amazing suspense novel. I should have suspected some continuity from the title - Never Knowing... Still Missing? Yes, this book also stars Nadine, the therapist from Stevens' first book. I like the idea that we're getting a peek into her case files, but I also hope that Stevens' next book is different. I think this one could have been more suspenseful if it wasn't told within the framework of therapy sessions. It worked for Still Missing because we were hearing about what had happened before. In Never Knowing, the story is happening as we read. I felt removed from the action because I was being told secondhand, through the sessions, instead of actually "experiencing" it. I think the sessions gave too much introspection and analysis to the action, almost telling the reader what to think instead of allowing ourselves to interpret.

      There was also the twist ending, much like the one in Still Missing. I hope this is also discarded in Stevens' next novel. Some people may think the whole premise of the novel is far-fetched, but in my opinion the twist ending makes it more unbelievable. When things were wrapped up and twenty pages remained, I knew what was coming. In Still Missing, the twist helped wrap up the case. In Never Knowing, it seemed like Stevens was trying to pack in more punch. I think the story would have been stronger without it.

      Like I said - I read this in two days. When I wasn't reading it, I was telling people about it. When I wasn't talking about it, I was thinking about it. It gets stuck in your head and makes your heart pound the entire time. I was reading it in broad daylight and it still creeped me out. It got under my skin. I loved it, and will re-read it and still be entertained by it.
    • 3/5
      I really love Chevy Stevens, so was excited to read Never Knowing while being out of town for a work meeting. When this started I thought I was going to be freaked out reading this in a hotel room by myself. It starts off by learning about a serial killer. However; this fell flat for me.I was expecting a heart pounding thriller, and I just kept waiting for that moment for the story to be over the edge. Most of the action is between phone calls with Sara and the killer. I found it dragged on a little too much and was a little too repetitive. I wanted something else to happen. Even towards the end I was waiting for the twist on who the killer may be, and it never came. The twist that did come just did not work for me. It was pretty predictable as well.Overall, this was still pretty good but did not meet my expectations coming from an author that normally blows me away.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining crime thriller with lots of twists and turns.
    • 3/5
      Knowing you have been adopted leads to many questions even if you have a happy home life, but when your home life is less that ideal, as was Sara Gallagher’s, it seems even more important to find your birth parents. Sadly, sometimes the truth surrounding the circumstance of your birth is worse than your current situation. In Sara’s case the ugly truth was her birth mother was the only surviving victim of a serial rapist/murderer. Living in the digital age the story of Sara discovery soon makes it on to the internet, where her biological father learns of her existence and decides he has missed out on too much and wants to be her “daddy” and a grandfather to her daughter.

      This was a fairly fast paced and entertaining read, but I enjoyed Ms. Steven’s Still Missing slightly more.
    • 5/5
      Great Read!! Loved it!!
    • 4/5
      Woman seeks to find out about her birth mother. Is she prepared to find out who the father is?
    • 3/5
      After reading "Still Missing" by Chevy Stevens I couldn't wait to get my hands on another book by the same author. The second book wasn't as good for me. I'm not sure why.

      The main character is talking to the same psychologist as in "Still Missing." She is telling her story of her serial killer father and his attempt to work his way into her life. Sarah is cooperating with the police in order to aid in the capture of her father. The thing is, the characters just don't seem to act in ways that seem logical.

      It was an interesting plot, an interesting story line, and I just couldn't get into it.
    • 4/5
      Just wait for this story's interesting twist. You'll be surprised. Chevy Steven's novel of a woman in search of her birth parents turns into a psychological thriller. It's indeed one that is fast-paced and interesting to read. The only down side to this story is that I found it not quite believable. It basically boils down to how powerful women can physically be when confronted by men who are truly the more physical and muscular type. However, I was willing to put aside my skepticism to just let the fun of this frightening tale of a mother trying to protect her only young child carry me along. This is the second book by Chevy Stevens that I've read. I especially like the tension she creates in this book and not knowing for certain which are the good and bad characters.
    • 2/5
      Blurb........


      At thirty-four Sara Gallagher is finally happy with her life, but there is one big question that still haunts her - who are her birth parents?

      Finally ready to hear the truth, Sara discovers that some questions are better left unanswered: her biological father is an infamous serial killer, a wanted man who has been slaying women every summer for over thirty years.

      And now he knows he has a daughter.

      Sara soon realises that the only thing worse than finding out your real father is a killer, is him finding out about you...


      Well I had quite high hopes for this after reading and enjoying her first book - Still Missing.
      Plus my wife seemed to enjoy it without having her socks blown off.

      Well if it was 200 hundred pages shorter, and the main character was someone I could have empathised with, and if she had a child that I warmed to, we might have been okay, but it wasn't, she wasn't and I didn't.

      Not going to waste too much time on the review - as I've wasted too much time reading the book.

