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Mark West
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DON'T GO BACK: An absolutely gripping psychological suspense thriller Kindle Edition

by Mark West (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 out of 5 stars 1,160 ratings
A captivating thriller about a woman whose past suddenly catches up with her

When Beth receives news that a once-close friend has died, after years away she reluctantly returns to the seaside town where she grew up.

Beth becomes increasingly unsettled as she attends the funeral, encounters people from her past, and visits her teenage haunts.

She is forced to take herself back to the awful summer when she left for good. Yet it is not just memories that are resurfacing, but simmering resentments.

Someone else hasn’t quite so readily put their past behind them, and unwittingly Beth will become the key to their catharsis.

As she puts two and two together, the question is: whatever possessed her to return?

DON’T GO BACK is a truly nail-biting read that will appeal to fans of Claire McGowan, Vanessa Garbin, Teresa Driscoll, Linwood Barclay and Anna Willett.

Look out for Mark's other suspense thrillers. The full list, in order of publication, is as follows:

1. DON'T GO BACK
2. ONLY WATCHING YOU
3. THE HUNTER'S QUARRY
4. STILL WATERS RUN
5. A KILLER AMONGST US
6. WE WERE SEEN
7. TO SEE TOO MUCH

All FREE with Kindle Unlimited and available in paperback from Amazon.
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  1. Print length
    344 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    February 20, 2022
  4. File size
    2.4 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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From the Publisher

we were seen mark west suspense psychological thriller betrayal intrigue secrets shame twists
DON'T GO BACK
ONLY WATCHING YOU
THE HUNTER'S QUARRY
STILL WATERS RUN
A KILLER AMONGST US
WE WERE SEEN
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Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars 1,160
4.0 out of 5 stars 451
4.2 out of 5 stars 114
4.1 out of 5 stars 452
4.1 out of 5 stars 223
3.9 out of 5 stars 78
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark West lives in Northamptonshire with his wife Alison and their son Matthew. By day he works as a finance manager but in his spare time enjoys reading, walking, watching films and playing Dudeball with his son. A voracious reader, he likes most genres but particularly enjoys thrillers, horror - especially the paperback originals from the 1970s and 80s - and biographies.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09SZG99TL
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ THE BOOK FOLKS gripping thriller fiction publishers (February 20, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 20, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.4 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 344 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 1,160 ratings

About the author

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Mark West

Mark West

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Dad, husband, son, brother - I write fiction, I read, I watch films, I walk a lot and I'm a crack shot with a Nerf gun. Newly converted park runner...

A KILLER AMONGST US is his fifth thriller from The Book Folks following the best-selling DON'T GO BACK, ONLY WATCHING YOU, THE HUNTER'S QUARRY and STILL WATERS RUN.

He can be contacted through his website at www.markwest.org.uk, on Facebook at MarkWestWrites and is also on Twitter as @MarkEWest

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
1,160 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book highly readable, with one mentioning it's a page turner. The suspenseful story receives positive feedback, with one customer noting it's full of unexpected adventures.

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5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with several mentioning they couldn't put it down, and one describing it as a page-turner.

"I'm so glad I read this! Holy bajeezus it was a good read! Lots of unexpected adventures.... Definitely a page turner!!!!" Read more

"Kept my attention and had me reading every chance I could.!..." Read more

"What a great story! Mesmerizing and will keep you reading and interested until the surprise ending...." Read more

"...There are enough twists and turns to keep one interested." Read more

5 customers mention "Suspenseful"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the suspenseful story of the book, with one customer highlighting its unexpected adventures and twists.

