Never Look Back by Mary Burton
Criminal Profiler #3

A van stops, a man beckons a woman on the street to his van to procure a “date”, the woman is leery and then…well…then this book grabbed my attention in a way that I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. This story is intense, gritty and dark and yet filled with a bit of hope and potential long-term romance for a couple of people in the story.

What I liked:
* Melina Shepard – TBI agent that is tough as nails, smart, caring and a survivor.
* Jerrod Ramsay – FBI agent that comes in to assist in catching a serial killer that Melina is searching for, too.
* Elena – a child that Melina sees a lot of herself in
* The dual serial killer threads running through the book
* The police procedural aspects for finding the killers
* The backstory of Melina
* The relationship that develops between Melina and Jerrod
* Melina’s parents – they warmed my soul
* That my mind was left to imagine the horrors perpetrated by the killers rather than having them spelled out
* The supporting characters and the neighbor’s cat
* That the baddies were dealt with by the end of the book

What I did not like:
* Bonnie – an amoral con woman that put herself first and destroyed more than one person in the process
* The serial killers – even though one I *might* have felt a bit sorry for for a second or two.
* Having to say goodbye to the characters that I grew to like and care for in the story

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Without a doubt

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

This storyline focuses on two serial killers in the same town, which seems to be a bit much and confusing. However, the author's writing was so stellar that the two different storylines read seamlessly. It was easy to keep everything straight and not get confused. Overall, this is a great read!

Thank you Netgalley and Montclair Romance for this ARC. The and comments are my honest opinion. Two serial killers with different MO’s... which one will be successful first in capturing Melina Shepard an FBI agent? Another FBI agent, Jerrod Ramsey can’t help but get involved. The two story lines are suspenseful and the characters are believable. Good things happen too in this story line and once again Mary Burton delivers another action packed book.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Good suspense and so-so romance. It seems that more and more authors who call themselves "Romantic-Suspense" authors are shorting their readers on the Romance part of that label. The plot was fractured and had you going in a couple of different directions. It was interesting how the author chose to resolve it.

Melina Shepard is an agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Her friend, who runs a mission aiding women working the streets, has alerted Melina to the disappearance of two women she has been working with. Melina goes undercover, but not officially or with backup, and gets a hit from a serial killer. She was lucky not to become his next victim.

The FBI take and interest in the case. They have been tracing this baddie for years without much luck is identifying him. Melina is the only woman to go up against him and survive. Special Agent Jerrod Ramsey is excited to finally have a starting point to track him. While working that case he and Melina are called to the scene of a car crash with a child left behind and a jar of severed fingers in the trunk. Now there are two serial killers working in Nashville

When the abandoned child brings up some painful memories from her past, she turns to Ramsey and they grow closer as they track down their killers. But, one killer will not be satisfied until he kills the one who got away.
3 1/2-Stars

I really enjoyed this latest Mary Burton novel. The hunt for two separate serial murderers. Melina is almost kidnapped by a murderer when posing as a prostitute. She manages to stab him and escape and the blood DNA leads to an unsolved case. The FBI sends Ramsey to investigate. They are sidetracked by a child left behind in a wrecked car and a macabre discovery in the trunk. Several rather bizarre unsavory people round out the cast of characters. The plot is intricate and goes round and round before arriving at its conclusion. Well thought out mystery with a little romance. I hope this isn't a one-and-done for Melina and Ramsey. I for one would like to see more of them.

This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2020/07/03/never-look-back-by-mary-burton/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

Each book in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/245550-criminal-profiler" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Criminal Profiler</strong></em></a> is truly a standalone.  The connection is each one has a criminal profiler as a main character. Oddly, <strong>Hide and Seek</strong> is more related to the standalone <strong>Cut and Run</strong> where the main character Macy Crow is introduced, and it should follow that book in reading.

The main character, Melina, is not a criminal profiler. She is with the state bureau of investigation in Tennessee, TBI and is based in Nashville.  She is looking for some missing women and nearly gets abducted.  Her information gets to an FBI profiler Jerrod,  who comes to Nashville and they work the case together  We learn a bit about him, but Melina is primary and we get more development of her character.

