Detectives, serial killers, and family business. What’s new to say or do in the mystery/thriller genre that hasn’t already been done to death a million time?
Thankfully, debut author C.J. Carpenter has entered the ring with NEVER ALONE, a book that does stand out and does provide readers with a new take on the tired animal in publishing. Carpenter’s skills in characterization are what boost the story head and shoulders above just about all of the competition and if the series progresses as it appears, the main character could easily become a franchise heroine.
Megan McGinn is what all good detectives are: intelligent, witty, and resourceful with insight that borders on the psychic but also broken and flawed more than a case file caught in a shredder. The reason? Plenty. Her father has just passed away and her mother is about to be placed in a home for seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s. Add to that mix the remnants of a past case and her own past which nearly force her off the job.
Her partner, Detective Nappa, another strong character, picks her up and the pair begin to work on a high profile case, the murder of Shannon McAllister, which draws heavy fire from both the force and the girl’s powerful father.
The clues begin with a Irish sodabread and a ring, both very out of place at the scene, one most disturbingly so. The details of the murder are not for the weak but then again, most strong thrillers are. When Megan descends into the hell of the details that bring her closer to Shannon’s murder, her facade of being ready and mentally strong enough to jump back into the fray begin to show cracks.
She is a tough woman and forces herself through the ordeal where others would likely fail but the case exacts a price on her.
To say more about the plot would spoil the fun and also, most of NEVER ALONE’s allure is following Megan through her journey, feeling her struggle and pain. Carpenter has truly produced a novel of the darkest beauty here, a story that embraces the reader in its black wings and threatens to linger long afterwards once the last page is closed and the lights fade. Readers are bound to fall into this character and her life in New York. The details that arise from her actions and the acute settings, both of the city itself and the claustrophobic rendering of a crime scene, blanket the pages in a hypnotic journey that ends too soon.
Thankfully, Carpenter will treat her fans to more of Detective McCann. Hopefully, it arrives soon.
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