Never Let You Go

Fans of Never Tear Us Apart will be pleased that this sequel fulfills the promise of Murphy’s decidedly unconventional contemporary love story, set in an unspecified part of the U.S. Years before the story opens, serial killer Aaron Monroe imprisoned young Katie Watts. Aaron’s son, Will, saved Katie from his father and then disappeared. As an adult, Will renamed himself Ethan Williams and manipulated Katie, now called Katherine, into falling in love with him. It’s been a few months since Katherine discovered her new lover’s true identity and kicked him out of her life, appalled by his deceit. Along comes ratings-hungry TV reporter Lisa Swanson, who had once gained fame by exploiting Katherine. Now she’s skating on the edge of journalistic ethics by attempting to arrange a meeting between Katherine and Aaron, who’s currently on death row. Inevitably, Katherine and Ethan/Will are drawn back into each other’s lives. Tension mounts as the charismatic but broken lovers struggle to heal each other while dodging media attention. The superior characterization and compelling plot are enough to outweigh the awkward prose and clunky structure. Agent: Kimberly A. Whalen, Trident Media Group. (May)