Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Not applicable
Advantages:
Excellent
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
My mam bought this book last week when we were in Asda. I thought it looked interesting and decided I would read it after her. My mam, who loves reading but hardly reads unless we are on holiday, read this book in less than a week. I started it on Saturday and finished it on sunday. It is one of the best books I have read in a long time and once I started it I found it difficult to put down. 'No Time for Goodbye' is one of the Richard and Judy's summer read books.
~ The Author ~ Between 1996 and 2000 Linwood Barclay published four non-fiction books, including a memoir about growing up in cottage country. Then in 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all father by the name of Zack Walker. No Time for Goodbye is his first stand-alone thriller and was published in 2007.
Barclay was born in the United States and moved to Canada when he was a young child. He obtained an Honours B.A. in English at Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, and it was at Trent that he met the woman who would become his wife. He has two children and lives in Toronto.
~ The Story ~
"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 and Cynthia still has no answers about what happened to her family the night they went missing. Were they murdered? Abducted? Why was she spared? If they weren't dead then why did they abandon her?
One day, a letter arrives and it doesn't make any sense. "Soon Cynthia begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made..."
The book opens in May 1983, when Cynthia's family go missing. As Cynthia discovers that the house is empty the reader is quickly drawn in to the story and I found myself wanting to know where they were and what had happened. The reader is as much in the dark as Cynthia. The book then moves onto 25 years later when Cynthia is taking part in a TV show to try and find out what happened all those years ago.
All that Cynthia has left from her family are two shoeboxes filled with mementoes, such as newspaper clippings and photos. Cynthia holds onto the thought that there may be some clue within these boxes that will help to solve the mystery but after 25 years it doesn't look very hopeful.
The story is written in first person from the perspective of Cynthia's husband, Terry. I thought the writing style was easy to read and the whole book was compelling. At first I wondered why the book is written from Terry's point of view rather than Cynthia's but I was soon so engrossed in the story that I didn't pay much more attention to it.
Throughout the book pieces of information are revealed which appear to be contributing to answer the main mystery but equally a lot of this information just leads to more questions. The whole way through the book I wanted to know what had happened that night in May 1983 but I also enjoyed reading about the characters in the story of the present.
I cannot imagine how terrible it must be to wake up and find your family have gone without a trace and have to live with for the rest of your life. The book makes you wonder whether or not Cynthia is becoming paranoid having to deal with such a traumatic experience.
I kept thinking that I had worked out part of what had happened but then more clues would be revealed that made me question my thinking. Some of my thinking was partially correct but the ending of the novel was not at all what I expected. Since I started reading this book I have thought about it lots and I know that my mam has too. For me, this is a sign of a good book. It also pulled on my emotions and made me think while I was reading it. I felt like I knew Cynthia and Terry and the other characters in their lives and I think I wanted to find out what happened to Cynthia's family as much as she did.
I think the characters were well developed and the pace of the writing was just right, fast enough to keep me reading but not too fast that I feel like I missed out on any information being given.
This book is really well though out and very clever. I wouldn't normally choose to read thrillers but I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I think if I hadn't been pushed for time, I could have quite easily have read this book in one sitting, which does not often happen with me. I like to keep reading a book for at least a few days to feel like I get to know the characters etc but I feel even though I read this book in less than 24 hours I didn't lose any of the essence of the people within the book.
~ Overall ~
I cannot recommend this book enough, it is well thought out, exciting, fast paced, well written and has really good characters. I will definitely be looking out for more of Linwood Barclay's work. My mam thought this book was excellent and we both think my dad would enjoy it also - he's going to read it next. It is very rare that we get a book that we all interested in reading and I think that just proves how good this book is.
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