Don't Ever Tell

Brandon Massey has brought the literary world another great suspense novel that will blow your mind right to the last page. Joshua and Rachel are living the life that most couples dream of. She is co owner of an upscale beauty salon and he is a freelance graphic designer both are "making it do what it do" in the ATL. Everything was hunky dory until one night Rachel has an awful nightmare that would change both of there lives forever. Living a life full of secrets and lies from her past she never thought they would catch up to her present. Rachel is ghost and leaves her friends and family behind not only to protect herself but to protect the ones she loves. Joshua is fit to be tired with worry of her disappearance and becomes "Colombo" to piece together the puzzle of the secrets and lies that she is withholding. When he is confronted with Rachel's past in the form of Dexter Bates everything goes haywire but Joshua is determined to save the love of his life. Don't Ever Tell is an incredible read. It's very different from the supernatural fiction that Mr. Massey is known for but he still provides the reader with a suspense thriller that is so intense none the less. I really enjoyed the fact that some parts of the book took place in Chi Town, I was very familiar with the landmarks and cities within that was mentioned. His writing is impeccable very detailed and descriptive. Page after page I was glued to this book with various outburst of oh's and ah's to the very end and I'm sure any reader would find this novel very enjoyable as well. Tangerine

Don't Ever Tell is a thrilling new book by Brandon Massey and shockingly, it's not a horror book. The book is about a woman named Rachel who moved to Atlanta, GA to make a fresh start. With a new salon, new husband, and new home, things are going very well for Rachel. It seems as if she has left her old life behind, until her dangerous past starts to catch up with her. Rachel's past, in the form of a man named Dexter, is not in a forgiving mood or willing to forgive Rachel of her past transgressions against him. In his eyes, Rachel is the reason why he was doing time in a maximum secure facility. He longs for the day when he will make her and all of her loved ones suffer for putting him behind bars. He soon gets his chance after he escapes while being transported to another prison facility. Yes, Dexter will do everything in his power to find Rachel and make her suffer a slow and painful death. Whenever I hear the name Brandon Massey, the first words to come to my mind are horror fiction. I was truly shocked and pleasantly surprised when I finally realized that Don't Ever Tell was a crime novel. The imagination that this man has is incredible! I can honestly say that Mr. Massey makes the transition from horror to crime very well. This book held my attention from beginning to end, and the ending was not disappointing. I give this book 4 1/2 stars only because I believe it took a little too much time to find out exactly how Rachel was involved with Dexter's incarceration. Other than that, Don't Ever Tell is a very good read that I highly recommend and is a good example of how "What's done in the DARK, comes to LIGHT." Reviewed by LaShonda Bates for Urban Reviews

Brandon Massey has been laboring quietly for the past decade or so in the supernatural and horror literary genres --- working in what author Marcus Wynne so aptly describes as the grammar mine --- without gaining the recognition that is arguably his due. DON'T EVER TELL --- touted as his breakout novel --- has everything you could reasonably expect in a thriller. It begins with a particularly brutal prison breakout involving Dexter Bates, a former police officer serving a 10-year sentence for attempted murder. Massey drops rotten and unforgettable little breadcrumbs about Bates's character and emotional state throughout the book. The one thing that is clear from the beginning is that prison, as might be expected, has not mellowed him. Rachel Moore, the object of Bates's attempt at murder, is living happily in Atlanta, Georgia. She is recently married to a first-class if somewhat self-consciously clumsy guy named Joshua who loves her dearly, is newly and happily pregnant, and has a successful hairstyling business. Her life is a dream; the only problem is those lousy nightmares, inspired by her prior marriage to the aforementioned Dexter when she was living in Chicago and her name was Joy Bates. Dexter's escape from business is motivated primarily by revenge against Joy, who pressed charges against him for trying to kill her and divorced him while he was languishing behind bars. These feelings turn to rage, however, when he finds out that his considerable money stash, which was supposed to see him through his post-incarceration, is missing. Dexter goes on a killing spree, determined to obliterate anyone who has ever meant anything to Joy and to discover where (and who) she is. When Joy --- now Rachel --- learns of Dexter's escape and rampage, she abruptly abandons Joshua and goes into hiding, leaving him devastated and blindsided. Joshua's passivity is about to come to an end, though, as he's willing to do whatever is necessary to save not only his family but also himself. As the final drama is played out in the quietly exotic locale of one of Georgia's barrier islands, a mortally dangerous, seemingly unstoppable force collides with two people whose greatest strengths are their love for and faith in each other. Brandon Massey gets everything just right in DON'T EVER TELL --- from Joshua's true-to-type friends to Dexter's psychotic reactions. While it's not a horror novel, his prior experience in the genre holds him in good stead here; he hits notes of terror that he has never hit before. Anyone who has ever been involved with a woman who had a crazy boyfriend in her past and had to face the guy down will recognize Dexter from the jump and will be all the more chilled by doing so. The real star in Massey's universe, however, is his pacing, which is first rate from opening sentence to final paragraph. Breakout novel? You bet. And then some. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

DON'T EVER TELL by Brandon Massey brings us into the marriage of Rachel and Joshua Moore. They have been married six months and are very happy, even though Joshua's mother does not approve of Rachel at all. After hosting a party, Joshua is awakened by Rachel screaming and fighting in her sleep, and using language he's never heard from her before. He holds her until she awakens and then he asks her about her dreams, but she claims to not remember. Joshua is suspicious, it's the one thing he can't and won't tolerate; lying. Rachel seems to change in the next few days; she seems tense and frightened, and Joshua wants to know why. Will he find out before their marriage is completely ruined? Rachel is harboring deep, dark secrets that she can tell no one. She understands her past may catch up with her, and with anyone who knows anything at all about her. So it is best they don't know what she was involved with. She is worried about how can she keep Joshua safe? Massey has written a page-turner that I read in one sitting because I couldn't bear to put it down. The tension began building from the first page and never stopped until the last. The characters were developed so it was understandable why they did the things they did, even when you found yourself begging them to take another path. It was a great thriller and I would highly recommend it. Reviewed by Alice Holman of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Dexter Bates is free after spending four years at Centralia Correctional Facility. A prison guard Steele, and Dex's pals Javier and Javier's wife Christy liberated him as he was being transferred to another facility. They inform him his woman vanished. He is unconcerned as he will find her for betraying him and payback is hell when he makes the remittance. Happily married Rachel Moore has changed her identity so that she can move past her relationship with incarcerated abusive Dexter; plus just in case he somehow gets out he will not easily find her; she knows he will look. She has relocated so he cannot find her. However, although she feels free of him, she still at times looks over her shoulder into the shadows. Rachel knows if he is freed, he will search for her; if he searches for her, he will not quit until he finds her; if he finds her, he will killer her beloved husband and torture her until he kills her. She prays every night, but so does he in his way. Only one can have their prayer answered. Dexter is a chilling villain who seems so calm even when he is killing someone. As he begins his quest, Rachel is very happy in her new life. That contrast between them enhances a strong psychological suspense thriller that never slows down from the moment the correctional guards escorting Bates stop to help a pretty blonde with car trouble and never decelerates as he is coming for her. Fans know high noon is coming as Brandon Massey provides a gripping suspenseful tale. Harriet Klausner