Customer Reviews

Don't Ever Tell

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

DON'T EVER TELL by Brandon Massey brings us into the marriage of Rachel and Joshua Moore. They have been married six months and are very happy, even though Joshua's mother does not approve of Rachel at all. After hosting a party, Joshua is awakened by Rachel screaming and fighting in her sleep, and using language he's never heard from her before. He holds her until she awakens and then he asks her about her dreams, but she claims to not remember. Joshua is suspicious, it's the one thing he can't and won't tolerate; lying. Rachel seems to change in the next few days; she seems tense and frightened, and Joshua wants to know why. Will he find out before their marriage is completely ruined?

Rachel is harboring deep, dark secrets that she can tell no one. She understands her past may catch up with her, and with anyone who knows anything at all about her. So it is best they don't know what she was involved with. She is worried about how can she keep Joshua safe?

Massey has written a page-turner that I read in one sitting because I couldn't bear to put it down. The tension began building from the first page and never stopped until the last. The characters were developed so it was understandable why they did the things they did, even when you found yourself begging them to take another path. It was a great thriller and I would highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Dexter Bates is free after spending four years at Centralia Correctional Facility. A prison guard Steele, and Dex's pals Javier and Javier's wife Christy liberated him as he was being transferred to another facility. They inform him his woman vanished. He is unconcerned as he will find her for betraying him and payback is hell when he makes the remittance.

Happily married Rachel Moore has changed her identity so that she can move past her relationship with incarcerated abusive Dexter; plus just in case he somehow gets out he will not easily find her; she knows he will look. She has relocated so he cannot find her. However, although she feels free of him, she still at times looks over her shoulder into the shadows. Rachel knows if he is freed, he will search for her; if he searches for her, he will not quit until he finds her; if he finds her, he will killer her beloved husband and torture her until he kills her. She prays every night, but so does he in his way. Only one can have their prayer answered.

Dexter is a chilling villain who seems so calm even when he is killing someone. As he begins his quest, Rachel is very happy in her new life. That contrast between them enhances a strong psychological suspense thriller that never slows down from the moment the correctional guards escorting Bates stop to help a pretty blonde with car trouble and never decelerates as he is coming for her. Fans know high noon is coming as Brandon Massey provides a gripping suspenseful tale.

Harriet Klausner

Brandon Massey has been laboring quietly for the past decade or so in the supernatural and horror literary genres --- working in what author Marcus Wynne so aptly describes as the grammar mine --- without gaining the recognition that is arguably his due.

DON'T EVER TELL --- touted as his breakout novel --- has everything you could reasonably expect in a thriller. It begins with a particularly brutal prison breakout involving Dexter Bates, a former police officer serving a 10-year sentence for attempted murder. Massey drops rotten and unforgettable little breadcrumbs about Bates's character and emotional state throughout the book. The one thing that is clear from the beginning is that prison, as might be expected, has not mellowed him.

Rachel Moore, the object of Bates's attempt at murder, is living happily in Atlanta, Georgia. She is recently married to a first-class if somewhat self-consciously clumsy guy named Joshua who loves her dearly, is newly and happily pregnant, and has a successful hairstyling business. Her life is a dream; the only problem is those lousy nightmares, inspired by her prior marriage to the aforementioned Dexter when she was living in Chicago and her name was Joy Bates. Dexter's escape from business is motivated primarily by revenge against Joy, who pressed charges against him for trying to kill her and divorced him while he was languishing behind bars. These feelings turn to rage, however, when he finds out that his considerable money stash, which was supposed to see him through his post-incarceration, is missing.

Dexter goes on a killing spree, determined to obliterate anyone who has ever meant anything to Joy and to discover where (and who) she is. When Joy --- now Rachel --- learns of Dexter's escape and rampage, she abruptly abandons Joshua and goes into hiding, leaving him devastated and blindsided. Joshua's passivity is about to come to an end, though, as he's willing to do whatever is necessary to save not only his family but also himself. As the final drama is played out in the quietly exotic locale of one of Georgia's barrier islands, a mortally dangerous, seemingly unstoppable force collides with two people whose greatest strengths are their love for and faith in each other.