"...Holy bajeezus it was a good read! Lots of unexpected adventures.... Definitely a page turner!!!!" Read more

"...Mesmerizing and will keep you reading and interested until the surprise ending. What a great author, cannot wait to read another one!" Read more

"...There are enough twists and turns to keep one interested." Read more

"I loved it, the characters were great, even the location. Full I excitement and gripping suspense. I will look for more by this author for sure!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Jennifer Joy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I'm so glad I read this! Holy bajeezus it was a good read! Lots of unexpected adventures.... Definitely a page turner!!!!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars great suspense story!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Kept my attention and had me reading every chance I could.! Although I wished one of Beth’s childhood friends lived (don’t want to spoil by saying her name but revealed at the end-really enjoyed the story and highly recommend!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • B.W.
    3.0 out of 5 stars Almost gave up
    Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
    Very UK English. Many terms and phrases near impossible to understand. On the whole it was a sad story of youthful mistakes and revenge gone off the rails.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • L McMillian
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    What a great story! Mesmerizing and will keep you reading and interested until the surprise ending. What a great author, cannot wait to read another one!
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing
    Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    This is the story of friendships and the decisions that we make as teenagers and how they affect our adult lives. There are enough twists and turns to keep one interested.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • kimmy
    5.0 out of 5 stars good read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I enjoyed the book
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  • Kindle Customer SMD
    2.0 out of 5 stars So ooo Disturbing!!!!!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I was overwhelmed by the graphic disruptions thru the whole story and at one point I had to put the bok away for awhile because I was feeling sickened! The suspense was grabbing from the beginning to the very end!!!! I am not sure I could read anymore if this author's books! But if you want suspense,lots of gore this is where to find it!
    8 people found this helpful
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  • SherryJ
    4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I loved it, the characters were great, even the location. Full I excitement and gripping suspense. I will look for more by this author for sure!
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Sandra van der Plaats
    5.0 out of 5 stars tragedy and horror by the sea
    Reviewed in Germany on July 23, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Beth’s partner Nick can’t quite understand why she acts so strangely when they head to her hometown for the funeral of a once-close friend. But she hasn’t told him everything about her past. Memories of one terrible summer will come flooding back to her. And with that, violence and revenge…

    The first part, which gives us a glimpse into the lives of three ordinary young girls and the families they come from, somehow reminded me of Anne Tyler's style of storytelling (especially themes such as ‘guilt’ and how people endure the pain of loss and disappointment.’ The main characters all have something to grapple with and deal with guilt and disappointment each in their own way.’) There is a lot of emphasis on character development, I had the feeling that I knew each of the girls well in the end.

    The girls have just finished school and they want to make their last summer an unforgettable one. We are introduced to boy-crazy Kathy, who knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. I gradually developed a dislike for her. She had her eye on 'Blake', a flawed boy who was already 'taken', but that didn’t seem to bother her. I found her to be rather bitchy. She has some pretty strong opinions, and I thought the way that she dumps Beth after years of friendship because Beth stayed with Ronnie after that frightful attack was typical of the way that she came across to me. Not someone I would want to be friends with.

    Jenny was the friendliest of the group, she really wanted to fit in. Beth liked her, but I got the impression that Kate was bothered by her and would rather not see her tag along.
    Kate also has little people skills and fails to see that the group of boys she wants to join is not really a comfortable choice.
    The fact that Jenny is not at Kate's funeral, nor is there any further mention of her, suggests the worst. This made me curious, because of course, you soon realise that something bad must have happened during what should have been a beautiful last summer. It remains unclear for a long time. The author manages to drag it out for an agonisingly long time, but without making the story boring.

    I absolutely loved the dual timeline! It was so engaging, although I did sometimes lose the lead when the transition to Then and Now wasn't indicated.
    I found the first part of the story so relatable. Your last summer still at home, before spreading your wings – I could really relate to that! I couldn’t wait to get out of the house, and live my own life at that point.

    I spent a large part of most of my holidays on the English coast from the South along East Anglia and all the way up to Scotland, and on the Jersey and Guernsey.

    I live in the upper part of the Netherlands and grew up on an island in the Wadden Sea. (The Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea.) - I later lived in the coastal area of Kent (and up in Scotland). I returned to these places with my young children years later and they loved the entertainment on the pier. As for myself, I just always have to be near the sea! It gives me piece of mind.
    There is no fun rides & pier entertainment where I live now, but the yachts do come into the town centre and there are always people on the waterfront to watch the fun on and near the water, and a ferry takes me back to the island & the sea in no time at all.

