Book Review:
Far From True: A Promise Falls Novel by Linwood Barclay
Berkeley Publishing Group, 8th March 2016
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:
A freak accident has killed Lucy Brighton's father. And when she goes to his house, she's convinced that someone has broken in. She asks private investigator Cal Weaver to look into it - but isn't prepared for what he'll find.

Cal discovers a secret 'playroom' in the basement, complete with video equipment, and it looks as though there's a missing recording.

How does the stolen DVD connect to the other disturbing events that are happening in the town? As Cal investigates further, and more people start dying in mysterious circumstances, it's clear that someone is targeting Promise Falls. But who - and how far will they go?

Review:
This is the second in a trilogy and I'd somehow missed the first book, so had to read that first! I then knew who all the characters were, as it's told from multiple perspectives. Aside from the confusion of that, and the abrupt ending meaning you'd need to dive straight into the third instalment, this is Barclay doing what he does best.

* Thanks to Berkshire Publishing and Linwood Barclay for the digital ARC provided via Netgalley; this is my honest review.

#BookReview #LinwoodBarclay #FarFromTrue #PromiseFalls #NetGalley #BerkshirePublishing

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group For an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

#2 in the series , I found this one just as intriguing as the first. A murder mystery starting with a death when a drive in screen falls onto viewers. And then the twists begin to unravel.
I enjoy Linwood Barclay’s writing and find his characters diverse and interesting. This is a series I would like to continue

Mysterious deaths tied to movie theatre and the number 23. A private detective is hired to investigate. Small town setting for an only OK read.

As always Linwood Barclay delivers with a fantastic story which kept me on the edge of my seat. Well written, great plot.

Far From True - Linwood Barckay
First, I would like to thank Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley who furnished a digital ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Linwood Barclay is a very entertaining writer whom marches to his own drum and more or less forges his own literary path with his mystery writing. There are many writers who are very similiar to other writers, but not Barclay. There are more and more mystery/crime writers out there leaving the formulas and charts behind and charting their own course. Dugoni, French, Bolton, Cornwall, and Lansdale also come to mind.

Far From True is Barclay’s second novel in the Promise Falls Twenty-three trilogy. The first book was Broken Promise, a very good book. Promise Falls is a quiet, small town with the nearest city being Boston, not too far a drive away, but definitely not a subrub. It’s the kind of town you would want to raise your family, especially the kids. Right? Uhh … no. Barclay has given us one very busy book. Your cornflakes will definitely get soggy if you are reading this book and eating your “flakes” at the same time. Real soggy.

Far From True begins with some kids sneaking into “The Constellation” Drive-in for their last night in business. The screen blows up and falls over injuring and killing people. Kids sneaking in the trunk with beer are suddenly not a concern. Detective Barry Duckworth, a very affable guy, goes out to investigate the scene. Then we find out the following day that we find out that all is not what or who we think.

Cal Weaver is back and he is a hired as a Private Investigator by Lucy Brighton, the daughter to one of the victims of the Drive-In. Why was her father killed? Or is there really another reason that Cal was hired? He is another very likable character. While investigating the father’s home, Cal discovers a sex den for sexual orgies, and DVD filming equipment. Someone is leaving the home when he and Lucy are there. Who was it? What wer they after?

David Harwood is back. He is a good guy, but why is he working for that dirty rat Randall Finley, of Finley Water, who is getting ready to run for Mayor again? He is still not above anything to achieve his goals.

Oh, yes, people are dying. Kidnapping comes to the small town. Racism show its ugly face. Fire comes to town. And who or wha is this 23 thing? And how does a small peaceful town like Promise Falls have a law enforcement agency that can cover and solve all of these mysteries? There are more loose ends than a blown out afro.

Far From True is a very good book. I am glad that I read this book and that I am reading this series. I know everyone will not like this book, but I believe that most people will. It is an exciting book, I will give it a 3.5 stars.

Review limited to Goodreads due to 2 star rating.

It is incredibly important for me to clarify I love this author's writing. He is my number one recommended Canadian author.

On that note, this is the second or third book I have read in this series and I have been unable to warm up to it as I have to his other series. While not horribly written, I don't feel it as welcoming as other series I have recommended. I have not found myself attached to main characters in other series or his stand-alone works. I have read, I believe, every work produced by this author.

