BROKEN PROMISE (2015)

It took me long enough to get around to reading one of my favorite thriller writers! I won a copy from the Good Reads First Reads Contest back in May. Where did May and June go? It's a long story. I am now working to get back to the business of reading and writing reviews.

Once I actually was able to start reading Linwood Barclay's Broken Promise, I devoured the book in my usual way. Two days tops.

We're back in Promise Falls, New York, where  previous stories have taken place. Those of us who have read Barclay's books will recognize David Harwood and his son from Never Look Away (2010).

THE STORY: With a demanding job at the Boston Globe, single parent David Harwood cannot find enough time to spend with his son. The solution he chooses is to go back home and work for the local paper in Promise Falls. Things start going wrong immediately.

By the end of the story it was obvious that not all the mysteries raised in this book were going to be addressed. When I did a little research, I discovered that this is the first book in what will be a three books series the second and final installments being released at nine month intervals.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Reading one of Barclay's thrillers, there is always the relief that one's own life is safe from the cascade of bad things that are happening to these good people. That seems to be his formula. The author creates impossible scenarios for the protagonist so the reader will wonder how in the world the story threads can possibly be untangled.

With a nod to modern culture and characters enduring the same life problems, it's easy to relate and wonder 'what would I do' in this circumstance.

FIRST SENTENCE: "A couple of hours before all hell broke loose, I was in bed, awake since five, pondering the circumstances that had returned me, at the age of forty-one, to my childhood home."

BOTTOM LINE: If you don't intend to read the other two books, you will find the ending unsatisfactory. Otherwise it's a quick and engrossing read. RECOMMENDED.

DISCLAIMER: I won an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book from the Good Reads First Reads project.

Title: Broken Promise

Author: Linwood Barclay

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: NAL

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages: 512

Copyright: July 28, 2015

ISBN-10:  0451472675

ISBN-13: 978-0451472670

"Linwood Barclay is an American-born Canadian author, noted as a novelist, humourist, and columnist. His popular detective novels are bestsellers in Canada and internationally, beginning with No Time for Goodbye in 2007." Wikipedia