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There are currently 21 member reviews
for Far From True
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Kristen H. (Lowell, MA)
Watch Out: Cliffhanger
A continuation of the rollercoaster ride I read in his first book of this series "The Broken Promise" and ends with a cliffhanger. The characters came alive in my mind with the pictures dancing around in my head of the small town sheriff and cops trying to solve this case while their suspects are hiding secrets from them with a straight face. I can't wait for the third book in this series to come out but I have a while to wait.
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Kathy S. (Monroeville, AL)
Far From True
What a great book! This book had an abundance of characters, therefore a number of motives. If you love a mystery this is a book you want to read.
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Jinny K. (Fremont, CA)
Suspense Continues
I am a Linwood Barclay fan and have read the first book in this trilogy.
Barclay is a very good suspense/thriller writer and the many plots and sub-plots were well done. The characters were well-drawn and stayed true throughout the story. There were plots left from the first novel and some new mysteries as well. I would recommend this book with one reservation: The first book tied up enough mystery to be satisfying as a stand-alone. This book resolved nothing and the end seemed unsatisfying, more like it was a chapter than a whole book. It's going to be hard to wait for book 3.
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Patricia D. (Woodland Hills, CA)
Far From True - Another great Barclay thriller!
I've read many of Barclay's suspense/thrillers and was excited when I received this copy of the second book in his Promise Falls series. Luckily I had read the first book, Broken Promise so I was familiar with the main characters. Again the main detectives/investigators are prime to this story. Again the storyline itself is unique and makes for a great page-turning novel. However, I found the abundance of characters Barclay introduces kept me slightly confused. Maybe that's good though. I definitely had to be remain alert so as to guess the real culprits in the mystery. Because I had read the previous novel, I found the flashbacks used for the "catch-ups" a little distracting. I would have rather seen this book as a stand-alone novel. Forget the previous happenings in book one. But I still enjoyed Barclay's writing style and his creative story. I'm a little prejudiced when it comes to the mystery/thriller genre, however. I'd read them 24-hours a day if I could! Barclay always provides me with an entertaining few hours.
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Patricia H. (Norman, OK)
Promise Falls Promises More Questions than Answere
Far From True is the second in a continuing story about Promise Falls. On a clear and beautiful night a group of young guys try to sneak into the outdoor theater, which is scheduled for demolition the next week. Just as the group drive up there is a huge explosion which brings the movie screening crashing to the ground crushing several cars and their occupants. From there the story looks to identify the who and why of the explosion and who and why were those murdered in the explosion. Finding out exactly who turns into kind of a circus which is explained by the why of those murdered. But as in the previous book we have reached another cliff hanger.
If you like serials with characters killed off as new ones are added this serial of Promise Falls novels is well written and kept my interest even though I had not read the previous book. I prefer my mysteries to be nicely concluded with a satisfying resolution which is why it has a four star rating from me. I would like to know if the mayor is re-elected and what 23 means. Next book.
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Vivian H. (Winchester, VA)
An Enjoyable Page Turner- But.....
Far From True by Linwood Barclay is an enjoyable, eminently readable page turner that kept me interested. I like Barclay's writing style and the vignettes in the book are well-written and engrossing. There are some interesting characters and the criminal activity in the small town of Promise Falls is intriguing.
However, I really struggled with my rating. As much as I enjoyed the story, there are some factors that I found extremely frustrating.
1) this is the second book in a series about these characters from Promise Falls. I felt that Far From True does not work well as a stand alone book.
2) there were too many characters that appeared infrequently that caused me to keep flipping back and reviewing chapters I'd already read. This would not work well with an E-Reader.
3) nothing seemed to be resolved by the end of the book. It will be necessary to wait for the next installment and purchase the next book to have any sense of closure. I would rather pay more for a longer book and have some wrap up than be left hanging a la "who shot JR".
4) I really wanted to rate the book 3.5 - this was better than average but falls short of good because of the frustrating issues described above.
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Julia E. (Atlanta, GA)
Well written crime novel, annoyingly structured
Best-seller Canadian crime-novelist ,Linwood Barclay, sets his stories in Promise Falls, a run-down town in northern NY state. Though the town's economy is depressed, its citizens are lively; there is enough murdering bad behavior and sexual derring-do to satisfy a hot Las Vegas suburb. Certainly enough to keep the reader engaged.
Barclay is a skilled writer, with a fine sense of plot. Unfortunately, he also has borrowed a tedious trait from Charles Dickens, and leaves major plot-lines unresolved, awaiting the next (as yet unpublished) novel. The loyal reader is left dangling - and irritated.
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