Never See Them Again by M. William Phelps (March 2012)

Four teenagers sharing a home in Clear Lake, Texas. Just getting their adult lives started. Each day is consumed with work, friends, and good times.

Until someone came to their home and gunned them down.

Who?

It was the question that would not only haunt Houston detectives, but George Koloroutis as well. Every single minute, day or night, George was consumed with finding his daughter’s killer – or killers.

For more than two years, investigators were certain the quadruple homicide was somehow connected to the drug dealings of the two young male victims but they were wrong.

The truth was actually much more twisted.

In his newest book Never See Them Again, award winning author M. William Phelps revives the 2003 murders of four Texas teens whose good-time lifestyle comes under the microscope during an investigation that frustrates several homicide cops.

I’ve loved Phelps books, each one getting better than the last but this time, there just wasn’t the same intensity in his writing as found in previous books.

Although one can never be certain what an author’s intent was without outright asking, I think Phelps wanted to delve deeply into a father’s heartbreak at the loss of a daughter, especially in such tragic circumstances, and the frustration, emotional pain, and anger that comes with not knowing the answer to one very important question: why? And while Phelps did a good job of putting Mr. Koloroutis’ thoughts to paper, the words just didn’t draw out the emotions like they usually do.

Was Rachael Koloroutis an unsympathetic victim? Absolutely not. If anything, I’d say Rachael was the most sympathetic of the victims, but maybe it’s just because I read her father’s accounting and not the other parents’.

So what was it that leaves me with this let-down feeling? Honestly, I can’t put my finger on. If I had to guess, I’d simply say this book felt rushed and incomplete but I can’t really be more specific.

Phelps has experienced great success with his new television series Dark Minds on Investigation Discovery, so I’m thinking, maybe, his heart wasn’t quite into the writing this time.

Maybe.

Never See Them Again isn’t a hack job by any standards and definitely worth reading. Just be prepared for something a bit different than we usually get from this author.

BUY THIS BOOK: