It’s overcast and muggy on this Sunday morning as I sip my chai tea
and think about what I’ve read and listened to over the past week.
I’ve been really busy with things other than reading last week, so I’ve
only managed one book. I read Toronto
writer Linwood Barclay’s newest novel, No Safe House, which is due out
on August 5th (I have a review copy because it is one I am reviewing
for the local paper). This novel is a
sequel to his 2007 book, No Time for Goodbye, which I have not yet read –
I’m planning to read it before I write the review, just so I know a bit more
about the backstory. In No
Time for Goodbye, 14-year-old Cynthia Bigge wakes up one morning to
discover that her whole family has disappeared without a trace. Twenty-five years later, she has moved on
with her life and has a family of her own.
Then strange cars appear, she gets untraceable phone calls, and ominous “gifts”
are delivered - she is about to discover the truth about what happened so long ago, and not even her own
innocence is guaranteed. Fast-forward
seven years, and we step into No Safe House. Cynthia and Terry are having challenges with
their rebellious 14-year-old daughter Grace, whose movements and activities Cynthia
monitors constantly. This is because
seven years earlier, Cynthia and Grace were abducted and held captive until
Terry, with the help of criminal bad boy Vince Fleming, finds and rescues
them. One night, Grace is out with her
sort-of boyfriend Stuart, when they stumble upon a crime while undertaking
their own petty criminal activity. Left
to her own devices, Grace calls on her father to help her out of the mess she
is in and keep her from getting into further trouble with the police; little do
they know that they are about to become involved in criminal activity of the
most serious kind with some very dangerous people. Terry and Cynthia must think fast and trust
their instincts to keep Grace and themselves alive, while once again asking
Vince for help. By the end of the book,
they discover that once you are involved in the criminal activities of some people,
there are no safe houses. Barclay is a
bestselling author whose thrillers are wildly popular with readers. I have listened to a couple of his novels and
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan, although his books are real page-turners, if
you like that sort of thing. I’m hoping
that once I read No Time for Goodbye and have the background story, this
novel will seem less “surface” – perhaps all the character and plot development
happened in the first book, so he felt he didn’t need to rehash it in the
sequel. Anyway, I would recommend that
if you are planning to read No Safe House, you should probably read No
Time for Goodbye first.
I also finished listening to an audiobook last week, Blowback (The
Enzo Files, #5) by Peter May, narrated by Simon Vance. I’ve never read or listened to anything by this
Scottish author before, although he has written many, many mystery thrillers,
most in different series but some standalones as well. This series features Enzo Macleod, a former
forensic specialist who now teaches forensics at a French university, and who
has boasted that he could solve the seven cold cases outlined in a book written
by a Parisian journalist. Book 5 in the
series has Macleod trying to solve the seven-year-old unsolved murder of Marc
Fraysse, France’s top chef, found murdered on a volcanic plateau near his
remote three-star restaurant. As Macleod interviews Marc’s grieving widow,
his spurned lover, his estranged
brother, and a cynical food critic, the complex relationships surrounding
Fraysse put everyone in the frame for the murder, and make uncovering the truth even more difficult. This
audiobook was a wholly satisfying listening experience for me, mostly because
of the story, but also due to the excellent narration by Vance. I have now downloaded the first in the Enzo
Files series, Dry Bones, also narrated by Vance, but will take a break and listen to
something else, saving this one as a treat I know I will enjoy.
OK, time to get outside and enjoy the day, despite the humid weather. Happy Sunday!
Bye for now…
Julie
Julie
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