What do you think?
Rate this book
No Time For Goodbye #2
En lieux sûrs
Quand le créateur de frissons redonne des frayeurs à des personnages qui n'en demandaient pas tant...
État de New York, près de la frontière canadienne, de nos jours
C'est le week-end, votre fille sort avec son petit ami. Par jeu, par défi, par inconscience, ces derniers décident de pénétrer dans une habitation. Mais cette maison n'est pas n'importe quelle maison : c'est la cache d'un mafieux local. Un homme puissant, un ami qui vous a aidé autrefois. Et lorsque cette petite soirée tourne mal, que vous avez besoin d'aide pour couvrir les actes de votre fille, que faire ? Oserez-vous accepter la main tendue de malfaiteurs en échange d'un dangereux service ? Jusqu'où êtes-vous prêt à aller pour sauver votre enfant ? Le piège fatal se referme et la machine s'emballe...
518 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2014
435 people are currently reading
6741 people want to read
About the author
Linwood Barclay
88 books7,052 followersLinwood Barclay is the #1 internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels for adults, including No Time for Goodbye, Trust Your Eyes and, most recently, A Noise Downstairs. He has also written two novels for children and screenplays.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 895 reviews
April 2, 2017
3.5 stars
This book started out so good in the beginning but then it just seemed to go flat. I was a little disappointed even though I did like it. This is the second book in the No Time for Goodbye series. I loved the first book a lot better.
It is two decades later and Cynthia is married to nice high-school English teacher Terry Archer, now the mother of bright little Grace, Cynthia has never really gotten over the disappearance. Raised by her gruff but loving aunt Tess, Cynthia can’t bear for Grace to be out of her sight.
Terry tries his best to cope with Cynthia’s tensions, but the couple’s appearance on a cold-case TV show seems to push Cynthia over the edge. Instead of the expected flood of helpful clues from a fascinated nation, there are only a few fruitless leads. Worse for the family, Cynthia keeps seeing things like a mysterious recurring automobile and a stranger who looks like her brother, if he were still alive. Is she going ’round the bend? Friends and family seem to think so, but Barclay weaves in the spooky thoughts and comments of someone who clearly has it in not just for Cynthia, but for anything and anyone having to do with her. It all comes back to that disastrous night and to the odd, unclear occupation of Cynthia’s father, a job that kept him on the road far too much. C.aught in a labyrinth between family loyalty and ultimate betrayal, Terry must find a way to extricate his family from a lethal situation he still doesn’t fully comprehend. All he knows is that to live, he may have to do the unthinkable.... !
I have read every book by Barclay. He is really good with the suspense. I think I would of rated this a lot higher if I didn't read all the fantastic books before this. I did enjoy it but wanted it to be a lot better.
This book started out so good in the beginning but then it just seemed to go flat. I was a little disappointed even though I did like it. This is the second book in the No Time for Goodbye series. I loved the first book a lot better.
It is two decades later and Cynthia is married to nice high-school English teacher Terry Archer, now the mother of bright little Grace, Cynthia has never really gotten over the disappearance. Raised by her gruff but loving aunt Tess, Cynthia can’t bear for Grace to be out of her sight.
Terry tries his best to cope with Cynthia’s tensions, but the couple’s appearance on a cold-case TV show seems to push Cynthia over the edge. Instead of the expected flood of helpful clues from a fascinated nation, there are only a few fruitless leads. Worse for the family, Cynthia keeps seeing things like a mysterious recurring automobile and a stranger who looks like her brother, if he were still alive. Is she going ’round the bend? Friends and family seem to think so, but Barclay weaves in the spooky thoughts and comments of someone who clearly has it in not just for Cynthia, but for anything and anyone having to do with her. It all comes back to that disastrous night and to the odd, unclear occupation of Cynthia’s father, a job that kept him on the road far too much. C.aught in a labyrinth between family loyalty and ultimate betrayal, Terry must find a way to extricate his family from a lethal situation he still doesn’t fully comprehend. All he knows is that to live, he may have to do the unthinkable.... !
I have read every book by Barclay. He is really good with the suspense. I think I would of rated this a lot higher if I didn't read all the fantastic books before this. I did enjoy it but wanted it to be a lot better.
November 20, 2021
In this sequel to 'No Time For Goodbye' the members of the Archer family (more or less inadvertently) get involved in serious criminal activity. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
The Archer family - dad Terry, mom Cynthia, and teen daughter Grace.....
.....experienced serious personal trauma so it's not a surprise that Cynthia is over-protective of her daughter.
In the spirit of rebellion Grace dates a juvenile delinquent and ends up breaking into a house to 'borrow' a sports car for a joy ride.
Coincidentally someone else has also broken into the house. Before long a gun goes off and things go seriously belly up.
In an attempt to protect Grace from the consequences of her actions the Archers need help from an old acquaintance - known criminal Vince - who has been using 'respectable houses' to hide loot acquired in his criminal enterprises.
At the same time another set of killers has become interested in these houses - apparently looking for a specific mysterious object. This all leads to a complicated plot in which Vince needs to quickly recover all the loot from the safe houses before the police or the rival killers get to it.
Terry becomes unwillingly caught up in these plans, as does Grace.
Meanwhile Cynthia, to avoid constant arguments with rebellious Grace, is taking a break from the family.
She's temporarily moved into an apartment building and become acquainted with a down-on-his-luck techie who now walks dogs, and a landlord who still pines for a long lost love.
There's a somewhat complicated relationship between the characters that overshadows their interactions: Vince was seriously injured several years before when he was helping the Archers, which he still resents; Grace is friendly with Vince's somewhat shady stepdaughter Jane - who was Terry's former student; Grace's boyfriend is the son of a thug in Vince's gang, and so on.
The story is a somewhat suspenseful page-turner but most of the characters are not likable and the plot strains credulity. Just a so-so thriller.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
March 29, 2016
I don't know where I got the idea that once you've come through a very dark time, after you've confronted the worst possible demons and defeated them, that everything's going to be just fine.
Doesn't work that way.
This book was really good! Way better than No Time for Goodbye. This is a direct sequel to No Time for Goodbye, taking place 6 years later.
