Saturday 14 November 2015

Never Look Away - Linwood Barclay



A wife's disappearance and a childhood tragedy are linked across the years in No.1 bestseller Linwood Barclay's gripping thriller.
It starts with a trip to a local amusement park. David Harwood is hoping a carefree day will help dispel his wife Jan's recent depression that has led to frightening thoughts of suicide. Instead, a day of fun with their son Ethan turns into a nightmare.
When Jan disappears from the park, David's worst fears seem to have come true. But when he goes to the police to report her missing, the facts start to indicate something very different. The park's records show that only two tickets were purchased, and CCTV shows no evidence that Jan ever entered the park at all. Suddenly David's story starts to look suspicious - and the police to wonder if Jan's already dead, murdered by her husband.
To prove his innocence and keep his son from being taken away from him, David is going to have to dig deep into the past and come face to face with a terrible childhood tragedy - but by doing that he could risk destroying everything precious to him...

What did I think?

I had previously read Broken Promise, which is the first in the Promise Falls series, but I always wondered what had happened to David Harwood's wife.  So when my Aunty Veronica offered to lend me Never Look Away, I read the back of the book and jumped at the chance to read an earlier Linwood Barclay book about David and his wife, Jan.

As with all Linwood Barclay books, there are many twists and turns as we try to untangle the web that Linwood has woven.  When Jan disappears, and the police start to look more closely at David I had no clue what on earth had happened.  Thankfully, David is an investigative reporter so he won't stop until he finds out what has happened to Jan and he can clear his name.

David has a very close relationship with his son, Ethan, and it is clear that both his parents love him very much.  Jan is able to demonstrate just how much she loves Ethan despite her mysterious disappearance.

The link with the past is a very good story and, although I guessed some of it, it was great to see it unravelling as all of Jan's secrets are finally revealed.  There are some eye scrunching moments and gory scenes that ensure each page is turned as fast as possible.

It's fitting that the story starts at Five Mountains, the local amusement park, as this is a rollercoaster of a read by Linwood Barclay.  It answers some of my questions after reading Broken Promise, but I'm slightly confused that Broken Promise is labelled as Promise Falls #1 as clearly it would be beneficial to read Never Look Away first.

My rating:





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