NO TIME FOR GOODBYE by LINWOOD BARCLAY.SOURCE: Ex-library stock.
BACK COVER BLURB:The house was silent. No sound of her parents getting ready for work, or her brother late for school. Were they punishing her for last night? She'd been out on a date when she should have been studying, and had a huge fight with her father. So where was everyone now? Why had her family disappeared?
Twenty-five years later the mystery is no nearer to being solved and Cynthia is still haunted by unanswered questions. Were her family murdered? Abducted? If so, why was she spared? And if they're alive, why did they abandon her?
Then a letter arrives, a letter which makes no sense. Soon Cynthia begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made ...
FIRST SENTENCE {May 1983}: When Cynthia woke up, it was so quiet in the house she thought it must be Saturday.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 140}: I never saw the slap coming. I don't think Cynthia did either, and she was the one swinging. It just happened. An explosion of anger, like a thunderclap, standing out their on the step.
MY THOUGHTS: Now here's a thriller worthy of the label of thriller.
OK so towards the end things might get a bit, well, improbable. I wasn't so keen on the numerous mysterious phone calls, the callers themselves not fully revealed until much later in the story, and the fact that there was more swearing than I personally thought necessary BUT, and I know this might sound like I'm quoting just about every bookish cliche there is, my imagination captured from the start, this was a real page turner, roller coaster of a read. Suspenseful with red herrings in all the right places, once picked up I found it nigh on impossible to put down.
Full of interesting characters who almost without exception are beautifully flawed. And talk about the breaking of stereotypes. I don't want to give too much away so lets just leave it at that you don't often find a gun-toting, wheelchair-using character in many novels.
15 comments:
Tracy, I'm glad this thriller lived up to its genre. Excellent review, once again!
Really glad you enjoyed this one. It's ages since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it, and have enjoyed reading several more of this author's novels since that one. It's true I agree about the cliches, they might be cliches but they are certainly applicable to his books, great page turners.
It's a little too bad for the end but it sounds like a nice one. I love a good thriller from time to time.
I love characters like that and would read it. I also like thrillers so this one might be right up my alley (there is a cliché for ya! ).
Seems like a good book as you say, the story line is quite interesting. I will put this one in my to-read list :)
Lack of realism in a book like this could be a problem for me.
On the other hand complex characters that defy stereotypes sound like a real plus.
I think a key element for me would be how the psychological aspects of such an event played out for Cynthia. One would think that they would be devastating beyond belief.
The blurb sounds good and your comments make it sound even better. I'm off to put it on my wish list at Amazon right now.
Yay so glad to hear that the characters were well done
This sounds pretty great- the summary had me curious, but your review has me really wanting to read it now!
I love the premise of this. There's something about the mystery of vanishing people that really gets me. I became addicted to the show Disappeared on Investigate Discovery (saw them on Netflix). The fact that a person (or entire family in this case) could just disappear off the face of the Earth really bugs me.
It's hard to find mystery/thrillers that actually keep me engaged and surprised. Glad to hear you found one!
Karen @For What It's Worth
Just from the description, I want to know more. This sounds good! I am glad you liked it, even despite it's faults. It sounds like something I would really like.
So she wakes up and her family has disappeared? How intriguing! I'm not much on swearing, but can overlook it if the plot is good enough. And this sounds like a great read!
Wow...it DOES sound different than what you see usually but in a GOOD way. Thanks for sharing!
Oh, sounds good then!
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