I rated No Time for Goodbye three stars. This book, the sequel, was definitely superior. I think a big part of this is that after reading No Time for Goodbye, you are already familiar with the characters. Barclay doesn't have to spend time setting them up for you. And that was one of the problems I had with No Time for Goodbye. He delved right into the action in that book (which was exciting), but I felt that as a result, we didn't get to know and care for the characters as much as we should have. That problem is nonexistent here - Barclay is hitting us with not only an amazing, fast-paced thriller, but characters that we already know intimately.
So. Book 1, No Time for Goodbye, was about the mom - Cynthia (wife of Terry, mother to 8-year-old Grace). When Cynthia was 14, she woke up one morning to find her mom, dad, and older brother missing. The beds weren't slept in. No note was left. Her whole family just vanished without a trace. The book takes place 30 years later, and deals with how Cynthia is seriously fucked-up because of this, and how overprotective she is of her daughter - and it's a thriller because people are getting murdered and the truth of what happened to Cynthia's family is finally coming to light.
In this book, the sequel, it's 6 years later. I'd hoped that after what happened in Book 1, Cynthia would ease up on how intensely overprotective she is of her (now 14-year-old) daughter, Grace. But nothing has gotten better. In this book, Grace is deliberately acting out - smoking, parking with older, good-for-nothing boys, and getting into all sorts of shenanigans - because her mom is suffocatingly overprotective.
There were medications she could take, of course. But she didn't like how they made her feel, and really, wasn't it a good thing to always be on guard? To be ready for whatever bad thing that might come along? You couldn't allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security, right?
Except it was no way to live.
When Grace wants to go to to a clothing exchange with her friends that is at night, and she won't get home until after midnight, of course Cynthia gives her a flat "no." And in the resulting fight, Cynthia slaps her daughter hard across the face, and Grace falls onto the stove, burning her hand.
Cynthia feels terrible about what happened and realizes she's out of control. So she decides to move out and live in her own apartment for a while.
Then add drug and gun smuggling, lots of murder, kidnapping, and tax fraud to what this family is already going through, and you've got this doozy of a thriller that really starts fast and keeps going at a breakneck speed. It's very enjoyable.
I like Barclay's writing. It's not beautiful, but it's good for a thriller.
Grace sometimes thought her mother had her so convinced something awful would happen to her that she just wanted to get it over with. Bring it on. The anticipation was always worse than the event.
Was that, Grace wondered, why she was with this boy now, about to do something very stupid? Because it would create some kind of crisis, force her mother to come home?
I like the psychological issues he tackles and the way he portrays people's thought processes.
The story is layered and complex, and the action is strong and fast.
Sometimes I felt like I was reading a weird lovechild of Sam Capra and Spenser.
I felt like this was a test. Of whether I was a good father. Of whether I was a good man. It struck me at that moment that being one did not necessarily mean you were both.
However, I don't feel like Barclay is writing quite at the level of my beloved Robert B. Parker. He might get up to Jeff Abbott levels, though. He has the ability and potential.
However, the book isn't perfect. For one thing, the main character (Terry) is not a criminal, a cop, a former cop, ex-military or anything like that.
I was a teacher of high school English and creative writing. Holding a gun to the head of a kidnapper did not fall into my general realm of experience.
This means that an experienced reader - one who is familiar with thrillers and mysteries - will be gnashing her teeth in frustration sometimes when he's naive or dumb about what's going on. I know I was! It's a risk. It's a risk to write a thriller where your protagonist isn't equipped with any street knowledge. You CAN pull it off, but I felt that Barclay was just an inch or two off the mark of making this EXCELLENT. Terry doesn't fall into too-stupid-to-live territory, but he hovers around it, and so do the other (non-streetwise) MCs, which is annoying.
...
I was really upset Cynthia hadn't found anyway to ease up on Grace, even after everything the family went through in Book 1. (This isn't anything against Barclay, no points docked.) It was disturbing to me that she was still being such a helicopter parent to Grace and fucking Grace up with her meddling and paranoia. I, of course, know how to solve this problem: have more kids. It's a simple (if not easy) solution, and I was surprised Terry didn't get on it. Having more than one child would be great for Cynthia, because then all her attention wouldn't be laser-focused on Grace. It would take some of the pressure off of both Cynthia AND Grace. But of course, it seems that Barclay didn't want to go this route.
And I was rather upset at the ending. I wanted more of a concrete guarantee at the end of this book (Book 2) that Grace and Cynthia had reached some sort of understanding and that Cynthia would ease up and back up a little on poor Grace. I mean, she's LITERALLY one step away from putting her daughter in an ankle bracelet monitoring device. Not joking. And unlike at the end of Book 1, where I just naively assumed that things would get better, I'm not falling for that this time! You can't fool me twice, Barclay! By NOT explicitly stating that the relationship between Grace and Cynthia is going to improve, I can't help but think that Cynthia is going to keep up her hypervigilism and Grace is going to become a very fucked-up adult. I have no idea if Barclay plans on writing a third book or not, but I'm nervous.
Tl;dr - A great book, definitely better and smoother than its predecessor. I would recommend reading this little duology. Don't think I'm dissing No Time for Goodbye, it was a perfectly presentable little thriller, it's just that this one is better. Faster, smoother, and more emotionally engaging. I am going to read some more of Barclay's books and see what's up. It would be great if he turned into another Jeff Abbott for me - which is to say, a thriller-writer that I can depend on to deliver top-notch novels. We'll see!
P.S. Dear Publishers:
Why isn't this available in Spanish? Book 1 is! Get on this, and I promise you I will purchase a copy.
Doesn't work that way.
This book was really good! Way better than No Time for Goodbye. This is a direct sequel to No Time for Goodbye, taking place 6 years later.
I rated No Time for Goodbye three stars. This book, the sequel, was definitely superior. I think a big part of this is that after reading No Time for Goodbye, you are already familiar with the characters. Barclay doesn't have to spend time setting them up for you. And that was one of the problems I had with No Time for Goodbye. He delved right into the action in that book (which was exciting), but I felt that as a result, we didn't get to know and care for the characters as much as we should have. That problem is nonexistent here - Barclay is hitting us with not only an amazing, fast-paced thriller, but characters that we already know intimately.
So. Book 1, No Time for Goodbye, was about the mom - Cynthia (wife of Terry, mother to 8-year-old Grace). When Cynthia was 14, she woke up one morning to find her mom, dad, and older brother missing. The beds weren't slept in. No note was left. Her whole family just vanished without a trace. The book takes place 30 years later, and deals with how Cynthia is seriously fucked-up because of this, and how overprotective she is of her daughter - and it's a thriller because people are getting murdered and the truth of what happened to Cynthia's family is finally coming to light.
