Christopher Swann returns with a darkly intelligent mystery, Never Turn Back! His debut novel was one of Kelly's favorite reads of 2017!

This Crowdcast event will feature an interview with Swann and audience Q&A!

"The past comes back - with a vengeance - to bite a good-hearted teacher and his brash, broken sister in Swann's excellent latest. I loved this twisty, sexy, fast-paced thriller." —Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Never Have I Ever

Linwood Barclay meets Michael Farris Smith in this Southern-set domestic thriller about family, vengeance, and atonement from critically acclaimed Southern mystery novelist Christopher Swann.

In fact, its grip only tightens the further you try to run: crushing and crippling.

Ethan Faulkner is a precocious child with a brilliant but troublesome sister, a war vet for a father, and a weary mother trying to manage their family. One night a young woman rings their doorbell, desperate to hide from two men who are pursuing her, when one of the two barges in after her. The struggle leaves both of Ethan's parents dead.
Years later, Ethan has a successful teaching career and a budding relationship with a coworker. But he hasn't quite followed through on his promise to his dying father--to take care of his sister. Susannah is not an easy person to keep tabs on, is a handful even when the tabs are kept, and quite frankly, Ethan wants her to suffer for preventing him from getting to his dad before he died all those years ago.

It was a long time ago and Ethan tries to put all of it behind him. But that's easier said than done. When news of a brutal murder breaks with evidence pointing to Ethan as the prime suspect, all the painful memories of his past come rushing to meet him. Lyrically conveyed with emotion and nuance, Never Turn Back is a powerful story about family, vengeance, and how some actions echo through the years with irreparable consequences.

Christopher Swann is a novelist and high school English teacher in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned his Ph.D. in creative writing from Georgia State University. In 2018, Chris was a Townsend Prize finalist, a finalist for a Georgia Author of the Year award, and longlisted for the Southern Book Prize with his debut novel, Shadow of the Lions. He lives with his wife and two sons in Atlanta, where he is the English department chair at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. His next novel, Never Turn Back, will drop on October 6, 2020, and a third novel is due out in 2021.

Christopher Swann Presents Never Turn Back