You Will Never Leave: A psychological suspense thriller (Villainous Vacations Collection - Standalone Thrillers)

If you enjoy a suspenseful, well-crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end, grab this book! Unlike some rather predictable whodunits, this story covered its tracks with mysterious characters and clever plot twists that left me completely clueless until the very end.Here's a tiny bit of the plot. (No spoilers--I promise.) Blair and her husband Matt (who's been diagnosed with PTSD) decide a relaxing camping trip will help him heal. Relaxation is not in the cards, however, when a mudslide traps them in a remote campground with an odd assortment of secretive fellow campers, none of whom are exactly what they appear to be.The rain never stops as mysterious deaths and disappearances soon have the remaining campers suspecting each other of being a killer. Each has the motive and/or skill to be a murderer, but who can it be? Can anyone be trusted? Can the killer be stopped before it's too late?As bodies decompose and fear spreads throughout the camp, our heroine "just wanted out of this mess before they all ended up dead. It was like a live game of Clue with a cast of untrustworthy characters replete with baggage, weapons and motives, moving among trailers instead of rooms." Exactly.Professional editing and proofreading add to the enjoyment of this gripping tale. Highly recommended.

Matt has recently returned home from a harrowing tour of duty in Afghanistan; having finished his military active duty. He's suffering from paranoia, unprovoked outbursts, night terrors & insomnia. He & his wife Blair are planning to spend the next couple of months traveling around the States in his father's trailer; enjoying some of North America's camping spots & national parks. They've only been on the road a few weeks, enjoying the healing power of nature. They hadn't intended on making camp just yet, but they can't keep driving in the torrential rain. The visibility's not good & the rain's getting heavier by the minute. They pull into a remote campground.Early the next morning, they're awoken by a loud thumping on their trailer door. A fellow camper informs them that while he was out walking his dog, he discovered the body of an elderly man on the hiking trail half-buried in the undergrowth with a knife sticking out of his belly. It appears as if the stab wound was inflicted after he was strangled. They need to notify the police. The campground's a crime scene, now. Any one of these strangers could be a killer.Then, the unthinkable happens. A deluge of rain causes a mudslide & they're trapped. Massive boulders & uprooted trees have blocked the road leading from the campground down to the highway. The only way out is by helicopter. Their idyllic retreat has turned out to be more like an unending nightmare. They're in the middle of nowhere. They're not in any flight paths. And, the weather's been too rough for any planes. It could be days, or possibly weeks, before search & rescue fly over the area. In the meantime, the killer could strike again. The situation is dire. Matt & Blair are stranded with a cast of untrustworthy characters replete with weapons & motives. It seems as if everyone is hiding a dangerous secret. They have to make contact with Search & Rescue, if they're ever going to get out of there alive.

This takes place in the classic killer-on-the-loose setting, a campgrounds trailer park. But unlike all the slasher movies set in such surroundings, the action here doesn’t involve teenage girls being stalked by a scythe-wielding maniac. The people who are threatened here are mostly mature adults who begin to suspect that one among them might be a killer.Hinkens does draw fairly good character studies of these adults. A distinctive back-story is developed for each of the persons trapped at this remote campsite, with the roads washed out and, of course, no phone reception.The book generally held my interest, with the occasional chapter cliffhanger and with suspicion falling on each of the campers in turn – while still maintaining the possibility of a homicidal outsider. But there are considerable stretches of the narrative that might strike readers as boring filler. Many pages are taken up with accounts of the characters’ movements between trailers. It begins to feel as if they are being shifted randomly like chess pieces by someone with no idea of how to play the game. “I’ll meet you at Hazel’s camper in ten minutes.” “Let’s all have a meeting at Matt and Blair’s trailer.” “Sam is going to take his dog back to his trailer, then he’ll meet us at Harvey’s trailer.”Once in a while, one or the other of the character’s reactions seems laughably ludicrous. When Matt announces that he’s found a dead body on the trail, a man done in with a knife in his stomach - Blair immediately exclaims something like, “Oh my! We’ll have to bury him!” Then when a work crew finally comes to start restoring one of the washed out roads, the beleaguered campers don’t signal any of the workers who, one would think, have backhoes and other machinery that could be used to effect a quick rescue. Instead the remaining endangered campers continue to wait for a helicopter lift.But on the whole, I found this psychological thriller to be a sufficiently diverting pastime. It can perhaps be read in one gulp on a long plane/train ride – or can be digested in bedtime doses before nodding off. It’s just scary enough to hold your interest, but not so scary that it will keep you from getting your zzzzz’s.

A bit one dimensional. Touch of the Agatha Christie. Quite well written.

Another gripping story from N.L.Hinkens. Her best yet with its many twists and turns. Kept me guessing to the end. I couldn't figure out who the killer was. I will be wary of my fellow campers from now on. A REALLY great read. Can hardly wait for her next book.

I thought the characters often had odd reactions that were not believable. They did things that people wouldn't normally do. The story was intriguing enough for me to read the whole book but I was hoping for bigger twists. This is the first book I've read from this author and it is probably the last.

I did skim read to figure out the mystery but lost even more interest. The people were all basically unlikeable a waste of time.

I took ages to read this book, usually, I read fast and can,t stop , but not with this book.