Kate Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Synopsis from Amazon: On the morning she will never forget, suburban teenager Cynthia Archer awakes with a nasty hangover and a feeling she is going to have an even nastier confrontation with her mom and dad. But when she leaves her bedroom, she discovers the house is empty, with no sign of her parents or younger brother Todd. In the blink of an eye, without any explanation, her family has simply disappeared. Twenty-five years later Cynthia is still haunted by unanswered questions. Were her family murdered? If so, why was she spared? And if they're alive, why did they abandon her in such a cruel way? Now married with a daughter of her own, Cynthia fears that her new family will be taken from her just as her first one was. And so she agrees to take part in a TV documentary revisiting the case, in the hope that somebody somewhere will remember something - or even that her father, mother or brother might finally reach out to her... Then a letter arrives which makes no sense and yet chills Cynthia to the core. And soon she begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made... Meet Cynthia - she is teenager out with her older boyfriend getting drunk in his car. Her Dad finds her, pulls her out of the car and drags her home. After a row she hits the sack to sleep off the alcohol. The following morning she wakes to a silent house. At first she finds plausible reasons for everyone being out, but once at school quickly discovers they are indeed missing. Twenty-five years later she still doesn't know what has happened to her family. And with a family of her own, it is starting to threaten her comfortable home. Still wanting answers, she is shocked when a letter arrives. Her past and what happened on that night is about to catch up with her, and it won't be pretty.... What an exciting book. I couldn't put it down. There were many twists and turns, and outcomes I did not see coming. Barclay leads you down one path, and suddenly flips it over and reveals your suspicions and guesses to be wrong. I was gripped by this adventure. So much happens, a lot of which you won't predict. Barclay manipulates what you think, then corrects your wrong views. Just excellent. His characters were great - I especially liked the thugs who grabbed Cynthia's husband off the street and then sat listening to the Carpenters. Quite funny! This is just a really good book. My one complaint is the swearing. There is a lot of it. I managed to ignore most of it, but there is too much, and that is what stops me giving this book the highest rating. Overall, this is a must-read thriller, and I highly recommend it. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Thanks for the review Kate. I picked this up for 75p in my local charity shop last week and after reading a lot of depressing stuff recently, I thought I would start on this as I need a change and a thriller is just what I need to just sit back and enjoy. I usually tend to close my mind off to working out endings of books unless it is so blatently obvious (I hope this one isn't) then I allow myself to be surprised. Hope it lives up to the hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Wow, I just read your review Kate, it was really good! Thank you The book sounds really interesting, it just made my TBR list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Ever since I last posted in this thread I've been keeping my eye out for Linwood Barclay on my secondhand bookshop tours. I haven't had any luck in spotting No Time For Goodbye yet though and I think I have to get this as new from a real bookstore if I want to read it. I was browsing through one website and there was a synopsis for Too Close to Home, another one of Barclay's thrillers and that sounded really intriguing as well, I'm going to have to incorporate that one in my TBR too... Any of you read that one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Ever since I last posted in this thread I've been keeping my eye out for Linwood Barclay on my secondhand bookshop tours. I haven't had any luck in spotting No Time For Goodbye yet though and I think I have to get this as new from a real bookstore if I want to read it. I was browsing through one website and there was a synopsis for Too Close to Home, another one of Barclay's thrillers and that sounded really intriguing as well, I'm going to have to incorporate that one in my TBR too... Any of you read that one? Frankie, I think I have a copy of 'No Time for Goodbye', I will have a look for it and get back to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Awww Gyre, thanks for the offer, but I'm popping in to a bookstore tomorrow on my way to the train station to have a 'quick' look at their bookshelves, hoping to find it there (I already found a cheap copy of Too Close to home online so will get that one as well) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Awww Gyre, thanks for the offer, but I'm popping in to a bookstore tomorrow on my way to the train station to have a 'quick' look at their bookshelves, hoping to find it there (I already found a cheap copy of Too Close to home online so will get that one as well) Not a problem Frankie, I hope you find a copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I've just read this over the weekend and really quite enjoyed it. It's not my normal style of book but the mystery certainly kept you going to the end. I liked the dry humour of the person narrating the story, even in the most tense moments. Good fun, but wasn't overly keen on the swearing in it. I bought it for 75p in a charity shop so certainly felt I had my money's worth. Well recommended, esp for a holiday read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysterioso Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I think Linwood Barclay has definitely hooked into the Harlen Coben school of twists and having read these two and the upcoming 'Fear The Worst' he is starting to get a bit formulaic. Has anybody read his 'Zack Walker' series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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