thirstyNumber of pages: 512
This novel opens with private detective Cal Weaver, who also narrates most of the story, giving a lift to a girl called Claire. Claire is a friend of Cal's son Scott, who we find out later was a drug addict who died apparently as the result of an ecstasy overdose.
Shortly afterwards, Cal and Claire stop at a service station for a comfort break; Claire goes missing and Cal gets frantic, until he finds her back in the car; it seems that things have resolved themselves.
But there is just one thing wrong...
Cal quickly realises that this girl is not Claire, but a stranger who just looks almost identical. When he questions her, she demands he stop the car, and then storms off.
Inevitably, Claire soon becomes the subject of a missing persons case, setting off a tense thriller in which Cal attempts to find out both what happened to Claire and resolve the death of his son. This novel seems darker than previous Linwood Barclay novels I've read before, since it involves some bleak subject matter. As well as the theme of drug addiction, there is an implied rape.
I love the way that Linwood Barclay plays with the expectations of the audience and turns things completely on their head, and the only problem with this book was that I was expecting it to turn into something much more surprising than in actually was. Nevertheless, the way the mystery unravelled was enthralling and I was excited to see what happened next, with the only drawback being that when the characters started explaining what had really happened, I really had to start paying attention.
The book's first person narrative style was good, with a few flashbacks to Scott's childhood, which are effective at showing the father/son relationship that they shared. A few chapters break away from the first-person narration to the point of view of other characters in the third person. They are a bit weird, as you don't know whose point of view it is, and they almost gave me a sense of being a "fly on the wall". Later in the book, these are explained and it starts to make sense.
Overall, I liked this book a lot. My previous Linwood Barclay novel was Never Look Away, which I was disappointed by, and I still need to read the other titles he as written since that one. However, I found this one very enjoyable and want to keep reading his books.
Next book: The Autograph Man (Zadie Smith)