This is incredibly important to note: This is personal preference vs. quality of book as evidenced by this book's high overall rating. This book was reviewed for the publisher for an honest review. This is what was given.

Hating to be somewhat contrary, but I have always found this author’s work to be a bit overrated… I either cannot finish or have to slog my way through, feeling frustrated. I will keep trying, maybe my mind will change… Cannot recommend this one though, I’m afraid. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

Lincoln Barclay never fails to enthral the reader. He is the master of his genre. I look forward to every book he releases...this being one at the top of his game.

another good novel from lindwood, having missed the first one I was slightly confused

I haven’t been so disappointed in a book for a very long time. The story was a basic “who-done-it” which I love but the writing was so disjointed that it was hard to follow who was saying what.

The story was not told from one character’s point of view but by several characters. Two of them had names so similar that I wasn’t sure who was who at times. There were also several storylines and none of them were resolved by the end of the book.

In order to find out who the killer was and how the various happenings get resolved, you are forced to purchase the next book. I don’t plan on doing that as I am betting that the next book will leave you hanging like this one did.

I read a Linwood Barclay 2007 novel a year ago, No Time for Goodbye, and he’s a prolific author. When given the chance to review this new 2016 book by NetGallery, I went for it. This is Barclay’s 25th novel and the second in a trilogy about the town of Promise Falls. Perhaps I should have started with the first one, Broken Promise, but, oh well. There are lots of characters and multiple story lines, not all of which get resolved by the end of this book, hence, the trilogy.

The drive-in theater was closing down and many of the town’s people wanted to catch its last show. But in the midst of the movie, in a terrorist-like act, the huge screen was blow up, and it came crashing down on the cars. The cars nearest the screen suffered the worst damage, and the old Jag owned by Adam Chalmers was totally crushed, the bodies of both people inside being destroyed beyond recognition. But, was that Adam’s wife, Miriam in the car? Or was it another woman? And what of the private and secret sex room in Chalmers’ house, and what happened to the missing DVDs of the orgies they had been having there? What about the other people who were tied to those partner-swapping parties, who could not be identified without the missing discs?

Adam had a very shady past from which he seemed to have escaped with an inordinate amount of money. He loved his only daughter, Lucy Brighton and Lucy’s emotionally-challenged daughter, 11-year-old Crystal. Adam had promised to provide for them if something ever happened to him, but what happened to the letter that he had hidden for Lucy to find in just such a situation?

There’s a local college, Thackeray, which was a source of some young and well-drugged women for the sex parties. A professor and his wife, Peter and Georgina Blackmore, as well as the head of campus security, Clive Duncomb, were somehow tied into these events. Duncomb was a former Boston cop who had just shot and killed a student at Thackeray who was suspected of being a serial rapist. Duncomb liked to run his own show and was not cooperating with the local and dysfunctional detective squad. As Chief Detective Duckworth tried to solve a couple old murders and work on the new crimes, he was not getting any assistance from Duncomb.

And what of Cal Weaver, a good guy and former Promise Falls policeman, who had become a private investigator? He had already suffered the great losses of his wife and son, and was trying to get his act together. And then there’s his love interest Samantha Worthington whose ex was in prison and whose former in-laws were trying to kidnap her son. Another key story line is about David Harwood who had lost his job as a reporter when the local paper closed down, and desperate for some income, accepted a job as the campaign manager for the slimiest of politicians, Randall Finley who was trying to regain his job as the mayor, a title he lost when he was previously caught with underage hookers. And then there’s the mystery of the #23, the number on the hoodie of the boy who was killed by Duncomb, the time of the night when the movie screen blew up (23 hours, 23 minutes), the number of dead squirrels that had been hung up, and the number of the bus that was set on fire.

So, there are lots of intertwined story lines, some of which are solved in the course of this novel, but we are left with a cliffhanger when another murder takes place of one of the young women who had been drugged up for one of the sex parties.

Far From True takes us back to Promise Falls and familiar characters Cal Weaver and Barry Ductwork, as they pursue investigations that lead to startling truths.

A great addition to the Promise Falls Trilogy with great characters and a thrilling storyline!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this publication.