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Showing posts with label Linwood Barclay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linwood Barclay. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Broken Promise (Promise Falls #01) by Linwood Barclay {e-Book & Audio}
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Title: Broken Promise
Author: Linwood Barclay
Series: Promise Falls #01
Narrator: Quincy Dunn Baker & Brian O'Neil
Length: eBook - 512 pages; Unabridged; 13 hours and 04 minutes (Audio)
Publisher: Penguin Books (eBook); Recorded Books (Audio)
Published: July 28, 2015 (eBook & Audio)
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: eBook & Audio
Genres: Fiction; Suspense; Mystery; Detective Fiction
Subjects: City & Town Life; Murder Investigation
From the New York Times best-selling author of No Safe House comes an explosive novel about the disturbing secrets of a quiet, small town.... After his wife's death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can't find a way to stop his descent. Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David's cousin, Marla, has continued to struggle. But when David's mother asks him to check on her, he's horrified to discover that she's been secretly raising a child who is not her own - a baby she claims was a gift from an "angel" who left it on her porch. When the baby's real mother is found murdered, David can't help wanting to piece together what happened - even if it means proving his own cousin's guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla's mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg. Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past...in blood.
©2015 NJSB Entertainment, Inc. (P)2015 Recorded Books
My Review:
I haven't met a Linwood Barclay book that I haven't loved! With that being said, Broken Promise is no different. As a matter of fact, the ONLY reason that I couldn't rate this book with 5 stars, was due to some of the difficulty I had in following the story. I told one of my friends that she should put on her thinking cap to at least listen to this book, because she would definitely need it!!! I think that reading along while listening did ease that slightly, but there was A LOT going on in this book to keep up with!
Even though there was a lot going on, the story was a creative one! There are definitely parts of this book that left me gasping with my mouth hanging wide open, trying desperately to wrap my brain around what I just read, in total disbelief that something like that just happened! Barclay was certainly thinking outside of the box with Broken Promise.
I'm very interested to see where Barclay goes with the Promise Falls series. I wonder if we'll hear more about David or Marla, or if we'll find a new set of characters to follow. I really look forward to new releases, that's for sure! The ending definitely left me wanting more, so I certainly hope the following books clear all of that up!
There was definitely a vast array of characters throughout this book, your single widowed father who had to move back in with his parents, parents who will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing, to do what THEY think is in their child's best interest! These characters will definitely keep you entertained! They go from on vast abnormality to another! Each one certainly has their own character flaws, but I do think that's one thing that makes the book so great!
I think the narrators for Broken Promise were spot on! I've never listened to either one before, but I wouldn't hesitate to listen to them again! I think they delivered a stellar performance! I believe narrating would be an extremely difficult job, and I believe Quincy Dunn Baker and Brain O'Neil nailed it!
Overall, the story was very fulfilling! When I think of this story, I think of a chart that has many up and down points! Barclay will take you from an extremely low point to a mountainous high point and back down to the depths of the valley again! What more could you want out of a mystery/thriller novel? Barclay has done it again!
Friday, August 30, 2013
A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay
A Tap on the Window by Linwood BarclayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Title: A Tap on the Window
Author: Linwood Barclay
Length: 500 pages
Publisher: New York; New American Library
Published: August 6, 2013
Genres: Fiction; Mystery Fiction
Visit my review/blog HERE!
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
Synopsis:
It's been two months since private investigator Cal Weaver's teenage son, Scott, died in a tragic drug-related accident. Ever since, he and his wife have drifted apart, fracturing a once-normal life. Cal is mired in grief he can't move past. And maybe that has clouded his judgment. Because he made a grave mistake driving home on a very rainy night. A drenched young girl tapped on his window as he sat at a stoplight and asked for a ride. And even though he knew a forty-something man picking up a teenage hitchhiker is a fool, he let her in the car--she was the same age as Scott and maybe she could help him find the dealer who sold his son the drugs that killed him. However, after a brief stop at a roadside diner, Cal senses that something's not right with the girl or the situation. But it's too late. He's already involved.
Soon Cal finds himself mired in a nightmare of pain and suspicion. Something is horribly wrong in the small town of Griffon in Upstate New York. There are too many secrets, too many lies. And Cal decides to expose those secrets one by one.
My Review:
This was my first Linwood Barclay book, and I have to say that I very quickly got my hands on another one of his books almost immediately after finishing A Tap on the Window. I had this book on the shelf for a rather long time before I started it, but once I did, it didn't come out of my hands for long, unless, you know, I had to get some sleep or something crazy like that! Other than for sleep and work, my nose was stuck in this book from beginning to end! I thought that it was such a great thriller with deep-seeded emotions wrought throughout.
Barclay does a wonderful job at keeping you guessing throughout the entire story, right up until the bitter end. He offers plenty of twists and turns, and makes you believe you've got it figured out, and that's when he throws you another curve! It is similar to the ups and downs of a roller coaster! Absolutely thrilling!
His characters are flawed, which I think makes them so much better to read about, because seriously, who always wants to read about the perfect person, with the perfect life, with the perfect spouse, and perfect house and job and everything else in the world? BORING...certainly not me! Cal and his wife are grieving parents, dealing with the hand of cards that life has recently dealt them, with raw emotions!
Barclay has given us a book with real life situations in it, something that could happen to you and I, so I think that is what made this book all the more pleasurable, knowing that this scenario could be a reality! Overall, I thought that this was a fantastic read and was kicking myself in the butt for taking so long to read it! I can't wait to read more from this author! I think he will quickly rise to one of my favorites!
Disclaimer:
I received this book as a First Reads book on Goodreads. I hereby express that this is my honest and unbiased opinion of this book!
View all my reviews
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