A second serial killer  crosses their path and they end up working both cases.  Melina ends up having some connections to this killer and the first killer is still mad she got away. I worried Melina would be stupid but she stays with the partner and they work well together.  They are smart and have good resources. Forensics, a little luck and those good resources find some leads for them.

There is not much of a romance here although there is an attraction and a relationship develops. I enjoyed the police procedural with its smart tracking of leads. The suspense with the danger to women and children is tense, and the action keeps the pace moving. <strong>Never Look Back</strong> is another book I would recommend from this author. I have enjoyed everything of hers I have read so far.

Thank you to net galley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary advance reader copy of this book in return for review based upon my honest opinion.

Every book that this author has written has been wonderful. Buckhead great characters, great storyline, lots of twists and turns, lots of action and some romance thrown in for good measure.

Melina, while helping a local minister look into missing girls from her outreach program stumbles across a serial and almost loses her life in the battle. The FBI is called in and agent Jarrod Ramsey and Melina have a very similar work ethic and hit it off professionally. While investigating the missing girls, they are called to the scene of an accident with an abandoned girl and a grisly discovery in the trunk. This hits home with Melina and sets a course of events in motion that will shake Melina’s whole world upside down. As they get closer to solving the crime, she gets closer to Ramsey but as the killer sets his sites on her, can they keep her safe.

Great summer read!

I’m going to start out by saying that I loved this book. A lot more suspense than romance but I'm not complaining. Never Look Back is a great story of two law enforcement agents trying to take down two serial killers. I never felt like I knew how this was going to end. It was so well written and realistic enough that I didn't want to read it before bed. If you are a Criminal Minds fan, you will love this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest, voluntary review. This is my first Mary Burton book and will not be my last! Wonderfully written with fabulously developed characters. You will not be able to put this one down. Highly recommended. Enjoy! 📚

As if one isn’t enough, there are two serial killers in Mary Burton’s third novel of the Criminal Profiler series featuring Agent Melina Shepherd. Set in Tennessee, Melina works for the Bureau of Investigations and she has a serial killer to catch who is targeting prostitutes. Multiple women have already been killed and she makes a dangerous decision to go undercover, narrowly avoiding becoming his next victim, Although she hates to admit it, she needs help. She is joined by FBI Agent Jerrod Ramsay and as they review the case together they realise all their leads are exhausted. Then by chance, they are sent to the scene of a road traffic accident where a little girl seems to have been abandoned. When they open the boot, an horrific scene awaits them. Melina now has two serial killers on her hands.

I hadn’t read the first two in the series so I was playing catch up a little bit here. That was a bit unfortunate when one of the threads relies on events from her past. The narrative voice went back and forth from Melina to other characters like Jerrod and even the killers. Although I found Melina’s voice the strongest, the other chapters did advance the plot well. She has been very unlucky in life, starting by being abandoned by the side of the road when she was a child. Found by the police, she is then adopted by the police officer who found her. This gives us the clue that this second killer may be linked to her past, and I did start to think it was a bit of a stretch for one woman to have two serial killers obsessed with her. Despite that and a couple too many coincidences, it was gripping and tense. Expect the usual, and unusual, twists and turns along the way and two detectives who start to make a good team.

Never look back by Mary Burton is the 3rd book in her Criminal profiler series but definitely can be read as a stand alone (I havent read the first two) After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation goes undercover as a prostitute. While working the street, she narrowly avoids becoming a serial killer’s latest victim; FBI agent Jerrod Ramsey arrives to join forces with TBI. While investigating, Jerrord and Melina are called to a car accident where a little girl has been found abandoned. They open the trunk to reveal a horror show and quickly realize they’re dealing with two serial killers with very different MO's. The investigation starts to become personal to Melina, and she must catch not one but two serial killers, both ready to claim another victim. I enjoyed reading Never look back, it reminded me of an episode of Criminal minds in some ways. The story was fast paced, great plot, and had a great twist. While I enjoyed the interaction between Melina and Jerrod the romance was minimal.

I am a fan of Burton's Mystery/Suspense creations. This tale of a TBI agent who is paired with the FBI man to uncover the horrific person slaying prostitutes and the interwoven stories that are revealed through excellent story-telling kept me reading long into the night. I just couldn't put it down till I found out the truth!

