Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay

5 Stars from me

Classic Linwood Barclay! Fast paced, lots of dead ends and red herrings, a vague feeling of anxiety, likeable characters, a subtle dry wit and bucketful of suspense.

I really enjoyed this one, not my favourite by the author – that would be Never Saw It Coming – but it gets a good solid 5 stars all the same.

Alongside the dry wit and the oh so real feeling characters there are some beautifully touching moments too:

The blurb on this story tells you everything you need to know – all I can add is that this is one to save for a quiet weekend because you won’t want to put it down.

Thank you Linwood Barclay for another cracking story!

Blurb: 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…