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fluffyllama789's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I was lucky enough to receive this through a Goodreads giveaway. I enjoyed the multi points of view throughout the book which gave you hints and further detail. I was able to predict some of the twists early on in the story, however, there was still enough mystery and suspense to keep me going. Some of the mysteries were solved, however, a lot were left to carry on to the next book. I did enjoy this book, particularly the last quarter when everything was coming together, so it was more fast paced.
I was lucky enough to receive this through a Goodreads giveaway. I enjoyed the multi points of view throughout the book which gave you hints and further detail. I was able to predict some of the twists early on in the story, however, there was still enough mystery and suspense to keep me going. Some of the mysteries were solved, however, a lot were left to carry on to the next book. I did enjoy this book, particularly the last quarter when everything was coming together, so it was more fast paced.
clairereviews's review against another edition
4.0
Review: Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay Published by: US - Penguin Group (28th July 2015)
UK - Orion (10th September 2015)
ISBN: 978-1409145943
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4.5*
Synopsis:
After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent.
Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch.When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg.Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past…in blood.
Review:
This latest novel from Linwood Barclay is a real page-turner, full of twists and turns, that kept me guessing. Echoing Stephen King at his finest, it is set in a small American town that holds a devastating secret.
I found all the characters complex and believable, David and Marla especially so. They each add something to the story, making it deliciously multi-layered.
Each time I thought I had the facts straight in my head, something happened that threw me off the scent. Very cleverly written in Barclay's inimitable style, Broken Promise is a brilliant mystery, with each clue like a piece of a confusing jigsaw puzzle that is constantly evolving.
UK - Orion (10th September 2015)
ISBN: 978-1409145943
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4.5*
Synopsis:
After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent.
Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch.When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg.Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past…in blood.
Review:
This latest novel from Linwood Barclay is a real page-turner, full of twists and turns, that kept me guessing. Echoing Stephen King at his finest, it is set in a small American town that holds a devastating secret.
I found all the characters complex and believable, David and Marla especially so. They each add something to the story, making it deliciously multi-layered.
Each time I thought I had the facts straight in my head, something happened that threw me off the scent. Very cleverly written in Barclay's inimitable style, Broken Promise is a brilliant mystery, with each clue like a piece of a confusing jigsaw puzzle that is constantly evolving.
tashiibee's review against another edition
4.0
Linwood Barclays books never fail it impress and draw me in as a reader. Twists and turns a plenty but not too many to make you think it's an implausible story. Betrayal by the people you trust the most would be a theme of this book, and makes you question all the things the people closest to you tell you and you believe without questioning. This is the first in a trilogy of books and I cannot wait to read the next two.
fictionfan's review against another edition
2.0
End of part one...
When David Harwood visits his cousin Marla, he's astonished to discover her nursing a baby that she claims is her own, because Marla's baby died at birth, ten months ago, leaving her emotionally fragile and mentally unstable. She tells him a wild tale of how an angel brought the baby and asked her to take care of it. David's worried enough by this story, but when he spots blood on the doorframe, he's even more concerned. And when the mother of the baby is found, knifed to death, things look bleak indeed for Marla. So David, an unemployed journalist, agrees to see if he can find out the truth...
This book reminded me of losing at a game of snakes and ladders. It starts off very well – both writing and story flow along easily, David is a likeable character and at this early stage the plot seems intriguing. But then another plot is introduced, and another, and another... and suddenly I felt as if I was sliding down that pesky snake hoping for someone to throw the dice and get me back on the ladder. Sadly that didn't happen. By a quarter of the way in at the most, the solution to the main plot is blindingly obvious – not just the who, but also the why and the how. So obvious I felt it must be a clever double-bluff, but it isn't.
In the meantime, sub-plots keep developing exponentially. Barclay sets them up, always very interestingly – I have no quarrel at all with the quality of either his writing or characterisation, both of which are excellent throughout (though I could have lived without the tediously unimaginative and constant swearing). But then he forgets about them for ages, before suddenly bringing them back into the narrative, long after I'd either forgotten or lost interest in them, merely serving to slow down and break the flow of the main plot. At first, I thought they might all come together in some incredibly complex solution and looked forward to seeing how he'd achieve that. But it gradually becomes clear that, while there are some tenuous links between them, mostly they are completely separate strands. I still hoped they would be resolved or at least explained though – I don't feel that's too much to ask. It's not as if the cover says “Part 1”...