Never Look Back is the third installment in Burton’s Criminal Profiler series and it was a decent read but not a favorite. As with Burton’s other books there are multiple threads leading in many different directions and some connect to resolutions whereas others just dead end. What starts out as one case with a serial killer quickly morphs into two separate cases the agents are working at the same time and both of them end up intertwining with TBI agent, Melina Shepard. There was a lot of investigative and procedural information in the story and some seemed a bit drawn out with unneeded details but overall it was a suspenseful read with several gripping scenes. I enjoyed Melina’s character and her growth throughout the story but Jerrod’s seemed a bit flat to me, more robotic and unfeeling, so I had a hard time seeing them as a couple but they worked well as a team. And though a lot of Burton’s endings are rather abrupt, this one seemed even more so – like it was ending in the middle of a scene, and was really unsatisfying. It felt like it needed more of something. Yet with this said, Burton is still one of my favorite authors and I will continue to read her stories.

*I received an arc from NetGalley and I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Even though Never Look Back is listed as the third book in a series you can easily read it as a standalone since that is what I did and I had no trouble jumping into the series. While I did enjoy some aspects of this book, I was mainly just underwhelmed.

Now I do believe the majority of my confusion stems from the fact the edition I read must have been unedited or just got messed up along the way. In one paragraph the characters would be driving away from a crime scene while in the next one they had never left. I cannot say if this was in the final draft (since I am not paying for a book to see if it was edited) but that was not the only example of that happening. I was so confused throughout the book for this reason I almost just gave up.

I will say I did enjoy the story line and that is what kept me reading until the end. Do I believe the last half of the book was realistic? No but it was entertaining. I have seen a lot of good reviews for this one so I believe the editing was fixed.

Melina Shepard is a wild card working for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. She follows the rules, but sometimes steps over the line, as she has done going undercover as a prostitute to help a friend who runs a mission find out why two girls have gone missing. One night Melina comes face to face with the killer and comes within inches of being his next victim.

Melina’s antics draw the attention of the FBI and soon Agent Jerrod Ramsey is on the scene. For years he has been tracking this killer, and Melina is the first witness to come face to face with him. While they are investigating, they get called out to another scene where a small girl is left alone in a car that has crashed. Soon they are tracking not one, but two serial killers and time is running out. When Melina starts remembering her own past, something is very familiar with the case of the little girl and things starts to unravel quickly. Can Jerrod and Melina piece together the puzzle before it is too late?

This was a brilliantly written novel and I absolutely loved the characters, the plot, and the quick paced mystery. The element of romance was written in, but it was not the focus of the book, which was refreshing. This is the third book in the series and once you start reading you are going to want to read the first two. Each book is an independent story which I appreciated. Thank you so much to the author Mary Burton and Amazon Publishing for an advanced copy of the book to read and review.

This was another enjoyable read by Mary Burton but I have to say this one wasn’t as good as the past books I have read by this author.

This one wasn’t as “on the edge of your seat” as the others I’ve read. I think have the two storylines going at the same time it was hard to focus on both. I did like how they intertwined in the end and everything played out but this wasn’t a favorite of mine.

Still worth the read for those who like a good psychological thriller.

4 Twisted and Intense Stars
* * * *
Mary Burton is becoming a must-read for me. I started this and held on through the night. I am a sucker for serial killer books so give me two serial killers and mystery/thriller building, I am locked and loaded to read until the end.

A good read but I feel that I have read better in this genre. Sorry.


Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Holy cow this was so good! I was so engrossed in this story I could not put it down. The magnificent twists this book took were so unexpected I love it! I thought the story was so unique the big twist at the end made me have to walk away for a minute. The cast of characters make me wish for this to be a series because, I so enjoyed them. All in all, this is so good!

Be Ready for Some Twists and Turns

I have read this author before and really enjoy her work. This has Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation going under cover as a prostitute to catch a killer. Then Jerrord Ramsey from the FBI is sent to help capture the serial killer. But hold on there is another serial killer? This is full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Mary Burton’s books do not disappoint.