In this book, the sequel, it's 6 years later. I'd hoped that after what happened in Book 1, Cynthia would ease up on how intensely overprotective she is of her (now 14-year-old) daughter, Grace. But nothing has gotten better. In this book, Grace is deliberately acting out - smoking, parking with older, good-for-nothing boys, and getting into all sorts of shenanigans - because her mom is suffocatingly overprotective.
There were medications she could take, of course. But she didn't like how they made her feel, and really, wasn't it a good thing to always be on guard? To be ready for whatever bad thing that might come along? You couldn't allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security, right?
Except it was no way to live.
When Grace wants to go to to a clothing exchange with her friends that is at night, and she won't get home until after midnight, of course Cynthia gives her a flat "no." And in the resulting fight, Cynthia slaps her daughter hard across the face, and Grace falls onto the stove, burning her hand.
Cynthia feels terrible about what happened and realizes she's out of control. So she decides to move out and live in her own apartment for a while.
Then add drug and gun smuggling, lots of murder, kidnapping, and tax fraud to what this family is already going through, and you've got this doozy of a thriller that really starts fast and keeps going at a breakneck speed. It's very enjoyable.
I like Barclay's writing. It's not beautiful, but it's good for a thriller.
Grace sometimes thought her mother had her so convinced something awful would happen to her that she just wanted to get it over with. Bring it on. The anticipation was always worse than the event.
Was that, Grace wondered, why she was with this boy now, about to do something very stupid? Because it would create some kind of crisis, force her mother to come home?
I like the psychological issues he tackles and the way he portrays people's thought processes.
The story is layered and complex, and the action is strong and fast.
Sometimes I felt like I was reading a weird lovechild of Sam Capra and Spenser.
I felt like this was a test. Of whether I was a good father. Of whether I was a good man. It struck me at that moment that being one did not necessarily mean you were both.
However, I don't feel like Barclay is writing quite at the level of my beloved Robert B. Parker. He might get up to Jeff Abbott levels, though. He has the ability and potential.
However, the book isn't perfect. For one thing, the main character (Terry) is not a criminal, a cop, a former cop, ex-military or anything like that.
I was a teacher of high school English and creative writing. Holding a gun to the head of a kidnapper did not fall into my general realm of experience.
This means that an experienced reader - one who is familiar with thrillers and mysteries - will be gnashing her teeth in frustration sometimes when he's naive or dumb about what's going on. I know I was! It's a risk. It's a risk to write a thriller where your protagonist isn't equipped with any street knowledge. You CAN pull it off, but I felt that Barclay was just an inch or two off the mark of making this EXCELLENT. Terry doesn't fall into too-stupid-to-live territory, but he hovers around it, and so do the other (non-streetwise) MCs, which is annoying.
...
I was really upset Cynthia hadn't found anyway to ease up on Grace, even after everything the family went through in Book 1. (This isn't anything against Barclay, no points docked.) It was disturbing to me that she was still being such a helicopter parent to Grace and fucking Grace up with her meddling and paranoia. I, of course, know how to solve this problem: have more kids. It's a simple (if not easy) solution, and I was surprised Terry didn't get on it. Having more than one child would be great for Cynthia, because then all her attention wouldn't be laser-focused on Grace. It would take some of the pressure off of both Cynthia AND Grace. But of course, it seems that Barclay didn't want to go this route.
And I was rather upset at the ending. I wanted more of a concrete guarantee at the end of this book (Book 2) that Grace and Cynthia had reached some sort of understanding and that Cynthia would ease up and back up a little on poor Grace. I mean, she's LITERALLY one step away from putting her daughter in an ankle bracelet monitoring device. Not joking. And unlike at the end of Book 1, where I just naively assumed that things would get better, I'm not falling for that this time! You can't fool me twice, Barclay! By NOT explicitly stating that the relationship between Grace and Cynthia is going to improve, I can't help but think that Cynthia is going to keep up her hypervigilism and Grace is going to become a very fucked-up adult. I have no idea if Barclay plans on writing a third book or not, but I'm nervous.
Tl;dr - A great book, definitely better and smoother than its predecessor. I would recommend reading this little duology. Don't think I'm dissing No Time for Goodbye, it was a perfectly presentable little thriller, it's just that this one is better. Faster, smoother, and more emotionally engaging. I am going to read some more of Barclay's books and see what's up. It would be great if he turned into another Jeff Abbott for me - which is to say, a thriller-writer that I can depend on to deliver top-notch novels. We'll see!
P.S. Dear Publishers:
Why isn't this available in Spanish? Book 1 is! Get on this, and I promise you I will purchase a copy.
December 7, 2024
3.5*
Almost enjoyed this as much as "No Time For Goodbye" (book 1) - but had to suspend disbelief one too many times and the first novel was 4-stars. It was a good read, though.
Most of the cast return in the sequel (the ones that can, anyway.)
This time we've been graced with a plethora of POV - so it's not just Terrance Archer (Terry) perspective. So that's good.
The story revolves around the Archers pain-in-the-ass daughter, Grace, and what she and her doofus boyfriend? - were attempting to do at a property that is supposed to be empty. Unfortunately, that didn't go the way they would've liked.
So Terry and Cynthia find themselves in another bad situation as they try to figure out how to save their daughter from the unknown
My favourite POV were Vince, Bert and Joseph. They were funny - listening to their inner monologues, lol. Especially Vince who is the most unlikeable/likeable character. Whatever that means.
In summation: Another fun roller-coaster ride with some crazy (funny) characters. The subplots, twists, secrets and insane revelations kept my interest alive. Going to miss this (cursed?) family's shenanigans. Hopefully, the author will make it a trilogy, somehow. You hear me, Barclay?
Almost enjoyed this as much as "No Time For Goodbye" (book 1) - but had to suspend disbelief one too many times and the first novel was 4-stars. It was a good read, though.
Most of the cast return in the sequel (the ones that can, anyway.)
This time we've been graced with a plethora of POV - so it's not just Terrance Archer (Terry) perspective. So that's good.
The story revolves around the Archers pain-in-the-ass daughter, Grace, and what she and her doofus boyfriend? - were attempting to do at a property that is supposed to be empty. Unfortunately, that didn't go the way they would've liked.
