14 year old Cynthia Bigge wakes up the morning after an argument with her parents to find no trace of them, or her older brother. No Time For Goodbye centres around this mystery. Set 25 years after the disappearance of the Bigge family and told through the eyes of Terry, Cynthia's husband, the book starts with Cynthia no closer to solving the mystery of her family's disappearance...But that's all set to change.
Despite a slow start, once No Time For Goodbye got going, I could hardly put it down. Barclay has crafted an intriguing mystery with many twists along the way. Right up until the end you're never quite sure just what exactly is going on. Well written action sequences provide excitement, while the central mystery ensures you pay attention throughout the book for any clues about the why the family seems to have vanished without a trace.
The mystery in this book was enough of a hook for me that once I had begun, I didn't want to put it down. I found myself reading it into the wee small hours, to the point of falling asleep with it in my hands. A thoroughly engaging book, I found Barclay's style of writing enjoyable and will be looking out for his other books in the future. The only reason I'm not giving the book 5 stars is to do with the ending, and while I obviously don't want to spoil that, all I will say is that I had a slight credibility issue with. But this was such a tiny point that I don't feel it's taken away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
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On the morning she will never forget suburban teenager Cynthia Archer awakes with a nasty ... more
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...
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On the morning she will never forget suburban teenager Cynthia Archer awakes with a nasty ... more
hangover and a feeling she is going to have an even nastier confrontation with her mom and dad. She isn't. Instead the house is empty with no sign of her parents or younger brother Todd. At first she just thinks it's weird then more and more scary until finally the terrfiying reality hits her: in the blink of an eye without any explanation her family has simply 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? 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 knows that without answers - however shocking they might prove to be - she will never be emotionally or psychologically whole living in daily fear 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...First nothing. Then just a few crackpots and scam artists coming out of the woodwork. And then the letter a letter which makes no sense and yet chills Cynthia to the core. And soon she begins to realize that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made.
Postage & Packaging:£0.00 Availability:3-5 working days
Advantages: An easy to read thriller which has it's moments. Disadvantages: Not as good as No Time for Goodbye, and you can guess the killer rather easily.
Jul 19th, 2009
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