No Way Back: 1 (A Jack McNeal Thriller)

Product Information

Wendy and her husband, Dave, had a spat last night and are still not speaking. She is meeting up with her friend, Pam, in a bar to have some drinks and to talk about it. Pam is running late and Wendy starts chatting with Curtis, who is also at the bar. Pam texts that she can't make it after all and Wendy ends up in Curtis' hotel room. Before it goes too far, Wendy stops things and goes into the washroom to freshen up. While she's in there, she sees a man come into Curtis' room and shoot him. To save herself, Wendy shoots the guy and ends up on the run when she is blamed for the murders.

There are two protagonists. Lauritzia's story is compelling and heartbreaking, and the only reason I gave this two stars instead of negative one hundred. Unfortunately, her story is only 1/10th of the book. The rest of the story is about Wendy. What a fascinating story, I could have continued reading from this story I’d of loved to have read the story of her settling in Australia properly. Wow so so interesting and so different. It is about a poor English girl called Mary Wade who makes a mistake and steals some clothes and ends up in the filthiest prison of London where she is awaiting death by hanging. However her sentence is later changed and she is sent in a huge ship to Australia as a prisoner, where she begins a new life. I think it is a very nice book with an interesting story which I would highly recommend especially if you are interested in the history of England and Australia. Although this book is a diary it is written with a mixture of narrative and dialogue which you wouldn’t usually expect. It would be good if there was a follow up to tell her new life in Australia.Wendy just goes around apologizing for "being a slut" to everyone she meets. And I'm like, "They shouldn't care. Get to the part about the killer rogue agents. Stop talking about how you're "such a bad person" and "no one can forgive you, you can never forgive yourself" and all this crap. You have bigger issues to worry about, okay? Like the fact that you and your family are being hunted down and killed. Focus on what's important." I wasn't happy with Daniel's daughter and her actions at a certain point and I wasn't sure what the truth of some events were. Was Daniel lying? Who knows? Her death seems eerily similar to the suspicious fatality of a young socialite years before. Is the similarity of the two tragic incidents simply a coincidence, or could it be a sign of a murderous orchestrated plot to protect those in the highest echelons of the American government? I liked that the writer tied a true event within the story's main plot (again I don't like to give spoilers) but other than that to me there wasn't a whole lot special about it. I am afraid in time I will forget about this story altogether. The thriller is thrilling. I mean, there's lots of action, car chases, clandestine meetings, shoot-outs, people holding guns to other people's heads, secret government cover-ups, vendettas, etc. etc.

Wendy cheats on her husband (but doesn't Go All The Way!) with a reporter and in doing so is a witness to the reporter's murder/kills someone in self-defense. Instead of calling 911 right away, she legs it, partly because she thinks the cops will kill her too to cover it all up, but mostly because she doesn't want her husband to know she was (Almost But Not Quite) cheating on him. So of course the first thing she does is go home and confess to him that she Just About cheated on him. Then he gets murdered too and Wendy is framed for it. I loved the writing style, there was loads going on, I thought this was well written as it can be easy to loose the main thread of the story but that didn't happen. This book overall to me was okay. I thought, without giving spoilers, that it was generally presented in a simplistic style and with its many twists and turns. This was good but nothing earth shattering. Meanwhile in another area, Lauritzia works as a nanny. She and the two children she is caring for are at the mall. A man starts shooting in the mall. Lauritzia reconizes the man and knows he is there for her. She also goes on the run. Wendy and Lauritzia's pathes will intertwine with each other. Audrey's home in London, where she meets Daniel again, he being the Cypriot developer her parents are working with, and the man whom she met in Cyprus one night where she drunkenly landed in his lap at the restaurant where she was dining with her parents. He was a savior of sorts when he turned in her lost Louboutin, and thinking of her as Cinderella. So when he sees Audrey again at her parents' home, he's smitten all over again and pursues her with intensity. His intensity is intoxicating to Audrey and they begin a whirlwind relationship. But, he's got secrets and when those secrets bite him in the ass, will Audrey stay strong and stand by this man she barely knows? Or will she do something stupid and get herself in trouble?The plot is decent and makes relative sense. It involves recent events and takes place in a logical, realistic world. Even though what Wendy did was unquestionably wrong, I don't think that as a punishment she deserves what happens to her in this book they try to kill her. They murder her husband. They are hunting her down. All that is a result of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time, not some sort of divine punishment from God for cheating on her husband. Also, I want to make it clear that she immediately goes home and tells her husband everything. She doesn't hide what happened or lie about it. That doesn't make what she did any less bad, but I want it to be clear that cheating on your husband had NOTHING to do with witnessing a murder and then being targeted for death, along with your whole family. Um, no. Even if you think that you're a "slut," for what you did with Curtis, Wendy, nobody deserves what is happening to you. The infidelity is something for you to work through with your family. Not something you deserve to die for, okay? I am conflicted if this should be a 3 or 4 star book. I really enjoyed the story, but I did feel it was a bit slow at times. Overall I think a 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ review is appropriate. I am excited to read the next book in the series.