Take Your Breath Away - Linwood Barclay

 

Description

It’s always the husband, isn’t it?

One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most people assumed Andy had got away with murder, but the police couldn’t build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom – he drank too much, was abandoned by his friends, nearly lost his business and became a pariah in the place he had once called home.

Now, six years later, Andy has put his life back together. He’s sold the house he shared with Brie and moved away for a fresh start. When he hears his old house has been bulldozed and a new house built in its place, he’s not bothered. He’s settled with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.

But Andy’s peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, ‘Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?' And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman – who bears a striking resemblance to Brie – is gone. The police are notified and old questions – and dark suspicions – resurface.

Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy’s future, and the lives of those closest to him, depends on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers…

Review

Linwood is back on form. I read this book in one sitting, despite it's length, it was that good. 

I had fallen a little out of love with novels from this author after having read every single thing he wrote. But this novel is back where I first began with him, and a in style I love. He is able to take the extraordinary and weave it into everyday life and that's what I like. I cared about all the characters and was interested in all of them. 

With references to COVID and the decline of retail this book is of the now. It also has a great storyline. So many different threads to it that kept my interest throughout. Questions were popping into my head and I kept them on the back burner as the characters began to ask those same questions too. Then began the twists. 

Just who was this woman who had shown up? Was it the wife who disappeared 6 years ago?

I'll leave you to find out for yourself.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.