Don't Look Back

June 16, 2014
In this thrilling standalone from bestseller Hurwitz (Tell No Lies), L.A.-based Eve Hardaway, whose husband has recently left her for a younger woman, decides to push “beyond her comfort zone” by taking a vacation in the jungles of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. At the Días Felices Ecolodge, Eve stumbles on disturbing artifacts left by a previous guest as well as the cabin of a man who will kill to keep his identity hidden. Meanwhile, bad weather and sabotage combine to cut off Eve and the others at the lodge—they must make increasingly desperate decisions if any are to survive. While a crafty foe stalks them, Eve and company also contend with such natural challenges as a raging river, rugged terrain, and unrelenting rain and heat. Despite some plot holes, Hurwitz skillfully ratchets up the tension as his characters prove their mettle through nerve-wracking and exciting trials. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency.

July 15, 2014
Hurwitz (Tell No Lies, 2013, etc.) again proves himself a plot masteras he follows Eve Hardaway on a much-needed vacation into Mexico's Oaxacanjungles.It was supposed to be an anniversarytrip. Then Eve's husband found a younger, more "elegant" woman. Evedecided the prepaid getaway to Dias Felices Ecolodge was just the ticketanyway, especially after having given up nursing for a mind-numbing corporatecubicle to support her son. At the lodge, Eve stumbles upon a lost digitalcamera while on a jungle trek and later learns that it belongs to TheresaHamilton, now missing. On the same trek, Eve spies a mysterious man near aramshackle hut secreted in the dense foliage. After deftly creating empathy forEve, Hurwitz drops her into live-or-die circumstances, buoyed only by her shakybut ever growing self-confidence and love for her son. The mystery jungledweller is slowly revealed to be Bashir Ahmat al-Gilani, the Bear of Bajaur, abloodthirsty terrorist hiding in Mexico and a character written with inventiveback story. If Dias Felices is a jungle Ship of Fools, characters run totype: macho "Gay Jay," healing after a bad romance; Will, hisstraight best friend, the McGyver thatEve needs; Claire, a lonely, bitter and vocal young woman handicapped by legbraces; Harry and Sue, an older couple more interested in personal safety thangroup survival; and jungle-wise Fortunato, indigenio lodge cook. In aplot as fast as river rapids, Eve fights more battles than Rambo and copes withintermittent Internet connections, a satellite phone that only occasionallygets a signal, gangrene, dysentery, disembowelment by IED and a "blackwave" of "eat-everything-in-their-path" sweeper ants. Hurwitzrelates Oaxaca imaginatively, with a villain who reminds a soccer mom that"jungle laws had always run beneath it all, a molten stream under thebedrock."Hurwitz adds to his string ofimaginative thrillers with an action-adventure story ready for blockbusterHollywood-get Cameron Diaz's people!

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March 1, 2014

On a supposedly idyllic tour in Oaxaca, Mexico, Eve Hardaway spots a dangerous-looking man flinging machetes at something indistinct, then discovers the camera and pill bottle of a woman who has disappeared. From a CWA Steel Dagger finalist.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2014

Eve Hardaway planned the perfect vacation to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary--a full week in the jungles of Oaxaca, Mexico. Sadly, her husband Rick also had a big surprise, but it didn't include her. With her estranged spouse now living with his new girlfriend, Eve decides to keep the reservations and travel to Mexico alone. After all, what could be a better "new start" than a jungle adventure? Arriving in Oaxaca, Eve discovers evidence of a hasty retreat by the former occupant of her hut. Clothes apparently ripped from closet hangers, a full prescription bottle, and a digital camera are still in the room. What she sees on the camera leads her to investigate a mysterious stranger who proves more sinister than Eve could ever have imagined. What should have been the trip of a lifetime turns into a deadly fight for survival, and one that will change her life forever. VERDICT Hurwitz (The Survivor) has crafted another satisfying thriller that will keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens next. A taut, smart, suspense-filled ride to satisfy the most discerning of thrill seekers. [See Prepub Alert, 2/10/14.]--Cynthia Price, Francis Marion Univ. Lib., Florence, SC

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2014

On a supposedly idyllic tour in Oaxaca, Mexico, Eve Hardaway spots a dangerous-looking man flinging machetes at something indistinct, then discovers the camera and pill bottle of a woman who has disappeared. From a CWA Steel Dagger finalist.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.