By: Liv Constantine, Loreth Anne White, Andrea Bartz, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ivy Pochoda, Caroline Kepnes
Pub Date: 03/19/2024
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Format: e-book
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
Can you keep a secret?
How well do you know people? How well do they know you?
Six award-winning, bestselling authors of suspense explore the lingering threat of secrets and the inescapable fear that they can’t stay buried forever. No matter how dark the hiding place, the consequences of revealing the truth can bring out the worst in lovers, friends, family, and strangers.
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My Review
Amazon Original Stories presents a collection of unputdownable stories from six award-winning thriller authors and an all-star cast of narrators in NEVER TELL, which explores the question: How well do we know one another? SECRETS.
A heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. Secrets of the past/present collide—and the consequences of revealing the truth in these unique, thrilling, entertaining stories you are assured to enjoy! (e-book and audio formats) My overall rating is 5 stars for the collection idea. A great sampling.
My favorites were Everywhere You Look, The Bad Friend, and The Ghost Writer.
Everywhere You Look
by Liv Constantine
Author: Liv Constantine
Narrator: Ellen Quay
RATING: 5 STARS
All it takes is one shocking revelation on a New York street for a woman to unlock the secrets and lies of her past in a twisty short story by the bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish.
It’s been ten years since Jade lost her father in a tragic accident, and the lingering guilt and grief have dragged her down to rock bottom. Then one night, she’s out at a restaurant and sees the impossible through the window: her father, alive. By the time she reaches the crowded sidewalk, he has disappeared. After so much despair, Jade isn’t going to lose him again—no matter what sinister truths may come from following him. Liv Constantine’s Everywhere You Look is part of
Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS:
📖 Everywhere You Look
✍ Liv Constantine
🎧 Ellen Quay
5 🌟Stars
In a twisty short story by the bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish, all it takes is one shocking revelation on a New York street for a woman to unlock the secrets and lies of her past.
I loved EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK by one of my favorite author duo! In this mysterious and intriguing suspense, a father/daughter relationship is tested—grief and guilt —where nothing is as it appears.
The Bad Friend
by Caroline Kepnes
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Narrator: Julia Whelan
MY RATING: 5 STARS
Secrets, betrayal, and jealousy are at the heart of a friendship in an unnerving short story about truth and self-deception by Caroline Kepnes, the New York Times bestselling author of You.
Ellen has a lot to be thankful for. Her fiancé, Troy, is perfectly sweet. Her childhood friend Tanya, despite her edgier taste in men, is like a sister to Ellen: her closest friend—and rival. So familiar and yet, over the years, so many secrets between them. For Ellen, what lies ahead is a series of choices that will add up to a life she never could have imagined.
Caroline Kepnes’s The Bad Friend is part of Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS:
📖 The Bad Friend
✍ Caroline Kepnes
🎧 Julia Whelan
5 🌟Stars
Secrets, betrayal, and jealousy are at the heart of a friendship in an unnerving short story about truth and self-deception by Caroline Kepnes, the New York Times bestselling author of You.
I loved THE BAD FRIEND by one of my favorite authors and narrators. Can best friends be trusted? Ellen/Troy and Tanya/Ross. A tantalizing twisty game of cat and mouse and choices—is the grass greener on the other side? Wickedly delicious.
The Ghost Writer
by Loreth Anne White
Author: Loreth Anne White
Narrator: Abby Craden
RATING: 5 STARS
A reclusive author with a lurid history is ready to divulge her most infamous secret to the world in a chilling short story of Gothic suspense by the bestselling author of The Maid’s Diary.
It’s an offer Grace Logan can’t refuse: ghostwrite the memoir of Claudia Blackwell, a successful novelist once accused of a ghastly triple murder. Did she really do it? In self-imposed exile in her island mansion, the frail Claudia is finally bringing her notorious past to a close. But for Grace, the end of Claudia’s story may be more than a sinister reveal…
Loreth Anne White’s The Ghost Writer is part of Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS:
📖The Ghost Writer
✍ Loreth Anne White
🎧 Abby Craden
5 🌟Stars
A reclusive author with a lurid history is ready to divulge her most infamous secret to the world in a chilling short story of Gothic suspense by the bestselling author of The Maid’s Diary.
I enjoyed the twisty THE GHOST WRITER in this remote atmospheric cliffside setting. An offer to ghostwrite the memoir of a famous novelist accused of a triple murder. A new ending? Dark and sinister, a twisty, locked-in sinister thriller with a jaw-dropping twist.
The Other Side of the Road
by Andrea Bartz
Author: Andrea Bartz
Narrator: Kira Fixx
MY RATING: 4 STARS
A couple preparing for the future discovers that their dream house will cost them far more than the mortgage in a sinister short story by the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here.
Lauren and Kelsey: married, a baby on the way, and now the new owners of the Hudson Valley house they’ve always admired. The timing couldn’t be better, and the leafy, secluded area couldn’t be more beautiful. Everything’s perfect—except for the older gentleman across the street, who seems to be keeping a very close watch on them. Welcome to the neighborhood.
