No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
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Book Reviews of No Time for Goodbye
Book Review: Harlan Coben Lovers...Here's A Perfect Book For You!
Summary: 4 Stars
Like Harlan Coben, Linwood Barclay is an author that I see on alot of the retail bookshelves these days so I decided to give him a try. Now I know why Coben and Barclay share the valuable shelf space...because their plots and writing styles are basically from the same mold. If I read this book with no cover then I would have immediately screamed "this is Harlan Coben"!
These type of mysteries are what I call "you-or-me" mysteries. They usually deal with the everyday Tom or Sue who wakes up one day and "whammo, it's not going to be a good day"! The you-or-me protagonist usually is directly involved in a majority of the investigation while the police detective is more of a secondary character. The plot is backward-logical whereby the beginning makes perfect sense by the end.
In this book, Cynthia Bigge wakes up one day to find her house empty and her family gone (a plot that has brewed in my head for years). Fast forward 25 years and Cynthia and her husband get involved in digging deeper into the mystery. Along the way, the reader picks up a piece of the puzzle and tries to fit into into the storyboard.
IMO, Harlan Coben is good but overrated. I usually rate his books as with a solid four stars but usally don't feel her deserves a five. Same for this book by Linwood Barclay. I will try another book by him but I hear they are all similar with the Coben-esque style.
I don't think you will be disappointed and maybe you will really enjoy it but I am a reader looking for more wow and impact.
Book Review: No Time for Hello Either
Summary: 4 Stars
This story is as tightly woven as a Christmas sweater. (That's supposed to be a compliment.) Author Linwood Barclay leads the reader along several trails to a fascinating conclusion that ties up all loose ends (or threads).
The plot centers on Cynthia Archer who, as a fourteen-year-old, had a spat with her father because she was out drinking with a seventeen-year-old with a bad boy rep. Her father confronted her, ordered her out of the boy's car, and took her home. After she got home, Cynthia fell into an angry, drunken sleep. When she awoke, her parents and her brother had disappeared without a trace.
Fast forward twenty-five years and the still unsolved disappearance is revisited when a local tabloid-type T.V. show does a feature on the mystery. Thus begins a lightning fast read.
The story is narrated by Cynthia's husband Terry, who learns that very little is what it seems. Barclay builds a "tangled web." Any hints might spoil it, but suffice it to say that Barclay's tale sometimes skates on the edge of believability. But he never crosses the line into fantasy land. And the book reflects a sharp insight into human nature. There are several good chuckles to boot.
The only substantial flaw is the dropping of enough f and s bombs to, it seems to me, shock most readers. There's a lot of tension and explosive excitement, so one would expect some salty language. But it's really excessive and distracting here.
Book Review: You can't go home again
Summary: 4 Stars
This story told from the husband's point of view works very well. Only the first few pages take place in 1983 when Cynthia's family disappears so we get the bare bones of the history of the family dynamic.
Cut to 25 years later. This is where all of the action takes place. The suspense is high as well as a sense of " what is going on and is it going to let us know all the answers"? Yes and yes, but not until the author deems is appropriate. Everything unfolds at just the right pace with enough to keep you satisfied and on the edge of your seat.
The characters are well drawn, so much so, they seem like real people that you could actually know. The eight year old child is a bit precocious but cute. The love for his family by our hero is very realistic and you care for them.
Twists and surprises happen occasionally until the end with the pages turning so fast you almost get whiplash because your trip is almost over and you know all the answers -- the shock and heartbreak of it all.
4 stars and not 5 for this gem of a mystery? Oh yes. TOO MANY F WORDS. Even the most benign characters use this word repeatedly. To much, too much, too much -- It looses it's emphasis and shock value when uttered constantly and only irritates rather than titillates.
Book Review: Very suspenseful!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first book I've read by this author and it won't be my last.
When Cynthia Bigge was 14 she woke up one morning and found her whole family
gone. She thought they left her because they were angry with her. They were
never found......25 years later she is still trying to find out what happened.
She is now happily married with a young child, and a loving husband but is very paranoid about leaving her daugther alone, fearing she may also disappear. Now someone is stalking her,
and things begin to unravel.
Very suspenseful book, I didn't want to put it down. The author could have used F.....k a lot less, it wasn't necessary as far as I am concerned, but all in all, very enjoyable read.
Can't wait to read another!
Book Review: Picking Up The Pieces
Summary: 4 Stars
NO TIME FOR GOODBYE starts as the average teenager's dream come true - a 14-year-old girl wakes up after a fight with her family to find that they've disappeared without a trace. The next 300 pages consists of her attempts, 25 years later, to determine what happened and her husband's attempts to help her deal with her past.
Refreshingly for a mystery, this story unspools in surprising, interesting ways. I wasn't able to guess what would happen 100 pages, or even 50 pages, ahead. While Linwood Barclay is a somewhat repetitive and formulaic author, the story told is so intricate that literary flaws can be forgiven. The characters are interesting, varied and well-drawn, and you're never quite sure whom to trust or what to believe.