So Terry and Cynthia find themselves in another bad situation as they try to figure out how to save their daughter from the unknown
My favourite POV were Vince, Bert and Joseph. They were funny - listening to their inner monologues, lol. Especially Vince who is the most unlikeable/likeable character. Whatever that means.
In summation: Another fun roller-coaster ride with some crazy (funny) characters. The subplots, twists, secrets and insane revelations kept my interest alive. Going to miss this (cursed?) family's shenanigans. Hopefully, the author will make it a trilogy, somehow. You hear me, Barclay?
November 8, 2023
Sequel to No Time for Goodbye and a really good sequel on my opinion.
It was nice to catch up with the characters. The author as always pulls you into a plot of twists, turns and surprises and I could barely put the book down.
I hope there's more from the Archer family however in just two books they have already been through more than the average family!
Four stars.
It was nice to catch up with the characters. The author as always pulls you into a plot of twists, turns and surprises and I could barely put the book down.
I hope there's more from the Archer family however in just two books they have already been through more than the average family!
Four stars.
March 21, 2014
This is the first novel I have read by this author and he certainly knows how to keep the reader turning the pages. The writing is crisp and clean, nothing flowery here, nor should there be in this type of thriller.
The bad guys are thugs, some of them are 'dumb as shoes'. One of them has 'a wife who had a face that would make a Pamplona bull turn around and go back'. He calls her Jabba the Hutt, but not to her, um, face. He's not a complete idiot.
The story begins with a bad decision made by fourteen year old Grace, which ends up pulling her family into a web of danger and intrigue that threatens their lives. There are a couple of smart twists that were unexpected to me, ending with a most satisfactory conclusion.
This book was loaned to me by a Goodreads buddy who won it in a giveaway. Thanks for an entertaining read!
The bad guys are thugs, some of them are 'dumb as shoes'. One of them has 'a wife who had a face that would make a Pamplona bull turn around and go back'. He calls her Jabba the Hutt, but not to her, um, face. He's not a complete idiot.
The story begins with a bad decision made by fourteen year old Grace, which ends up pulling her family into a web of danger and intrigue that threatens their lives. There are a couple of smart twists that were unexpected to me, ending with a most satisfactory conclusion.
This book was loaned to me by a Goodreads buddy who won it in a giveaway. Thanks for an entertaining read!
Read
July 12, 2023I discovered, after getting this home and reading the first 10 pages, that this is book 2 of 3 and I haven't read the first. So I am putting this aside until I can get my hands on a copy of No Time for Goodbye.
September 28, 2023
This is second in the series for this family – the Archer family - Cynthia, the mom, Terry the dad and Grace, the daughter. Although, you don’t need to read the first book, ‘No Time for Goodbye’ to read this one. The author does a fairly good job in recapping the first book. (I wasn’t aware of the first book, until I was reading this one.)
However…
I think by not reading the first book, I missed out on getting to know the characters more intimately, and thus found myself not really caring that much for them.
So…
That didn’t help.
This book takes place 7 years after the incident of the first book. Grace would like more freedom, and she is getting a bit tired of how protective her family is being about her life, especially her mom. So being the 14-year-old that she is, she meets up with a boy much like Vince Fleming (the bad boy that hooked up with her mom in the first book, and who will make an appearance in this book), who decides to steal a Porsche and break into a house to get the keys.
At the same time, a complex set of relationships begins to emerge with a large set of crooks and gangsters, that will surround the Archers.
And…
Did I forget to tell you about the murder of two school teachers at the beginning of the story?
How does that tie in to this?
Although it was a twisty plot that kept me turning pages. It also was annoying with so many characters, and side issues going on that it became quite tiresome at times to follow.
Also, not being as invested in the characters, I didn’t find them always believable or likable.
Supposedly, Terry Archer was a retired school teacher, and yet some of the situations he was placed in seemed a bit far-fetched.
And…
Cynthia, well. Come on, mom.
The second half of the book, was better than the first half…
But…
I was still disappointed.
At least the dogs in the story were not harmed in any way. 3.5 stars.
However…
I think by not reading the first book, I missed out on getting to know the characters more intimately, and thus found myself not really caring that much for them.
So…
That didn’t help.
This book takes place 7 years after the incident of the first book. Grace would like more freedom, and she is getting a bit tired of how protective her family is being about her life, especially her mom. So being the 14-year-old that she is, she meets up with a boy much like Vince Fleming (the bad boy that hooked up with her mom in the first book, and who will make an appearance in this book), who decides to steal a Porsche and break into a house to get the keys.
At the same time, a complex set of relationships begins to emerge with a large set of crooks and gangsters, that will surround the Archers.
And…
Did I forget to tell you about the murder of two school teachers at the beginning of the story?
How does that tie in to this?
Although it was a twisty plot that kept me turning pages. It also was annoying with so many characters, and side issues going on that it became quite tiresome at times to follow.
Also, not being as invested in the characters, I didn’t find them always believable or likable.
Supposedly, Terry Archer was a retired school teacher, and yet some of the situations he was placed in seemed a bit far-fetched.
And…
Cynthia, well. Come on, mom.
The second half of the book, was better than the first half…
But…
I was still disappointed.
At least the dogs in the story were not harmed in any way. 3.5 stars.
August 14, 2014
Very disappointing. I have read a few of Mr. Barclay's books , including the one that is the prequel to this one NoTime to Say Goodbye, and I thought this book was poorly conceived and carried through. IMO, the book was neither thrilling nor exciting at all, a big fault in a thriller, to say the least.
Most of the characters from the earlier book are here, older but not wiser, not having learned much ( as the father character regretfully notes) from previous troubles; that includes the career criminal who actually aided the parents in the first book to find their missing kid. All of them, parents , kid, crime boss seemed to have gotten stupider, more petulant and even less capable of reason.
There are a number of plot threads which wander off, crossing now and again, serving mostly to pad out the page quota. Like so many books, the first short chapter is a grabber, a sharp jab to get your attention, but from then on the pace slows. No one seems to be able to focus on anything very much.
A wife takes a sabbatical from her family to get her anxiety stabilized re her daughter's willful disobedience. The wife is in therapy, the daughter needs to be, and the husband is as ineffectual as one on a tv commercial. The crime lord is mean , vicious and incontinent. A pair of vicious killers are searching for something/ someone, killing as they go along. And the cop investigating all this must have got her job in a Dunkin Donuts box.
