Published
by Orion,
5 February 2009.
ISBN: 978-0-75288862-0
Seventeen-year-old Derek Cutter is friends
with Adam Langley. The Langleys live next door – well the next house down the
lane. The Langley’s are taking off for the weekend, and Derek has just one
thing on his mind – making out with his girl friend Penny Tucker. Derek figures if during all the departure
commotion he can conceal himself in the Langley’s crawlspace, he will have
access to an empty house for two whole days in which to entertain Penny. The
first part of his plan goes well, but whilst he is congratulating himself the
Langley’s return unexpectedly, and Derek has to beat a hasty retreat back to
the crawlspace to avoid discovery. Hoping
they will leave soon as Derek’s six-foot frame is suffering somewhat in the
cramped space, he is dismayed when he hears the door bell – not visitors as
well. But the visitor doesn’t stay long, just long enough to shoot dead all the
Langley’s.
Promise
Falls is a quiet community - a triple killing is unheard of. And why would
anyone kill the Langley’s? No reason can
be found for these murders. Is it a case of mistaken identity? Knowing of
Derek’s friendship with Adam, Jim Cutter quizzes his son to find a reason for
the killings. Both the boys had an interest in old computers and the only thing
Jim elicits is that the boys had recently salvaged an old computer, and that
appears to be the only thing missing from the house. Although the police seem
to attach little significance to this when Jim informs them. Or most frightening
of all - did the killers go to the wrong house?
Jim
pursues the missing computer convinced that it may provide a reason for the
killings, but as he does so, he uncovers a secret, and that in turn leads to
more secrets being revealed. There are many twist and turns in this story. But the solution is a surprise. Whilst I had
been trying all sorts of scenarios to solve the murders, the story ran off at different
angle and caught me unawares.
A
terrific book, which I could not put down. So many different possibilities that
I had to read it straight through to the end. And what an ending, most
unexpected - something along the lines of ‘No good deed goes unpunished’. Highly
Recommended.
-----
Reviewer:
Lizzie Hayes
Linwood Barclay was born 1955 in Darien, Connecticut. After graduating high school Barclay studied
literature at Trent University in Peterborough. While at university, he began a
correspondence with Ross Macdonald that proved inspirational for Barclay. They
met once, at which time Macdonald inscribed one of his books to Barclay,
"For Linwood, who will, I hope, someday outwrite me."
After graduation, he could not sell any of his novels so he found work on a
number of local newspapers, starting his journalism career in 1977 at the
Peterborough Examiner, moved on to a small Oakville paper in 1979, and then to
the Toronto Star in 1981 where he was, successively, assistant city editor,
news editor, chief copy editor and Life section editor. He lives in Toronto
with his wife, Neetha and two children.
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