Andrea Bartz’s The Other Side of the Road is part of Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS:
📖The Other Side of the Road
✍ Andrea Bartz
🎧 Kira Fixx
4 🌟Stars
In a sinister short story by the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here, a couple preparing for the future discovers that their dream house will cost them far more than the mortgage.
A city gay couple with a baby on the way and excited about their new country home and neighborhood in the Catskills. However, the older man across the street is watching and waiting. What happened to the former resident? A garden, a shovel, a basement, a notebook, secrets, murder? Warn, protect, or harm? Twisty, creepy, and sinister, I enjoyed THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
Scorpions
by Rachel Howzell Hall
Author: Rachel Howzell Hall
Narrator: Tamika Katon-Donegal
MY RATING: 3.5 STARS
A man’s lifetime of secrets and lies. A woman on the hunt for his hidden riches. But there’s a sting in the tale in this gripping short story by the New York Times bestselling author of We Lie Here.
Frankie is a caregiver facing a meager and thankless future. Until her elderly charge dies—but not before revealing his secret. It’s buried in Death Valley. Enough money to change Frankie’s life forever. All she has to do is follow his instructions and stay on the path, and her prayers will be answered. It’s everything Frankie hopes for. But nothing like she expects.
Rachel Howzell Hall’s Scorpions is part of Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS
📖Scorpions
✍ Rachel Howzell Hall
🎧 Tamika Katon-Donegal
3.5 🌟Stars
A man’s lifetime of secrets and lies. A woman on the hunt for his hidden riches. But there’s a sting in the tale in this gripping short story by the New York Times bestselling author of We Lie Here.
A caregiver, a death, A man's confession, a prayer, a mom, regrets, a buried hidden treasure in the desert. The hunt is on. Clues are wild. Could this be her ticket for a new life? Like a scorpion, always ending with a stinger. Creepy cover.
Jackrabbit Skin
by Ivy Pochoda
Author: Ivy Pochoda
Narrator: Ariel Blake
MY RATING: 3 STARS
Secrets and rage can get under the skin in an unsettling short story by Ivy Pochoda, award-winning author of Sing Her Down and These Women.
Swan is a tattoo artist new to a community in the California desert when a mourning desert dweller named Kurt requests a tribute tattoo to his dead wife. Swan agrees, but the locals warn her: don’t indulge Kurt in his tragic memories. No wonder. As Kurt returns for more tattoos, the truth about his wife’s death begins to emerge in the ink. And it isn’t pretty.
Ivy Pochoda’s Jackrabbit Skin is part of Never Tell, a heart-pounding collection of stories about secrets, lies, and mind games. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Just keep the endings to yourself.
MY QUICK THOUGHTS:
📖Jackrabbit Skin
✍ Ivy Pochoda
🎧 Ariel Blake
3 🌟Stars
In an unsettling short story by Ivy Pochoda, award-winning author of Sing Her Down and These Women, secrets and rage can get under the skin.
A tattoo artist, the desert, outsiders, a request for a tattoo tribute to a dead wife unveiling dark secrets in the ink. Darks secrets of a desert town. Strange, eerie, weird, and another creepy cover. Bad formatting. Least favorite in the collection.
About the Authors
Liv Constantine
Liv Constantine is the pen name of sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine. They are the bestselling authors of several novels, including The Senator’s Wife and The Last Mrs. Parrish, a Reese’s Book Club selection. Their books have sold over one and a half million copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty-nine languages. WEBSITE
Caroline Kepnes
Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of For You and Only You, Hidden Bodies, Providence, and You, which was adapted into the hit Netflix series of the same name. She has worked as a journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. WEBSITE
Loreth Anne White
Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts, Washington Post, and Bild bestselling author of The Maid’s Diary and The Patient’s Secret. With over three million books sold around the world, she is an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, an ITW Thriller Award nominee, an Arthur Ellis finalist, and the winner of multiple other industry awards. WEBSITE
Andrea Bartz
Andrea Bartz is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spare Room, a Marie Claire book club pick; We Were Never Here, a Reese’s Book Club pick in development at Netflix; The Lost Night, an Amazon Best Book of the Month; and The Herd, which was named a best book of 2020 by Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, and CrimeReads. WEBSITE
Rachel Howzell Hall
Rachel Howzell Hall is the New York Times bestselling author of What Never Happened and, with James Patterson, The Good Sister, which was included in Patterson’s collection The Family Lawyer. Rachel is a two-time Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and an Anthony and International Thriller Writers award nominee. WEBSITE
Ivy Pochoda
Ivy Pochoda is the author of Wonder Valley, Visitation Street, These Women, and Sing Her Down. She won the 2018 Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and the Prix Page America in France, and has been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Edgar Award, among other prizes. WEBSITE