By the time the book is over nearly 500 pages later, everyone, including this reader, was glad.
Book sequels are like movie sequels: the first one says it all and from then on it is reheated hash.
Most of the characters from the earlier book are here, older but not wiser, not having learned much ( as the father character regretfully notes) from previous troubles; that includes the career criminal who actually aided the parents in the first book to find their missing kid. All of them, parents , kid, crime boss seemed to have gotten stupider, more petulant and even less capable of reason.
There are a number of plot threads which wander off, crossing now and again, serving mostly to pad out the page quota. Like so many books, the first short chapter is a grabber, a sharp jab to get your attention, but from then on the pace slows. No one seems to be able to focus on anything very much.
A wife takes a sabbatical from her family to get her anxiety stabilized re her daughter's willful disobedience. The wife is in therapy, the daughter needs to be, and the husband is as ineffectual as one on a tv commercial. The crime lord is mean , vicious and incontinent. A pair of vicious killers are searching for something/ someone, killing as they go along. And the cop investigating all this must have got her job in a Dunkin Donuts box.
By the time the book is over nearly 500 pages later, everyone, including this reader, was glad.
Book sequels are like movie sequels: the first one says it all and from then on it is reheated hash.
August 23, 2014
I didn't really like the sequel to No Time For Goodbye. I didn't like the storyline (and the side stories) at all or the way it carried on throughout the book and the way it ended. It seemed to drag on and for me there were really no shockers or surprises. I was disappointed with this book and wished that Linwood Barclay would have stopped with the Archer family at No Time For Goodbye.
November 2, 2014
Barclay's latest thriller, sure to captivate the reader, reintroduces the Archer family: Terry, Cynthia, and Grace, last seen in the nail-biting NO TIME FOR GOODBYE. During a time of familial fragility, Terry is left to care for Grace all on his own. After breaking curfew and being out with boy Terry deems a bad apple, Grace finds herself in more trouble than she hoped to find on this summer evening. After she assists with a break and enter that goes seriously awry, a struggle ensues and a gun fires. After Grace places a frantic call, Terry engineers a way to help protect his family, only to discover he's in over his head too. Everything comes back to a local criminal with a past tied to both Terry and Cynthia. He knows too much and can place Grace at the scene. All the while, a couple has been turning up all over town, killing people tied to a plan of action all their own. How do these seemingly independent pieces, floating aimlessly, all fit together to tell a larger and more explosive story? Barclay uses his mastery at story telling to lure the reader in, keeping them hooked well into the night.
Barclay is known for his genre and the fear he instils in his work. He is able to weave a tale and pull his characters into the middle of some dastardly plot, where nothing is as it seems. He's succeeded again, with chapters that overlap narrative perspective and the right collection of characters who bring out the best in the plot. Just when the reader thinks it's been figured out, a new angle enters the story and throws everything for a loop. All this while keeping the story fresh and the dialogue fast-paced throughout. Who could ask for more from such a well-respected author?
Kudos, Mr. Barclay for your wonderful novel and ability to pull me in, effortlessly.
Barclay is known for his genre and the fear he instils in his work. He is able to weave a tale and pull his characters into the middle of some dastardly plot, where nothing is as it seems. He's succeeded again, with chapters that overlap narrative perspective and the right collection of characters who bring out the best in the plot. Just when the reader thinks it's been figured out, a new angle enters the story and throws everything for a loop. All this while keeping the story fresh and the dialogue fast-paced throughout. Who could ask for more from such a well-respected author?
Kudos, Mr. Barclay for your wonderful novel and ability to pull me in, effortlessly.
August 23, 2024
5 Stars
Excellent two book series.
It's seven years after Terry Archers family crisis.
His 14 yr old daughter Grace is starting to be an unruly teenager just like her mother was.
Grace and her friend Stuart break into a house one night in rich neighborhood to take a Porsche for a joyride.
Stuart knows they aren't home somehow until they discover someone might be.
Grace flees on foot thinking she shot someone in the dark with the gun Stuart gave her.
She calls her father for help, and now Terry and his daughter find themselves down another rabbit hole with some bad people.
Grace doesn't know if she shot Stuart or someone else or nobody at all.
Written the way only LB can, his characters have so much depth and personality.
Definitely a page turner.
Excellent two book series.
It's seven years after Terry Archers family crisis.
His 14 yr old daughter Grace is starting to be an unruly teenager just like her mother was.
Grace and her friend Stuart break into a house one night in rich neighborhood to take a Porsche for a joyride.
Stuart knows they aren't home somehow until they discover someone might be.
Grace flees on foot thinking she shot someone in the dark with the gun Stuart gave her.
She calls her father for help, and now Terry and his daughter find themselves down another rabbit hole with some bad people.
Grace doesn't know if she shot Stuart or someone else or nobody at all.
Written the way only LB can, his characters have so much depth and personality.
Definitely a page turner.
November 16, 2017
Linwood Barclay quickly became one of my favorite authors, after reading his original and surprising thriller novel – “No Time for Goodbye”. When I came across “No Safe House”, and realized that the starring characters in this book are the ones from “No Time for Goodbye”, I knew I had to read it.
I find it charming, the way we encounter once again familiar characters from beloved books, like old acquaintances, one might say even friends. That’s how I felt while reading Terry’s contemplations, and Cynthia’s hard time getting over a traumatic event she’d experienced in her adolescence years (which is told about in “No Time for Goodbye”), and the changes in Grace, a sweet child in the former book and now a rebelling teenager. Another dark character is back in the picture, this time revealing a softer side. Overall, the characters in this book have more depth, as complex characters that were established in the first book and keep developing in the current one.
Barclay created a strong set of characters that justified writing another book. He invented a decent plot and interlaced some nice twists. It was a light and enjoyable read. But did he restore the magic of “No Time for Goodbye”? sadly, no. Although it’s a pretty good thriller, it lacked the fireworks of the first novel.
I think that in this case, the inevitable comparison doesn’t do well for this book. I really liked the idea of revisiting familiar characters, learn how they’ve changed along the years – and it doesn’t hurt when the plot is intriguing and full of crime and murder. But it’s just not “No Time for Goodbye”. Still, I was glad for the opportunity to read once again about beloved characters and honestly, if Barclay ever writes another book about the Archer family, I’ll probably read that one as well. You know how family is – you gotta stay posted.
