Too Close to Home (Nicola)
Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay
Pages: 404
First Published: Sept. 2008
Genre: thriller
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Derek figured, when the time came, the crawlspace would be the best place to hide.
Comments: The Cutters live in a small community in upstate New York; they live far back from the road and share the first part of the driveway with their neighbours, the Langleys. Teenage Adam Langley and Derek Cutter are best friends. One evening the Langleys are cold bloodedly shot and killed in their own home. Derek is the last known person to have seen them alive and the police start to question the validity of his story. The Cutters soon start to realize that the answer to the murder is much closer to home than they thought.
Canadian writer, Linwood Barclay, has written several novels but this is my first time reading him. This is one of those few page-turning, read while you eat, stay up late into the night books. A very quick read for me that had plenty of suspense, twists and reveals along the way. Don’t be too sure of yourself if you think you have it figured out, I kept changing my mind till near the end and the secrets that keep outing themselves will keep you guessing too. I most certainly will look into Barclay’s backlist. If they are anything like this one, I’m sure to have found a new favourite author.
Too Close to Home (raidergirl3)
Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay, 404 pages
I love a good suspenseful thriller. I started this one yesterday, and since I had today off, I read all day. It was a real page turner, with twists and turns, some I could somewhat see or at least suspect, but still satisfying.
The prologue starts with Derek, the seventeen year old son of the narrator, sneaking into a neighbour’s house in upstate New York, and then being present but hidden while the family is massacred at gunpoint. The ensuing investigation unearths secrets of all the people connected with the family. Murder investigations often leave many people feeling exposed, and as unexpected details get discovered, more than a murderer can be the result.
It’s no fun to read a plot overview of a book that derives its pleasure from suspense, so there will be no incriminating details here. The characters were realistic, facing moral dilemmas and not always making the right choices. But overall, I thought Derek and his family were more like people caught in an unusual situation and making decisions based on protecting their family. There are some comments on politics, academia, and ambition, but mostly it’s a tight thriller that kept me entertained all day.