      2 from 5 - hopefully my wife will steer clear of her next book, as I'm quite happy never to read anything else by her again.

      Bought on the cheap from Oxfam, which is a minor consolation I suppose
    • 4/5
      After reading and thoroughly enjoying Chevy Stevens' first novel, Still Missing, I was curious and excited to read her second book, Never Knowing. Although it will not be available to the public until July, I received an advance copy from the publisher. Reading some "regular" books again made me realize how dependent on my Kindle I really am -- I read traditional books so much slower because they are just not as portable as the Kindle. Still, I was more than happy to check out Never Knowing in whatever format came my way!Never Knowing centers around a young (well, my age) mother, who is engaged to be married and begins to search in earnest for her own identity. The only adopted daughter in a family of three girls, Sara feels she has always been an outsider, and wonders how she will "create" this new family for herself with her fiance and daughter. Once she discovers the true identity of her birth mother, and then the strange circumstances of her birth, Sara is pulled into an active police investigation of a serial murderer. When her birth father begins contacting her, while her birth mother won't speak with her at all, Sara is forced to critically examine each move she makes, and determine who she can trust to protect the people she loves.There were a few points that I really didn't care for so much, the first being that the story is "told" through sessions with her psychologist (which ties this book loosely with Still Missing). Often, the interludes where Sara is directly speaking with Dr. Nadine seem forced and odd, and unauthentic. It might have been better to tell the story through journal entries, or personal blog posts. And while there are a few major twists at the end of the book, it still seemed to end a little too neatly for me. I know everyone likes a happily ever after, but what truly impressed me about Stevens' first book was that she kept true to the characters she created, and had them act and speak accordingly, even when I am sure it was difficult to write. The characters of Never Knowing are also unique, but sometimes do not act uniformly throughout the book (does this make sense?). Still, Stevens' is a fantastic writer. The pacing was good, the writing was clear and kept me wanting to read even after my book light was seriously dimming. I had some nightmares while reading this book -- which, although it seems contrary, is usually the mark of a great story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Not one of my favorite books, as a little slow and the main character would drive even me nuts! Also did not care for the ending. Basically, a psychological thriller about one woman’s search into her past and the deadly truth she uncovers.

      Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents as she was adopted by family who was not always nice to her (father and siblings). When she is about to get married, so sets out to find her real birth mother and father. However, some questions are better left unanswered.

      After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother—only to be met with horror and rejection. Then she discovers the devastating truth: her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades. She gets more than she has bargained for and some others along the way who does not have her best interest at heart. The novel is a complex and compelling portrayalof one woman’s quest to understand herself, her origins, and her family.
    • 3/5
      I didn't love this book. I enjoy a psychological thriller. I enjoy books about adoption, it hits me personally. It's a great plot but I'm thinking the personality of the main character, Sara probably killed it for me. I get things weren't the same for her in the family but the obsessive, impulsive, compulsive, neurotic personality became old....but of yeah she's such a strong character too. Well no she isn't, all thoseother traits just makes her crazy. I won't give away anything here but I was really glad when I had finished the book.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, gripping, suspenseful, fantastic, awesome novel! Can you tell I LOVED it! :)
      Just like Still Missing by this author, Never Knowing was just as great! I have become a fan of Chevy Stevens' writing. Her books grab you from the start and never let go. I found it almost impossible to put down, and could not wait to continue reading it as soon as I got home from work. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
    • 1/5
      This book was terrible. It moved slowly, the characters were all stupid and caricatures, and I there was too much nonsense suspense built up without payoff. I quit half way through and didn't care what happened to the characters.
    • 4/5
      I kept reading but this book seemed VERY long, going into every single up, down and sideways of the feelings and happenings of and to the "client," Sara, each chapter anther session with her therapist. The subject was rather extraordinary right this minute simply because of the current effort by several states to prevent women from having abortions even in the case of rape and/or incest. Although I found it a little exhausting to read, it is quite a page turner.
    • 5/5
      This was a FABULOUS book! I loved how the main character started every chapter with her Shrink, and how neurotic she was. It was fun to follow her ups and downs, and the struggles she encounters. I also liked how her fiancee was both caring and exasperated, he felt like a real person to me, not a superman who was able to deal with everything. Usually I can figure out what is going to happen in books long before the end, but this one was a total suprise! Great book, I know a ton of people who will love this book! Now I'm off to read Still Missing!
    • 3/5
      Firstly, I won this book through firstreads here on Goodreads and I was delighted to receive it. It's my first book that's been an advanced reader's copy so I was excited.

      I'll start off with what I liked about the book. It was a cleverly woven plot with careful attention to detail which any good mystery/suspense novels need. It was engaging from the first page, and I read the entire thing in one sitting (I was at work too). Without revealing too much, it's scary and funny and fast-paced in all the right places.

