Winner of the Richard & Judy Summer Read 2008

Reviewed on Richard & Judy on Wednesday 2 July 2008.

A fantastic opening plot that pulls you straight in to the story and makes you have to read in one or two sittings as curiosity just gets the better of you. Fourteen year old Cynthia wakes up one morning to find her mother, father and brother have all completely disappeared without trace. 25 years later Cynthia might just start to get some answers as to what happened to them. The feelings of abandonment, doubt, anger and anguish that Cynthia feels are brought across through the main narrator of the book, Cynthia’s husband, which is clever way of getting the sense of frustration both feel, her because she needs answers and him because he wants her to be able to close that chapter of her life and move on. Apart from a slight lull in the middle this book will sweep you up with it’s pace and intrigue, perfect for a holiday read.

On the morning she will never forget, suburban teenager Cynthia Archer awakes with a nasty hangover and a feeling she is going to have an even nastier confrontation with her mom and dad. But when she leaves her bedroom, she discovers the house is empty, with no sign of her parents or younger brother Todd. In the blink of an eye, without any explanation, her family has simply disappeared.

Twenty-five years later Cynthia is still haunted by unanswered questions. Were her family murdered? If so, why was she spared? And if they're alive, why did they abandon her in such a cruel way?

Now married with a daughter of her own, Cynthia fears that her new family will be taken from her just as her first one was. And so she agrees to take part in a TV documentary revisiting the case, in the hope that somebody somewhere will remember something - or even that her father, mother or brother might finally reach out to her...

Then a letter arrives which makes no sense and yet chills Cynthia to the core. And soon she begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made...

Linwood Barclay is married with two children and lives in Toronto. He is the author of three acclaimed Zack Walker mysteries and has written a popular column for the Toronto Star since 1993. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation