Gregg Hurwitz should go back to writing about Tim Rackley. This book was pretty bad, like the last one I read. An Arab terrorist is living off the grid in Mexico, planning disaster for the U.S. A single mother, reeling from the perfidy of her husband, goes on an ecotour there and becomes Rambo, stretching credulity way too far even for a dedicated fiction enthusiast like me. The political ramblings of the terrorist were grossly biased and contrived that they were hard to stomach. Read Deliverance instead.
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Predictable, not really believable or exciting ( )

Well, this title took a turn I didn’t expect, and for that I’ll give it credit. Gregg Hurwitz is an author as well as a screenwriter and writer of comics, and that shows in this book. It’s written in a highly visual, cinematic style with some really pulse-pounding moments of action and drama. There are scenes that really jump out the reader. For that alone, this is well-worth a read.

I did have a few problems with the book, but before I mention them I’ll say SPOILERS coming…First thing, I didn’t truly buy the villain being able to seemingly be everywhere at once, and certainly not as a lone agent able to move that many bodies and set up that many traps in record time. Yes, he’s evil, but he does have to operate within the bounds of time and space. Second thing, and this I truly have an issue with: When you put white people in jeopardy in a foreign setting, do not treat natives as quickly and easily disposed of chess pieces, especially early on in the narrative. Not only in the spirit of verisimilitude are the fish not out of water more likely to survive, but it’s just insulting to keep using the magical Mexican (in this case) trope. Yes, it’s nice that your non-white characters are noble. It’s even better when you invest enough in those characters to have them make the cut, too. ( )

Don't Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz is a highly recommended action/adventure thrill ride of terror.

When Eve Hardaway's husband dumps her for a younger woman and moves to Europe, leaving her and their son behind, she decides to push beyond her comfort zone. Instead of canceling the surprise trip she booked for their anniversary, Eve decides to go ahead and take the vacation to the Días Felices Ecolodge, an eco-tourism camp in the mountainous jungles of Oaxaca, Mexico. While out on a day excursion with the group, Eve discovers a camera lost by a woman who was a previous guest, on a ridge overlooking a house where she sees the disturbing sight of a man practicing throwing a machete at a human target. Later, when unpacking in her cabin, she discovers other items left behind by this same woman. When Eve asks about the woman, she is told that she decided to suddenly pack up and leave for Mexico City. With further research, Eve discovers that this woman was reported missing and never found.

As more clues and questions surface, suspicions begin to rise in the group and it becomes abundantly clear that they are likely all in danger from the sinister-looking man with the machete she saw in the jungle. Eve must rely on hidden resources she didn't even realize she had in order to survive this threat and not leave her son without a mother.

With their isolation in the jungle and threatening weather looming, Hurwitz does an excellent job ratcheting up the tension and making the threat to everyone feel more and more palpable and ominous. While careful readers are going to notice a few holes in the plot, most of us will likely just race through trying to read as fast as possible to see what on earth happens next. Hurwitz does an excellent job with the character of Eve. Although action/adventure books are not usually known for a depth of character development, Eve felt like a real person to me and I was cheering her on.

This is a perfect airplane book. It will keep you entertained and the time will pass quickly.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for review purposes.

Excerpt
gregghurwitz.net/the-books/dont-look-back/
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Recently divorced Eve Hardaway, mother of a young boy tries to find herself by taking an adventure trip in the jungles of Mexico. With a group of other Americans and their tour guides, they go exploring. But two things happen that changes the lives of everyone; Eve spots a lone man who seems to be abducting a local and she finds a camera of the previous occupant of her cabin. She soon discovers that this woman went missing and the mystery man wants to be left alone (and to the extant he will kill for it). Unprepared and inexperienced the campers now have to fight their way out while the killer stalks them one by one.

This is a fast-paced novel that at first I thought would be your usual cat and mouse in the woods story. But Eve grows as a human being as she outwits the man after her (who turns out to be much wanted jihadist in hiding).

It’s one of the books that you start to read thinking it may or not be attention getting and then; boom it hit me and I couldn’t put it down! ( )