On July 14, 2020, Never Ask Me, the next novel from New York Times bestselling author Jeff Abbott, hits bookstores everywhere.
Abbott, who is maybe best known for his Sam Capra series (The First Order, 2016, etc.) has also shown the ability to write nail-biting thrillers of psychological suspense, making him one of the most versatile writers in the game today.
His latest, written more of the vein of Blame and The Three Beths as apposed to his action-packed Capra books, follows the death of a woman named Danielle, a beloved member of a small Texas town, which turns the community on its head as authorities begin to investigate her death.
“I started Never Ask Me,” Abbott Told The Real Book Spy, “asking myself: what happens when asking one question could undo your wonderful, normal life?”
“It’s a thriller about the secrets that can fester inside a family and turn poisonous. It’s also about how a family will try and protect each other: out of love, out of desperation, out of fear. A neighbor’s murder sets the ordinary Pollitt family–a mother, a father, and their two teenagers–on a dark course where they start to question their own relationships and even how well they know each other.
“But at the same time,” continued Abbot, “I think nothing is stronger than family . . . so for me, as a writer, as a husband and a father, it was fascinating to see how I could try and merge a family drama with a psychological thriller — and watch how that same family starts to become undone and then fights back to stay together. I think it’s my most ambitious novel and I hope readers will enjoy it.”
Check out the official plot details and cover art below.
Each of us have a question we dread
In a quiet neighborhood in the wealthy Austin suburb of Lakehaven, the body of Danielle Roberts is discovered on a park bench. Danielle was a beloved member of the community, an adoption consultant who delivered the joy of parenthood to a number of local families. Her murder shocks Lakehaven.
Perhaps no other family is as crushed as the Pollitts, who lived two houses down from Danielle and thought of her almost like family. Her death becomes the catalyst for a maelstrom of suspicion and intrigue. You have been told a huge lie, an anonymous email charges the son, Grant. No one can learn the truth now, thinks the father, Kyle. Never ask me what I’d do to protect my family, resolves the wife, Iris. I’ll do whatever it takes to save him, vows the daughter, Julia, of Danielle’s grieving teenage son.
The Pollitts always thought they’d always be there for each other. When each begins to suspect the others of the unimaginable, the strength of their bonds will be tested in extraordinary new ways. The latest from New York Times bestselling author Jeff Abbott is his most suspenseful thriller yet: a riveting tale of the dangerous secrets one family has concealed—and what happens when the question each Pollitt hoped they’d never be asked threatens to expose their darkest truths.
Jeff Abbott is the international-bestselling, award-winning author of ten mystery and suspense novels. Jeff is a native Texan and graduated from Rice University with a degree in History and English, and worked as a creative director at an advertising agency before writing full-time. He lives in Austin with his wife and two sons. You can visit his website here and follow him on Twitter.
Readers excited to get their hands on Never Ask Me can now pre-order Jeff Abbott’s latest thriller here or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.