Book Review | No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

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Rating

5 stars – Michael Connelly labelled it a ‘one sit thriller’ and he was right

Description

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?

Why did you choose to read this book?

No Time for Goodbye is one of the Richard & Judy summer reads and was recommended by Kerrie and Darlene. I needed a light read to follow The Kite Runner and thought this would suit.

The Book Review

It’s been a while since I read a thriller – I think the last one was probably by Harlen Coben and this is written in a similar vein. I started reading it on the train home from London yesterday evening – the journey flew by and as soon as I got home I settled on the sofa and read right through to the end. I kept thinking I’d stop at the end of the next chapter to watch some tv… or maybe the next one… and suddenly I was all done!

The book starts with Cynthia Bigge waking up with a nasty hangover and finding that her family – mom, dad and older brother – have all disappeared. The rest of the novel takes place 25 years later and is told from the viewpoint of Terry Archer; Cynthia’s husband.

Around the 25th anniversary of the disappearance strange things start to happen, Cynthia receives a phone call from a stranger telling her that her family forgive her, her father’s hat mysteriously appears on the kitchen table, and a note lands on the doormat giving directions to the place where she will find her family.

This is a fast-paced novel with many twists and turns; I didn’t figure out what had happened until about a page before Terry did – and even then Barclay threw in a few more twists for good measure.

This is a superb summer read – if you have a long flight or road trip ahead of you then this will definitely help you pass the time – just don’t try reading it in the departure lounge… you might miss your flight!

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