We Were Never Here

A Novel

By: Andrea Bartz

Narrated by: Becca Tobin

New York Times Best Seller • Reese’s Book Club Pick

“This book is every suspense lover’s dream and it kept me up way too late turning pages.... A novel with crazy twists and turns that will have you ditching your Friday night plans for more chapters.” (Reese Witherspoon)

A backpacking trip has deadly consequences in this “eerie psychological thriller...with alluring locales, Hitchcockian tension, and possibly the best pair of female leads since Thelma and Louise” (BookPage), from the best-selling author of The Lost Night and The Herd.

A Marie Claire Book Club Pick • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR and Marie Claire

Emily is having the time of her life - she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to their room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year’s trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can’t believe it’s happened again - can lightning really strike twice?

Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving headfirst into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their cover-ups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can Emily outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom - even her life?

©2021 Andrea Bartz (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A book that skillfully examines toxic friendship at its most extreme.... When the reckoning arrives, it shows that sometimes, we should fear our friends a lot more than strangers.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“A page-turning thriller about two best friends whose annual reunion trip goes wrong - one of them may or may not have ‘accidentally’ killed a fellow backpacker! - transforming their friendship as they once knew it.” (Marie Claire)

“Bartz takes the idea of a ‘frenemy’ to new heights.... Yet another expert vivisection of female modes of communication and competition.” (Los Angeles Times)

Great story but listening may confuse

I had a hard time getting into it, but once it started rolling and the repetitions of "Stop. Stop. Stop!" started to ease I didn't want to pause it! It was a little hard to tell which character the narrator was reading for, which made deciphering a little difficult but other than that, it was a great listen!

Great Read

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the narrator , she really brought the book to life for me. Storyline was fun. Recommend!!!!!

STOP STOP STOP - this book is too repetitive

This book gets good about the last 1/3. The first 2 are basically just repeating the same story over & over. I get it the main character is ruminating but was it necessary to just keep reminding us. It’s an ok story but not my jam.

Cringy Dynamics

It certainly kept my attention… some of the relational dynamics were cringy and hard to tolerate… because they are so well written and believable. I feel like the whole story had me climbing up a steep hill to find a flat road at the other side of the peak. It ended in an unusual way but the climb was enjoyable.

Captivating from beginning to end

I was so engrossed in this story that I had it playing while I showered, when I would eat, and even had it playing through my cars speakers while driving for DoorDash. I love a good mystery and this checked ALL of my boxes for a good story. I definitely recommend getting this book if you are on the fence about it.

definitely recommend!

a thriller full of so many twists and turns that you'll never see them coming. right down to the last sentence. can't recommend highly enough.

Took me a little while to get into the story

Overall, I did like this book. Took me a little while to get into the story, but by the end, I was riveted. I would recommend.

Interesting story…shouldn’t be this long

Ok, so I read many reviews before buying this book. Some people said the story dragged and I have to agree with that. I think the plot is interesting enough to keep you wondering what’s gonna happen but it’s definitely a drag. This didn’t need to be this long. And I got to a point where I couldn’t hear “stop stop stop” anymore. Was just annoying. Overall was ok. Can’t say was amazing.

I almost gave up… so glad I didn’t!

The first few chapters of this book almost lost me. But the good reviews kept me listening. I’m so glad I didn’t give it up! Twists and turns to the very end!! After I I was done it left a taste in my mouth that made me wonder if I did something wrong that I had to cover up… got into my head! Great book!

So good!

I was obsessed! Kept me fascinated the entire time and had me on the edge of my seat