    When, after an argument with Nick, Wendy takes Beth back to their old haunts, the story takes a turn and the rest of the novel is like a rollercoaster ride with no end in sight. Terrible things happen. The squalor of the coastal town becomes more and more apparent, and the atmosphere becomes more and more grim. The course of the story took me by surprise, and the ending is certainly not for the faint of heart.

    The characters that stood out to me were Frankie - 'Keep Glowing' - who managed to turn a bad start in life in doing something good for the community, and becoming a better man.
    I felt most sorry for Jenny and Wendy - they saw no chance of running away and starting a different, better life somewhere else. Seagrave turned out to be the end of the line for them. Tragic as it was.

    This was a rather unexpected read that I enjoyed reading - especially the first half of the story. At the end it gets very creepy and strange things happen in the chalets. I found it almost horror-like. All in all, the first part is a wonderful story about the secrets we all carry around with us and how much of an impact they can have on our lives. The question is how to deal with it later. The second part of the story was downright scary, the atmosphere almost gothic, and the misery that awaits Beth, Nick and Wendy at the end is nothing short of a big Freddie Krüger-like nightmare.
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  • Cortez the Killer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A superb fast-paced thriller, full of twists and turns.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    The sudden death of Kate Marshall prompts old schoolfriend Beth Parker to face a difficult return to Seagrave, the coastal town in which they grew up. Since she departed for university, Beth has moved on. Now married and trying for a baby, her life has eventually recovered from the darkness that blighted the group of friends fifteen years ago. But the funeral proves to be difficult, and revisiting her old haunts only exacerbates the feelings of unease and the memories that she has tried so hard to suppress...

    Mark West is one of those authors whose writing has a deeply cinematic feel. There's a lovely pacing to the prose, with nicely balanced chapter lengths and an engaging plot. Whilst West's previous output has been mainly in the horror genre, Don't Go Back works both as a mystery and as a suspense thriller, with the storyline broken into two distinct timelines - the 'here and now' as Beth returns to Seagrave, and flashbacks from fifteen year previously, where West hints at something catastrophic happening to the group of friends, Beth, Jenny, Kate and Wendy. Slowly the events that led up to the event are revealed, with a couple of nice twists and unexpected character developments.

    The town of Seagrave feels real. I loved its pier, the beach, the arcades and cafes. The author does a good job of plonking us directly into the action from the start, and the characterisation of the central group of girls is realistic and believable. As the plot develops, there is a terrifying inevitability to the darkness that is slowly encroaching upon Beth and her husband Nick. It's one of those novels that you fly through, partly because the plot is brisk and the writing fast-paced, but also because the story demands your attention. You want to find out what happens to these characters. In addition you want to find what happened to them fifteen years ago. It really is a cracking read and I have no hesitation in recommending this superb novel for fans of suspense and edge-of-your-seat thrillers.
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  • A. Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn’t put it down!
    Reviewed in Australia on March 13, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    What a thrilling read! From the chilling prologue to the gripping end, my heart raced almost the entire time.
    Mark West has done a fantastic job with this story. The characters are well written, and I enjoyed the seaside setting.
    Dark and filled with suspense and a multitude of surprises, DON’T GO BACK is a must read for all thriller fans
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  • Bob Hurley
    4.0 out of 5 stars Horror story that just goes on and on and you Can't go back
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Have to say despite all the good reviews only the last couple of chapters are worth the praise. The start of the story is credible but then in falls into a dreary tale with what seems like chapter after chapter of in fill before is builds to a crescendo. I struggled through the middle section, lost interest but kept reading due to the reviews. Whilst the ending was good it did not warrant having to suffer the middle. Sorry but not one I would recommend.
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  • audrey
    1.0 out of 5 stars No thanks
    Reviewed in Australia on July 29, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Could not stand it any more!
    Constant jumping back and forth in time made my head spin.
    Report

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