Customer Reviews

Never Go Back

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

 

 

Robert Goddard's novels are very much like Ross Macdonald's fine
mysteries: elements of the dark past throw the present into turmoil.
Things that happened 20-30-40 years ago are brought to the surface,
and the novels twist and turn and unearth what was thought to be long
dead and buried, figuratively and often--in these novels--literally.
Not many writers can work this genre well. Du Maurier's Rebecca
is probably the classic example.

Never Go Back involves events that occurred 50 years previously
in a military experiment: Harry Barnett, to save himself, must
uncover memories and figure out what really occurred back then.
Very little of what he and the others in the experiment thought
happened are accurate. The novel is rather slow-starting, but
gathers momentum as it goes. The participants in the experiment
were given nicknames ("Fission", etc) and they are sometimes
referred to by their actual names and sometimes by their nicknames,
which gets a little confusing. The basic idea has been used before
in other books, so Goddard is not as original here as he usually is.
The ending is not as satisfying as it might have been.

Goddard's novels run from perhaps 2 1/2 stars to 5-plus stars.
Some I reread about every 5-6 years, but the best can be reread
every year or two with complete enjoyment--he's that kind of a
writer. For his best works--read Past Caring, Painting the Darkness,
and In Pale Battalions. All three are superb.

In 1955, half a century ago, Harry Barnett was part of a psychological experiment called Operation Clean Sheet at Castle Kilveen in Scotland. He and two friends got into some trouble when they were in the RAF and were offered a choice, a dishonorable discharge or become part of the experiment. They chose what they thought was the lesser of the two evils.

Now Harry is living in Vancouver with his wife and daughter, but the death of his mother has pulled him back to England and while there his two RAF comrades look him up. They want him to take part in a reunion of sorts at Castle Kilveen, which has been modernized so it can take in well to do tourists.

On the train to Scotland, they run into others who are going to the reunion and one of the band of brothers commits suicide while they are still on the rails and after they arrive at the Castle another of the band is killed and the police fix on Harry and an ex-business partner of his (who cheated Harry) as the main suspects. The two come to the conclusion that they have to work together to solve the mystery and while they're at it the find out what Operation Clean Sheets was all about so long ago. Turns out that experiment that they'd thought might have been a failure, maybe wasn't. Also, they learn that others in their group have perished over the years. Are they all in trouble? Will Harry get out alive?

Robert Goddard has put together a story that will have you gripping your seat. Also, you will never figure out when, where or why until Mr. Goddard wants you to. Well, there are clues, but they were so cleverly disguised that I missed them. This is one very good book.

When Harry Barnett returns to his hometown in England to close his late mother's estate, he runs into two old mates from his days in the RAF. He is invited to the 50th reunion of a dozen comrades who served together at a castle in Aberdeen, Scotland, where they spent a tour of duty in 1955. A break from clearing closets and cupboards sounds like fun, so he joins them for what promises to be a nostalgic weekend. When one member of the group ends up dead and another goes missing before they reach their destination, a perilous search into a murky past begins.

An evening in the bar car renders the revelers unconscious in their train seats. During the night, Harry's seatmate gets up for fresh air and doesn't come back. By the time they reach Aberdeen, Harry finds himself under suspicion in his disappearance. When the man's body is found alongside the railway tracks, Harry is a prime murder suspect. As he tries to ferret out the truth behind the further accidents and disappearances of his old mates, Harry is drawn deeper into a half-century-old mystery.

None of Harry's companions seems to have memories of their tour of duty, which was a crash course in college-level basics. Yet, slowly, déjà vu creeps in. A tour of the castle triggers sudden flashes of hidden memories among some of the men, and the ones with the most vivid recall meet with accidents or even death. Harry and another of his old buddies remember nothing except parties and studying, yet as events unfold, they begin to realize that they too are in imminent danger.

Harry Barnett has a knack for finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. As the reluctant hero of INTO THE BLUE (1990), he is a down-and-out expatriate living in Greece who is the last person to see a young woman who vanishes while they are hiking in the hills above Rhodes. He returns in OUT OF THE SUN (1996) to resolve a family crisis with a son he never knew. Now, in his golden years, having found peace and happiness in a marriage and becoming the father of a young daughter, he once again makes a decision that will change his life --- or end it.

Robert Goddard is a master storyteller and weaver of suspense. He has topped Britain's book lists for two decades since the publication of his first bestselling novel in 1986. His vivid sense of place and time, intricate plotting, and strong, memorable characters lead readers willingly down each path he chooses to take us. A historian by training and a man with a fascination for how the past --- either an individual's personal history or that of grand events --- can come back to ensnare us in the present are not only a stock in trade for Goddard, but one that he has honed to a fine, duplicitous and chilling edge.

Harry Barnett so intrigued me that when I found myself with an hour to kill near a local bookseller, I aimed for the Thriller/Mystery section and found a copy of INTO THE BLUE. I am now better acquainted with Harry in his muddled middle age, all to better appreciate the senior Barnett of NEVER GO BACK, who can still slide down a tile roof and survive a foot chase through the back streets of Swindon. He's breathing heavily and in need of a pint or two at the end, but he's a survivor.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

I read this book and really liked it, I have read several from this author and have liked them all, they are a mystery without alot of gore, bad language, and bed scenes with some good plots.

Formulaic!!!!!!!
All of Goddard's books have the same characters, they just have different names. I've read three.......and this will be my last! Character development is one-dimensional and stereotypical. Dialogue is often eye-rollingly stupid. This was not especially well-written, but the plot devices are many and can strain credibility.
I wish I'd only read the first one, stopping there. Then I'd think I was missing something in others.