I find it charming, the way we encounter once again familiar characters from beloved books, like old acquaintances, one might say even friends. That’s how I felt while reading Terry’s contemplations, and Cynthia’s hard time getting over a traumatic event she’d experienced in her adolescence years (which is told about in “No Time for Goodbye”), and the changes in Grace, a sweet child in the former book and now a rebelling teenager. Another dark character is back in the picture, this time revealing a softer side. Overall, the characters in this book have more depth, as complex characters that were established in the first book and keep developing in the current one.
Barclay created a strong set of characters that justified writing another book. He invented a decent plot and interlaced some nice twists. It was a light and enjoyable read. But did he restore the magic of “No Time for Goodbye”? sadly, no. Although it’s a pretty good thriller, it lacked the fireworks of the first novel.
I think that in this case, the inevitable comparison doesn’t do well for this book. I really liked the idea of revisiting familiar characters, learn how they’ve changed along the years – and it doesn’t hurt when the plot is intriguing and full of crime and murder. But it’s just not “No Time for Goodbye”. Still, I was glad for the opportunity to read once again about beloved characters and honestly, if Barclay ever writes another book about the Archer family, I’ll probably read that one as well. You know how family is – you gotta stay posted.
March 29, 2014
I received this as an advanced reader's copy. I was thrilleld because Barclay has become one of my favorite authors.
Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a disappointment.
The book features the same characters from "No Time For Goodbye" (His best! Read it if you haven't already! 5 stars!) So I thought wow, this will be awesome, and then I started reading.
The first half is slow. The author usually conveys an intriguing mystery (disappearances, accidents) that the main character unravels clues about. However, the main mystery in this book is low-stakes. It involves his teenage daughter who is quite unlikable. I didn't really care about the mess she was into.
Also the first half randomly jumps from characters we know to unknown characters who aren't identified, and this was annoying. I didn't know what the heck was going on or who these people were. One of them keeps saying "Unk" for uncle which was grating.
The second half picks up, but by then you are halfway checked out and the plot doesn't suck you back in at warp speed. Overall, the ending is okay.
I still love most of Barclay's works and look forward to his next release.
Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a disappointment.
The book features the same characters from "No Time For Goodbye" (His best! Read it if you haven't already! 5 stars!) So I thought wow, this will be awesome, and then I started reading.
The first half is slow. The author usually conveys an intriguing mystery (disappearances, accidents) that the main character unravels clues about. However, the main mystery in this book is low-stakes. It involves his teenage daughter who is quite unlikable. I didn't really care about the mess she was into.
Also the first half randomly jumps from characters we know to unknown characters who aren't identified, and this was annoying. I didn't know what the heck was going on or who these people were. One of them keeps saying "Unk" for uncle which was grating.
The second half picks up, but by then you are halfway checked out and the plot doesn't suck you back in at warp speed. Overall, the ending is okay.
I still love most of Barclay's works and look forward to his next release.
August 21, 2014
I'm probably very much in the minority but I thought this was a swing and miss. There is a plot storyline that is introduced and doesn't go anywhere, There was a plot point that must have been missed by the author and his editor that bothered me for the balance of the book. I thought this book is an example of a very talented author just going through the motions. I still love this author's work and will continue to read him. However this is one that could be skipped.
March 11, 2020
《 ... You can't wait around for others to make your life better. You see what you want and you take it ... 》
November 6, 2014
Oh my word, where have I been? I can't believe this is the FIRST book I have ever read by Linwood Barclay.
I have bought some more!!!!
What a superb story teller. This is grippingly awesome.
Who killed the retired school teachers? That's what I wanted to know!
I loved how we see a couple who are laid in bed hearing loud music come yet again from a neighbors house, yet again he has to go tell them.
The wife follows out in fear for her husband, surely he won't get attacked if his wife is right behind him?
She's left the door to their house ajar though.............
And there begins the sequence of the opening events that got my mind ticking and my thoughts racing.
I just don't know where on earth I have been not reading any of his books before, this will certainly change.
I would like to thank Orion Publishing Group for allowing to read and review this book via net galley
I have bought some more!!!!
What a superb story teller. This is grippingly awesome.
Who killed the retired school teachers? That's what I wanted to know!
I loved how we see a couple who are laid in bed hearing loud music come yet again from a neighbors house, yet again he has to go tell them.
The wife follows out in fear for her husband, surely he won't get attacked if his wife is right behind him?
She's left the door to their house ajar though.............
And there begins the sequence of the opening events that got my mind ticking and my thoughts racing.
I just don't know where on earth I have been not reading any of his books before, this will certainly change.
I would like to thank Orion Publishing Group for allowing to read and review this book via net galley
August 10, 2014
I ordinarily like this author but i am on page 75 of this book and am struggling to continue. I do not like any of the characters, the story-line is very disjointed. Fortunately, i have back-up reading material. So I think this book goes back to the library today for some other Barclay fan. Good luck!!
July 28, 2023
The second book in this series had a very promising start. I was really enjoying about the first 20%. Then it went downhill. So boring and the amount of profanity also spoiled the story. I’m not someone who is typically bothered by swearing now and then, but this was ridiculous.
Since I liked the first book, I will still give another one a try. Hopefully this was a one off.
Since I liked the first book, I will still give another one a try. Hopefully this was a one off.
August 6, 2018
This was my first novel by this author and it was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed it.
Schoolteacher Terry is caught in a dilemma when his daughter, Grace, breaks into a house with her delinquent boyfriend. A gun is fired and the boyfriend disappears. So starts the beginning of Terry’s nightmare.
In this story, Terry tries to juggle what to do for the best. He wants to save his daughter from being implicated or from carrying guilt for the rest of her life because of one reckless, adolescent act. Terry dives in and tries to help Grace. This is how he unwittingly gets involved in the criminal activities of local crime gangster, Vince Fleming.
Grace’s mother, Cynthia, is a control freak – having being caught up in close-to-death encounters in a previous book which resulted in the loss of her own parents. This backstory is briefly introduced but it doesn’t get in the way. It explains the dynamics between Terry, Cynthia and Grace. Cynthia is taking a break away from her family in a nearby rented flat and her new neighbours are going to become part of Terry's problems.
Cynthia has an interesting relationship with criminal Vince Fleming. He is an ex-boyfriend and he helped Cynthia in the past. One of Vince’s criminal operations is responsible for the situation Grace finds herself in with her missing (perhaps dead?) boyfriend.
