Broken Promise: (Promise Falls Trilogy Book 1)

Product Information

I have all three parts of this Promise Falls trilogy and I won't be stopping reading until I have finished all three. While doing so, he is extremely considerate of readers who are new to his work or who have dipped into the Promise Falls canon only intermittently. Finley cannot be trusted—he is dying to find out things going on in the police department, to use for his own purpose. Unfolding over the course of a weekend - just two days, rather unbelievably - leading up to the Memorial Day weekend in May this is a fast and furious car crash take on life in a down-at-heel town.

Move over Michael Connelly- The state of Florida and its loyal fans have room for two outstanding crime authors! There's even a hint of classic Stephen King in the presentation of an American small town with disturbing secrets. The author is also exceptionally good at diverting the readers attention and running the more routine aspects of his characters lives alongside the more pivotal events, such as Ethan's school fight, to the tasty banana bread that Duckworth is given at the home of a witness and his losing battle with his weight. A multi-layered plot, with an array of intriguing and well-developed characters, and a town of scandalous secrets, lies, conspiracy, murder, possibly revenge, and a list of mysterious events-and the mysterious number, "twenty-three".

Essentially, fans of Linwood Barclay will find Broken Promise full of a promising tale of a town that would like to keep its secret. When his mother asks him to check in on a wayward cousin, still suffering from the recent loss of a baby, David is sure this will be a quick meeting and distraction from his dreary life.

An intense and fast paced plot, the ending left just enough questions to lead into the next book of the series (not too long I hope) but tied up (most) of the story nicely. On a personal note: I have made the drive from Albany airport to the Catskills and for some reason, I am thinking about this mysterious fictional town of Promise Falls, similar to the surroundings.It didn't feel quite up to par of his past writing in the sense that there seemed to be a bit extra padding at times, but I'm chalking that up to a need to set up for the remaining books. This is a suspense/mystery that will keep you guessing most of the way, but not necessarily about the crime you are thinking. When he finally admits to himself that his unsociable working hours aren’t fair on his young son or himself, he takes a job on a local newspaper in his home town, Promise Falls. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch. Despite the obvious care and attention that Barclay has obviously taken with that multiplicity of plots, he hasn’t forgotten about character development for even a moment.

But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla's mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg. Broken Promise is written mainly in 3rd person narrative with several chapters written in first person with protagonist David’s voice. I did guess some of the major twists which was a bit of a disappointment because I really like to be surprised. An unemployed single father, without a place of his own to reside and not getting any younger he is a great catch as father, Don, is quick to point out. A huge THANKS to NetGalley / PENGUIN GROUP Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW for furnishing the e-book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.Using information on the stroller, David goes to the house where he believes the baby lives and they find the mother's body, dead in the kitchen. My only other Barclay read is Tap on the Window, but that book and this novel are enough for me to see that Mr. A special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Berkley, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Most of the story lines come to a conclusion in a very satisfying way, so this 'could' be a stand-alone.