Far From True

4.5 stars!
I'm really glad I read Broken Promise and Final Assignment right before I started Far From True because I think I may have felt a little overwhelmed with the large cast of characters and their relationships and histories otherwise. But with the events and characters from those two previous installments fresh in my mind, I thoroughly enjoyed Far From True. But man, there was a lot going on! For a small town, Promise Falls certainly seemed to have an abundance of shady characters and exciting mysteries.
I'm particularly impressed by the way Linwood Barclay made all these characters seem so real. This isn't an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but with the awesome characterization, the carefully constructed layers of the mysteries and show more the twists that seemed to be thrown in almost leisurely I was really captivated. Of course, then I got furious when I reached that damn cliffhanger and found out, I'll have to wait till November to get the conclusion.
So, if I had thought about this reasonably beforehand, I would have preferred to do a marathon reading session of the entire trilogy come November. As it stands, I'm hoping I'll remember enough of what happened in Promise Falls by the time I can get my hands on the final book. In the meantime, I need to check out some of the author's other work. I just love his writing style.

Many thanks to the author and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For audiobook enthusiasts, Mark Zeisler narrated Cal Weaver's perspective, while Brian O'Neil read the other chapters, which I thought worked very well. Excellent narration by both of them. show less

Linwood Barclay has been on the list of authors I’ve wanted to read for a long time. Far From True was my first book by him and I was blown away. Barclay is an outstanding writer and this is a great book.

Far From True is the second book in the Promise Falls Trilogy. The first book is Broken Promise and the trilogy concludes with the forthcoming The Twenty-Three. The series is probably best read in order, although I started by listening to the second volume and didn’t feel like I was lost. Events from the first book are related in enough detail to fill you in on the characters background. There are some spoilers though if that bothers you.

The events of Far From True begin with the collapse of a drive-in movie theater screen that show more kills four people. The screen turns out to be a giant domino whose falling kicks over a bunch of secrets that some people are desperate to make sure don’t become public. Cal Weaver is hired by the daughter of one of the victims to investigate a break-in at her father’s house where a secret room and some missing DVDs are found.

Detective Barry Duckworth is investigating the drive-in accident while at the same time trying to solve two murders that may be connected. The investigation becomes more complicated and dangerous as people go to greater lengths to maintain their secrets.

Barclay does an amazing job of laying down several different, seemingly unrelated, plot threads and slowly weaving them together in an amazing tapestry. He works with a sizable cast of characters without giving any of them short shrift. Relationships, both personal and professional are portrayed in all their complicated aspects. Along with Cal Weaver and Barry Duckworth, we get to know a former mayor who wants his old job back along with the beleaguered ex-reporter running his campaign, the daughter of one of the drive-in victims and her gifted daughter who is on the spectrum, a struggling single mother trying to protect her child from the child’s conniving grandparents, and several other characters.

Barclay manages to invent these great characters, including some that you hate. And I mean really, really hate. Even if you are not sure they actually have anything to do with the crimes being investigated. That ability to instill passion about the characters in the reader is true artistry. Barclay keeps weaving together plot threads, some of which are tied off in this book, some of which are left to be wrapped up in the concluding volume.

I listened to the audio version of this book which was excellently narrated by Mark Zeisler and Brian O’Neil. Mark narrated Cal Weaver’s chapters and Brian narrated the rest. I thought it was a little bit of an odd choice to divide the narration in that way, but each narrator did an outstanding job. They managed to breath life into the characters and the story, making each character easy to distinguish and adding drama and tension to the story where required without overpowering the narrative. Both enhanced and enriched the listening experience.

Far From True is great literary fiction. I enjoy a good mystery/thriller on its own, but Linwood Barclay’s writing adds another dimension. I highly recommend both this book and this series, starting with Broken Promise.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book. show less

Oh, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Far From True - the second book in Linwood Barclay's Promise Falls trilogy.

The first book, Broken Promise, had a missing baby, a rapist on the prowl at the local college, someone obsessed with the number 23 (and not in a good way) and so much more. The town is a hotbed of activity beneath its seemingly bucolic facade. Barclay brought in some of my favourite characters - David Harwood from Never Look Away and Detective Barry Duckworth from Too Close to Home, Never Look Away and Trust Your Eyes - to live in Promise Falls and tackle the strange goings-ons. Book one left the readers with some questions answered, but not all.....

Far From True takes the reader back to town - and immerses them show more into the strangeness that is Promise Falls. Murder, deceit, lies, secrets, cover ups.....and more number 23 madness.....