All of the characters are well written. One of my preferred was Vince. He’s got cancer and he’s failing in health. Circumstances conspire against him, his gang friends are deserting him, but he joins with Terry in trying to sort out the mess.
This was a great story. The characters were believable and the crime elements very well handled. Whilst I am not against gore, I want to mention there was no gore or thriller element. A very enjoyable suspense mystery.
5 stars from me.
Schoolteacher Terry is caught in a dilemma when his daughter, Grace, breaks into a house with her delinquent boyfriend. A gun is fired and the boyfriend disappears. So starts the beginning of Terry’s nightmare.
In this story, Terry tries to juggle what to do for the best. He wants to save his daughter from being implicated or from carrying guilt for the rest of her life because of one reckless, adolescent act. Terry dives in and tries to help Grace. This is how he unwittingly gets involved in the criminal activities of local crime gangster, Vince Fleming.
Grace’s mother, Cynthia, is a control freak – having being caught up in close-to-death encounters in a previous book which resulted in the loss of her own parents. This backstory is briefly introduced but it doesn’t get in the way. It explains the dynamics between Terry, Cynthia and Grace. Cynthia is taking a break away from her family in a nearby rented flat and her new neighbours are going to become part of Terry's problems.
Cynthia has an interesting relationship with criminal Vince Fleming. He is an ex-boyfriend and he helped Cynthia in the past. One of Vince’s criminal operations is responsible for the situation Grace finds herself in with her missing (perhaps dead?) boyfriend.
All of the characters are well written. One of my preferred was Vince. He’s got cancer and he’s failing in health. Circumstances conspire against him, his gang friends are deserting him, but he joins with Terry in trying to sort out the mess.
This was a great story. The characters were believable and the crime elements very well handled. Whilst I am not against gore, I want to mention there was no gore or thriller element. A very enjoyable suspense mystery.
5 stars from me.
November 16, 2014
This follow-up to 'No Time for Goodbye' is very bit as exciting and gripping as the first book - 7 years on from finding out the awful truth about her brother and parents' disappearance when she was a child (a discovery that nearly cost her and daughter Grace their lives), Cynthia Archer is still paranoid about her family's safety. Grace, now 14 years old, rebels against her mother's smothering over-protection and, as a result of a delinquent boyfriend and a unwise evening excursion, gets her family deeply involved in further murder and mayhem. A real rollercoaster of a ride, so very hard to put down and read the 453 pages in my edition in under two days (well, it was a weekend!). 9.5/10.
August 25, 2014
2.5 stars. I had high hopes for this title when I heard that it was a sequel to "No Time for Goodbye" (which I consider to be one of the best thrillers that I've ever read). Unfortunately, in the end I was left underwhelmed by this book. The one dimensional and unlikeable characters and an unrealistic and convoluted plot made for a disappointing read by an author I used to consider a safe bet.
January 11, 2020
Read as an audiobook performed by Brian O'Neill and Graham Winton, about 12.5 hours. Starts out with senseless murders by a strangely calm crew asking for an unspecified item (more like an unsolvable riddle) and admonishing "Do not answer with a question." Shifts into a family dynamic with adult -- teenager strife. And, proceeds with more murder and mayhem and, perhaps, some hardcore criminal style involvement before the story finally knits together. Dad's got to figure this all out and save his family.
I had high hopes as it started out. But as it developed, it lost steam (or my attention). I also didn't care for the characters -- good guys and bad guys all that much. Even the effort at an end twist wasn't all that great for me. It was OK, the concepts came together to achieve some level of plausibility, but it didn't ring many bells for me. OK plus a bit, maybe a 2.6 rounded up to a 3.
Note, I did not read the first related book, "No Time for Goodbye", the story of which took place 7 years earlier. The author seemed to provide sufficient backstory so that the reader / listener could understand what was going on without reading it yourself, and did so well.
I had high hopes as it started out. But as it developed, it lost steam (or my attention). I also didn't care for the characters -- good guys and bad guys all that much. Even the effort at an end twist wasn't all that great for me. It was OK, the concepts came together to achieve some level of plausibility, but it didn't ring many bells for me. OK plus a bit, maybe a 2.6 rounded up to a 3.
Note, I did not read the first related book, "No Time for Goodbye", the story of which took place 7 years earlier. The author seemed to provide sufficient backstory so that the reader / listener could understand what was going on without reading it yourself, and did so well.
August 17, 2014
Very disappointed in this book. The plot was disjointed and the characters were not believable--too many dead bodies for no reason! I have enjoyed other books by this author and couldn't help wondering if Mr. Barclay really wrote this one!
October 16, 2014
No Time for Goodbye was my very first Linwood Barclay book back in 2008 and I loved it – so much so that I have read every single book of his ever since. No Safe House catches up the Archer family, 7 years later and I couldn’t wait to read it.
You don’t need to have read No Time for Goodbye as there is enough back story here to give you the gist of the previous story without going into too much detail, however I would recommend that you do read it as not only is it such a good book, but you get to know the characters. If I’d had time, I would have re-read it before reading this, as I had forgotten some of the finer plot details and minor characters which re-appear here.
The Archer family are still trying to deal with the fallout from their ordeal 7 years before. Daughter Grace is now 14 years old and is trying to be a normal independent teenager however her mother Cynthia, still fearful of past events, is over protective and Grace feels suffocated and frustrated. When feelings reach boiling point, Cynthia decides to put some distance between them for a while and moves out to a rented apartment, where she becomes re-acquainted with Vince Fleming, a career criminal from her past. Grace then makes a bad decision which puts her family in danger and sees her father Terry having to deal with the consequences. Running alongside is a separate thread of murder and a hunt for something or someone unknown. This side of the story seemed rather disjointed at first and although the threads do come together, there were some parts, particularly the telephone conversations, that I found annoying.
I was so looking forward to this sequel but was left feeling disappointed. So, where did it all go wrong? I’m all for escapism but I felt I was being asked to suspend belief just a little too far with this story. Terry Archer was an ordinary law abiding teacher and one of Barclay’s typical ‘normal family guy’ types who can get into bad situations by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was my favourite character in the previous book but I didn’t feel the same this time. With this story, I can accept that Terry was trying to protect his family but even so, some of his decisions (and Cynthia’s too at times) were just too stupid and seemed totally out of character.