      The only problem I had with the book was every once in the while there would be a poor word choice or awkward phrasing that distracted me from the plot. One such example is when Sarah's daughter accuses the dog of "molesting" her doll. Ick. Molesting? Considering the subject matter, it was not the best word to use. I think it stems from a slight heavy handedness with language where it should flow more easily and definitely something that can be edited to catch.

      Overall, a good read! I passed it on to my mother because she absolutely loves mysteries, and she's already loving it.
    • 1/5
      There are times in a person's life when they begin a book and know from the first paragraph how awful it's going to be. Yet, somehow, you just can't put it down, because your own morbid curiosity wants to know just how bad it will get. Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens is just such a book.The author has a MASSIVE problem about telling instead of showing. Character development is non-existent making every interaction wooden and contrived. Nearly every piece of dialogue in this book is cringe-inducing. The narrative goes something like this: "My father was a terrible person, let me tell you three stories about how he brutalized me as a child." There's also a whole lot of: "I saw x. It made me feel y. Then I did z. Then I thought about z." And then ... and then ... and then. Seriously tedious. I think I actually strained muscles in my neck from rolling my eyes too often. The main character, Sara is entirely unrelatable as she swings wildly from hyper emotional to petulant child. In fact, this seems to be the personality of all the characters. The plot is predictable and all the "twists" are inevitable with lots of unnecessary scenes thrown in to pad the page count.There's also an odd sort of chauvinism throughout. Sara describes her adoptive mother as the perfect mother. Which translates, in this book, to being hyper-submissive, inexplicably sick all the time, and completely tolerant of her domineering husband's abusive behavior towards her children. Finally a woman in literature who knows her place! Furthermore, Sara finds herself constantly pushed around and ordered about by both her father and her fiancee. She's openly resentful of how the men in her life run her down and assume she's an idiot, but it turns out that [spoilers!] the one man in the whole novel who treats her with dignity and respect is a crooked cop who ends up trying to kill her. Turns out, she IS an idiot and should have known better than trusting a man who treats her as an equal! The only message I can draw from this is that a woman ought to not bother thinking for herself but just do whatever the men in her life tell her to. Bizarre.Of all things, the novel's format is the most devastating to enjoyment. It's arranged as a set of sessions with Sara's therapist. All the action of the novel is presented as a fait accompli, thereby destroying any chance at tension or suspense. Seriously, just awful. Skip this one, it's ridiculous.
    • 4/5
      In Never Knowing, Chevy Stevens presents a fast-paced, intriguing story about a woman who has been adopted, and in her quest to find her birth parents, discovers that her dad is a serial killer. Much of the story is devoted to her developing relationship with her birth dad, and how she commiserates with the police to bring the serial killer to justice. The author very successfully portrays Sara as a somewhat obsessive, emotional woman who has never felt truly accepted by her adopted dad and siblings. This is a story about Sara’s desire to survive and to protect her daughter, Ally, from impending danger. Without giving the ending away, let me just say that I was disappointed with the way that the story was resolved. Throughout the novel, the author never gave any indication that this might have been a possibility, so I was taken aback when my perspective of one of the main characters was abruptly changed. I would have liked for the author to have at least developed this idea a little more, possibly with a few insignificant hints, before presenting it at the end of the story. Otherwise, Never Knowing is a full-proof page-turner, and I was mesmerized in reading it. Although the pace does quicken at moments of conflict, the story is not too bizarre or too horrid to read, and I was captured by Sara’s efforts to understand herself.
    • 4/5
      Set on Vancouver Island, as good as her previous book.
    • 4/5
      Sara Gallagher, like many people who have been adopted, wonder what her birth parents are like. Does she have her mother's smile, her father's laugh, her grandmother's eyes? Finally, at the age of 33, she discovers the name of her birth mother. But when she meets the woman in person, her birth mother seems terrified of her. After a little bit of digging, Sara soon learns why: her father is a serial killer, and her mother is his only surviving victim. And once word of her identity makes the news, her father seeks out what is his.This book was enjoyable, but I thought that I would like it more than I actually did. The middle part seemed to drag and drag, and the "each chapter is a therapy session" didn't work as well as it did for Still Missing (especially one of the last chapters, where the "session" seems to break off abruptly, only to be picked up in the next chapter). However, I was intrigued by the serial killer father aspect, especially since he was attempting, in his warped way, to be a good father to Sara. In spite of being undeniably evil, his emotions were much more complicated when it came to Sara. His motivations were never fully explored, unfortunately, and the reader is left with many unanswered questions.And, of course, this author seems to live for "the big twist" at the end of the book. She got me in Still Missing, so I was developing theories as I read the book, finally settling on one that was most likely. And that was what it turned out to be. I think I could have done without it, to be honest.Still, not a bad way to spend an afternoon or two, and I'll probably pick up other books the author writes in the future.