Brandon Massey gets everything just right in DON'T EVER TELL --- from Joshua's true-to-type friends to Dexter's psychotic reactions. While it's not a horror novel, his prior experience in the genre holds him in good stead here; he hits notes of terror that he has never hit before. Anyone who has ever been involved with a woman who had a crazy boyfriend in her past and had to face the guy down will recognize Dexter from the jump and will be all the more chilled by doing so. The real star in Massey's universe, however, is his pacing, which is first rate from opening sentence to final paragraph. Breakout novel? You bet. And then some.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Liked:

This was a terrific thriller in a league with Sleeping With the Enemy.

Brandon Massey writes wonderfully, ensuring that every chapter contributes to character development or plot.

All of his action sequences were well planned and realistic. There were no instances of 'he just happened to fall where he could see under the couch to find the machete he forgot he had'.

Disliked:

I would have like to know a little more background on Dexter. We find out a little, but not really enough to explain murder.

Overall:

A terrific book of suspense that you will want to stay awake and finish.

Length: Full Novel

Rating: NC-17 for rape and violence

This is not my type of genre so every time I picked up the book to read it,I would put it down thinking it would not hold my interest. What a stupid mistake on my part. Don't Ever Tell had me on the edge of my seat and literally biting my nails. Dexter was one crazy you know what and Rachel had every right to do what she did. Joshua was one of a kind and by the end of the story, I was looking at him in a different light. This book was excellent and I highly, highly recommend it. If you have not read it, you are missing out on a good thang. Keep up the good work Massey.

Very, very good!! Brandon wasted no time getting to the action with this one. Beware of the wrath of Dexter. Listening to the audio had me feeling as if I were actually watching a movie. The suspense was great. If you're going for a long drive, this one will definitely won't be replaced with music.

I don't usually read suspense and this book kept me on the edge of my seat. It was good from the first page and not at all predictable. The violence was pretty scary, but it fit within the context of the story since Dexter was a sick and creepy guy. This book made me look at my husband (a cop) sideways! I'll be reading more from this author.

Brandon Massey has brought the literary world another great suspense novel that will blow your mind right to the last page.

Joshua and Rachel are living the life that most couples dream of. She is co owner of an upscale beauty salon and he is a freelance graphic designer both are "making it do what it do" in the ATL. Everything was hunky dory until one night Rachel has an awful nightmare that would change both of there lives forever. Living a life full of secrets and lies from her past she never thought they would catch up to her present. Rachel is ghost and leaves her friends and family behind not only to protect herself but to protect the ones she loves. Joshua is fit to be tired with worry of her disappearance and becomes "Colombo" to piece together the puzzle of the secrets and lies that she is withholding. When he is confronted with Rachel's past in the form of Dexter Bates everything goes haywire but Joshua is determined to save the love of his life.

Don't Ever Tell is an incredible read. It's very different from the supernatural fiction that Mr. Massey is known for but he still provides the reader with a suspense thriller that is so intense none the less. I really enjoyed the fact that some parts of the book took place in Chi Town, I was very familiar with the landmarks and cities within that was mentioned. His writing is impeccable very detailed and descriptive. Page after page I was glued to this book with various outburst of oh's and ah's to the very end and I'm sure any reader would find this novel very enjoyable as well.

Tangerine

Have to admit Dexter Bates-worked my nerves in such a way. Bates is an evil man out for revenge, and he doesn't care who he has to hurt to get it. I read this book months ago and I still find myself saying often "its a simple matter of respect"(you have to read the book to understand). This is a GOOD book. I have read all of Brandon Massey's books - not one has disappointed me. Brandon Massey is a GREAT AUTHOR!!!

I am not one for thrillers. Yet, Massey's Don't Ever Tell grabbed me from page one and had me up late reading. I turned off the TV for hours so I could read. I have to admit Massey's books I have scanned through scare me. This work had me on the edge waiting for Dexter to get what he deserved. Joshua grew on me and loved him in the end for what he did. This was a ver good read for me.