Although there were plenty of the trademark Barclay twists and turns, there was too much of a comedic feel and the nail-biting tension and skilful plotting that I am used to with his previous books was missing for me.
It’s certainly not a bad book (I felt the second half had more pace than the first) but it’s not one of my favourites. I normally race through his books as I can’t put them down but I struggled with this one and it was rather a lacklustre read for me. Having said that, he still remains one of my favourite authors and I still want to read whatever he writes but please Mr Barclay, go back to the thrills and tension of your earlier novels.
You don’t need to have read No Time for Goodbye as there is enough back story here to give you the gist of the previous story without going into too much detail, however I would recommend that you do read it as not only is it such a good book, but you get to know the characters. If I’d had time, I would have re-read it before reading this, as I had forgotten some of the finer plot details and minor characters which re-appear here.
The Archer family are still trying to deal with the fallout from their ordeal 7 years before. Daughter Grace is now 14 years old and is trying to be a normal independent teenager however her mother Cynthia, still fearful of past events, is over protective and Grace feels suffocated and frustrated. When feelings reach boiling point, Cynthia decides to put some distance between them for a while and moves out to a rented apartment, where she becomes re-acquainted with Vince Fleming, a career criminal from her past. Grace then makes a bad decision which puts her family in danger and sees her father Terry having to deal with the consequences. Running alongside is a separate thread of murder and a hunt for something or someone unknown. This side of the story seemed rather disjointed at first and although the threads do come together, there were some parts, particularly the telephone conversations, that I found annoying.
I was so looking forward to this sequel but was left feeling disappointed. So, where did it all go wrong? I’m all for escapism but I felt I was being asked to suspend belief just a little too far with this story. Terry Archer was an ordinary law abiding teacher and one of Barclay’s typical ‘normal family guy’ types who can get into bad situations by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was my favourite character in the previous book but I didn’t feel the same this time. With this story, I can accept that Terry was trying to protect his family but even so, some of his decisions (and Cynthia’s too at times) were just too stupid and seemed totally out of character.
Although there were plenty of the trademark Barclay twists and turns, there was too much of a comedic feel and the nail-biting tension and skilful plotting that I am used to with his previous books was missing for me.
It’s certainly not a bad book (I felt the second half had more pace than the first) but it’s not one of my favourites. I normally race through his books as I can’t put them down but I struggled with this one and it was rather a lacklustre read for me. Having said that, he still remains one of my favourite authors and I still want to read whatever he writes but please Mr Barclay, go back to the thrills and tension of your earlier novels.
December 31, 2013
I was fortunate to be able to download a preview copy of Barclay's newest novel No Safe House. It goes back to the characters from his first book No Time For Goodbye. While it brings back Terry and Cynthia the story itself is a standalone. As always Barclay writes a first class thriller that will keep you up past bedtime. A page turner !
December 4, 2019
This was good, solid, but not riveting. Not one of Barclay's best. Having said that it was very readable and entertaining.
January 25, 2018
Dit is het vervolg op "zonder een woord" maar dit boek kan ook losstaand gelezen worden. Dit verhaal gaat meer over de dochter van Cynthia en Terry dat besluit om met haar vriend een huis binnen te breken waarvan de bewoners op reis zijn om een joyride te maken met hun porche maar dan pas begint alle ellende. Want blijkbaar zijn ze niet alleen in dit huis. Een schot wordt gelost maar wie heeft geschoten. Wat deed die andere persoon in dit huis. In het begin was het wat wennen aan al de personages die op me af kwamen maar naarmate het verhaal vallen alle puzzelstukken in elkaar en had ik echt wel moeite om te stoppen met lezen als ik moest gaan slapen. En ik ben geen echte thrillerfanaat dus wanneer ik het boek niet spontaan toe klap verdient dit een 5 sterren.
December 4, 2021
I finished the first book in this series "No Time for Goodbye" back in October. I had to see what was going to happen next of course. I won't give away much--probably more surprises in this book than the previous one. I didn't care much for the ending--and was sad to see some characters die. Some of the plot seemed not believable, but overall an entertaining read. I may have to check out some of Barclay's other books.
November 2, 2014
I won this through Goodreads First Reads.
It took me a while to get through, I had some other reading commitments and then I had to get the first one as I hadn't realized at first that this was a sequel.
No Safe House-3 stars. I liked this significantly less than the first one.
Let me explain though, its not the writing, I love the writing. I love Terry's perspective the most. I like a good mystery, the changing povs, the way things are unfolding before me but I can't quite fit it together.
But man...some of these characters.
I have always hated Cynthia, I hated her in the first one, she can't redeem herself in my eyes. Ugh, and then Grace. Now I liked Grace in the first one, but she was 8 years old, so now at 14 or whatever, I was just wanting to shake the shit out of her, how can one kid be so stupid. I mean, the audacity to just be dumber than a bag of hammers and make me suffer through it. When she started lecturing her dad about judging people...yeah...I wanted to hurt her.
Also, Vince...
I guess its not surprising that my biggest disappointment was
So yeah, while the writing is great and I think the author is capable of creating fear and suspense and an interesting mystery and I was totally sucked into their situation, it was vivid, but man...I just hated some of these characters in a way that...*shrugs* I was kinda hoping they would get knocked around, ya know?
I will try more from this author, but I need more likable characters.
It took me a while to get through, I had some other reading commitments and then I had to get the first one as I hadn't realized at first that this was a sequel.
No Safe House-3 stars. I liked this significantly less than the first one.
Let me explain though, its not the writing, I love the writing. I love Terry's perspective the most. I like a good mystery, the changing povs, the way things are unfolding before me but I can't quite fit it together.
But man...some of these characters.
I have always hated Cynthia, I hated her in the first one, she can't redeem herself in my eyes. Ugh, and then Grace. Now I liked Grace in the first one, but she was 8 years old, so now at 14 or whatever, I was just wanting to shake the shit out of her, how can one kid be so stupid. I mean, the audacity to just be dumber than a bag of hammers and make me suffer through it. When she started lecturing her dad about judging people...yeah...I wanted to hurt her.
Also, Vince...
I guess its not surprising that my biggest disappointment was
So yeah, while the writing is great and I think the author is capable of creating fear and suspense and an interesting mystery and I was totally sucked into their situation, it was vivid, but man...I just hated some of these characters in a way that...*shrugs* I was kinda hoping they would get knocked around, ya know?
I will try more from this author, but I need more likable characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 895 reviews