Oh yes! I dived into the first pages and didn't come up for breath for many, many hours! Barclay's writing simply grabs the reader and doesn't let go. I find Barclay's storytelling so engaging. Backgrounds and personal story lines of the characters are detailed - some more than others. The reader is never sure who is going to play a part - and how large and in what capacity. I loved the detail and the ensemble cast - it somewhat reminded me of Stephen King's narrative style. (King calls Barclay "A suspense master.")

Barclay wonderfully manipulates the reader into just one more chapter - and then another - by leaving us with cliffhangers at the end of chapters, foreshadowing and switching narratives from one character to another. The multiple story lines are simply addicting.

This is one lovely, convoluted, complicated, imaginative, sprawling plot that has me totally caught up in the seedy underbelly of Promise Falls. I truly have no idea where things will go next - and I love being unable to predict a plot. Now, you must read the first book before you read Far From True - you'll be hooked too. Make sure you mark your calendar for the release of the third and final book, The Twenty-Three, in November 2016. There's a preview chapter included at the end of Far From True. I can't wait for the 'final reveal.'! show less

I received this book from Librarything for my honest opinion.
Promise falls has now replaced Peyton Place.
Yep! For such a small town we have thieves, muggers, robbers, murders, terrorists, serial killers, blackmailers, kidnappers, and wife swappers. Whew! My fingers went numb typing this sordid list, but I’m not quite sure I covered everything yet. I will still add the “worst ex-Mayor now running for Mayor again” that I’ve ever heard of from any size town. Yikes! Now you might think that I really disliked this novel about such an evil town. You would be wrong.
This story enthralled me for hours. I kept shaking my head as each felon appeared. The story kept weaving these people into a mosh pit of disgusting turmoil. Nobody is safe show more here! I wanted to see the Lone Ranger, Rambo, or the Terminator drop into town and clean up the place. In the end most of the story lines converged to a well wrapped up finale. Unfortunately, our author left the identity of the serial killer dangling before you at the end. I’ve no idea who he or she is … Darn! So, it looks like I’ll have to find the 3rd book in the Promise Falls series to find out who’s behind “23”.
Kudos to Linwood Barclay! show less

I received a copy of [b: Far From True|25810392|Far From True (Promise Falls #2)|Linwood Barclay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436202903s/25810392.jpg|45666071] by [Linwood Barclay] from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I read the Amazon Kindle e-book version.

I love the cover, the title and the premise of the story.

Many books in a series are stand alone. That is not a prerequisite, but it is a skill that I appreciate in a writer. I did not read the #1 Book of the Promise Falls series, and that maybe the problem.

The writing is good. I felt like I was circling my friend's neighborhood with my GPS on the blink. It was not until the barbecue was halfway through before I found the address.

When I have to work hard to follow a show more story line or subplot it is a turnoff for me.

The characters are all well developed. The background and settings are strong. I kept going back to see what I missed.

Book two does not stand alone until about halfway through. Usually I do not stay that long with a book that I cannot connect with. But [b: Far From True|25810392|Far From True (Promise Falls #2)|Linwood Barclay|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436202903s/25810392.jpg|45666071] has excellent pieces that kept me interested.

My conclusion is that #1 & #2 were one book, and the author made them into two books because of length. show less

With this second installment of the Promise Falls trilogy, I have to wonder how short an attention span the average reader is supposed to have. Whenever the focus returned to a particular character, there was always some sort of reminder or reiteration of the same key details about them. Granted, there are a lot of characters to keep track of in the world of Promise Falls, but it seems a bit much when Cal Weaver, in his first-person narrative chapters, feels compelled to repeat that he was married to a woman named Donna and they had a son named Scott and they moved to Griffon, north of Buffalo, after he left the Promise Falls Police Department, and now both Donna and Scott are dead. I was able to type that entirely from memory because show more it was repeated so many times. The repetition was distracting and made the almost-500-page book seem much longer.

Repetition aside, the plot itself ticked along nicely and really moved up a gear in the last third. I actually almost yelled “What the!” at my book on the bus when I reached the last page; the third book may need to be read sooner rather than later. But c’mon, give us some credit here in our ability to retain information about characters.

(p.s.: I liked the little nod to Ross Macdonald!) show less

This is the second book in the author’s Promise Falls trilogy. The story begins with the local drive in theater exploding on the last night of operations, killing four people.

PI Cal Weaver receives a call from one of the victim’s daughter, who found the house broken into while she was going through her father’s things. Someone was looking for something, but what? Things take a turn when Cal and the police discover a secret room that has been ransacked.

Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth is investigating the explosion in addition to an unsolved murder case that’s nagging at him.

I enjoyed the boon but I probably should have read the entire trilogy back to back. This book ended with quite the cliffhanger that immediately had me show more reaching for the next one. show less