I’m posting this review earlier than planned as I accidentally read some of my TBR pile in the wrong order. As I only had this one electronically I didn’t have the usual media release and mistakenly thought it was out before some of the others on my list. So, oops.
Also, I’m a fan of Linwood Barclay and have read and reviewed many of his other books (and series) here, so happy to have read it slightly earlier than intended.
Linwood Barclay is one of my go-to authors, so I’ll snap up any book he releases. Recently I’ve been enjoying his Promise Falls series, but this is a standalone and – though elements are kinda ‘guessable’ – it’s still twisty and most definitely a great read.
Fans of Linwood Barclay may remember his recent trilogy, set in Promise Falls. I loved the first instalment (Broken Promise) struggled just a little with the second (Far From True), but enjoyed the third (The Twenty-Three) more.
It did however, end with a cliffhanger. My mother later read it… “It can’t end there!” she wailed. Okay, so she may not have wailed…. that just sounded better. 🙂 #alternativefacts
Well, the trilogy* did end. Officially. Until this – featuring some of the characters we came to know and love – was released… in some circles as a standalone, but also billed as Promise Falls #4!
I love love LOVED the first book in the Promise Falls series – Broken Promise – by Linwood Barclay. I loved our protagonist and struggling hero, David Harwood and the slightly-strange hometown he returned to.
I eagerly opened the second book (Far From True) on its arrival and was disappointed. Our lead character was relegated to a minor character and there was a new lead (PI Cal Weaver).
Other characters (police detective Barry Duckworth and dodgy businessman and former Mayor Randall Finley) reappeared and the underlying menace remained in the background… taunting us with something we weren’t yet seeing; but the crimes under investigation didn’t really grab my attention. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the novel but was a tad confused. Barclay had introduced so many supposed protagonists and threads that I no longer knew who and what I needed to care about.
And finally, we get to the final and third book in the series, The Twenty-Three.
I really enjoyed Linwood Barclay’s first Promise Falls novel, Broken Promise. I loved the protagonist David Harwood and the myriad of players Barclay introduced.
There were a lot of them, as I mentioned in that review, but that was okay as obviously Barclay was setting the scene for future books in the series. The inclusion of a crime which wasn’t ‘quite’ solved in the first series also made way for an overarching and continuing story arc.
Far From True, is the second instalment in the Promise Falls series.
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