...and yet, that's precisely what this is. While the main plot is resolved (exactly as had been obvious for almost the entirety of the book), the other ones are left hanging, like the old Saturday Matinee cliffhangers... To Be Continued! But unlike them, we'll have to wait considerably longer than next Saturday to find out what happened. If we care, that is. Personally I don't. I don't mind reading a trilogy, or even a Harry Potter-esque 7 book series, if someone tells me in advance that that's what I'm about to read. But if they sell a book as a complete novel, then that's what it should be. I don't want to get into spoiler territory here, but I'm not talking about the kind of continuing background story arc that happens in many series – these are actual unresolved plots, murders left unexplained, investigations left halfway through, etc.
I’m sorely tempted to give this 1 star but, despite my real annoyance at being left hanging, I enjoyed the writing style enough to consider reading one of his other novels some time. But I’ll check the reviews first to see if it has an ending. And less swearing.
And, in the meantime, I’ll only recommend this if you don’t mind knowing early on how the main plot will work out, and never finding out how the sub plots do.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Orion.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When David Harwood visits his cousin Marla, he's astonished to discover her nursing a baby that she claims is her own, because Marla's baby died at birth, ten months ago, leaving her emotionally fragile and mentally unstable. She tells him a wild tale of how an angel brought the baby and asked her to take care of it. David's worried enough by this story, but when he spots blood on the doorframe, he's even more concerned. And when the mother of the baby is found, knifed to death, things look bleak indeed for Marla. So David, an unemployed journalist, agrees to see if he can find out the truth...
This book reminded me of losing at a game of snakes and ladders. It starts off very well – both writing and story flow along easily, David is a likeable character and at this early stage the plot seems intriguing. But then another plot is introduced, and another, and another... and suddenly I felt as if I was sliding down that pesky snake hoping for someone to throw the dice and get me back on the ladder. Sadly that didn't happen. By a quarter of the way in at the most, the solution to the main plot is blindingly obvious – not just the who, but also the why and the how. So obvious I felt it must be a clever double-bluff, but it isn't.
In the meantime, sub-plots keep developing exponentially. Barclay sets them up, always very interestingly – I have no quarrel at all with the quality of either his writing or characterisation, both of which are excellent throughout (though I could have lived without the tediously unimaginative and constant swearing). But then he forgets about them for ages, before suddenly bringing them back into the narrative, long after I'd either forgotten or lost interest in them, merely serving to slow down and break the flow of the main plot. At first, I thought they might all come together in some incredibly complex solution and looked forward to seeing how he'd achieve that. But it gradually becomes clear that, while there are some tenuous links between them, mostly they are completely separate strands. I still hoped they would be resolved or at least explained though – I don't feel that's too much to ask. It's not as if the cover says “Part 1”...
...and yet, that's precisely what this is. While the main plot is resolved (exactly as had been obvious for almost the entirety of the book), the other ones are left hanging, like the old Saturday Matinee cliffhangers... To Be Continued! But unlike them, we'll have to wait considerably longer than next Saturday to find out what happened. If we care, that is. Personally I don't. I don't mind reading a trilogy, or even a Harry Potter-esque 7 book series, if someone tells me in advance that that's what I'm about to read. But if they sell a book as a complete novel, then that's what it should be. I don't want to get into spoiler territory here, but I'm not talking about the kind of continuing background story arc that happens in many series – these are actual unresolved plots, murders left unexplained, investigations left halfway through, etc.
I’m sorely tempted to give this 1 star but, despite my real annoyance at being left hanging, I enjoyed the writing style enough to consider reading one of his other novels some time. But I’ll check the reviews first to see if it has an ending. And less swearing.
And, in the meantime, I’ll only recommend this if you don’t mind knowing early on how the main plot will work out, and never finding out how the sub plots do.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Orion.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
mistylyn's review against another edition
2.0
Please allow me to begin with a disclaimer. I'm a fairly easy going gal. I don't throw temper tantrums, I seldom raise my voice and it takes a whole lot to make me angry. It is at this point that I would like to congratulate Linwood Barclay for raising my ire AND my blood pressure.
Barclay is one of those rare writers who excels in character development, and this book is no exception. Every single player here, from Marla, the broken woman with more than a few issues, to David, a single father forced through circumstance to live with his parents, is believable. What I most appreciate about Barclay's work is his ability to keep each character's actions/dialogue and reactions true to the persona he creates. Nothing is arbitrary, but rather each character interaction furthers that brilliant development and encourages empathy or enmity--occasionally, as in the case of Agnes, simultaneously.
I will also offer props to Barclay for his ability to weave a plot and be able to follow it. He must have a very large storyboard somewhere, as that would have been the ONLY way I could have kept up. It's a sad commentary when the lack of a graphic interface prevents the reader from being able to fully enjoy the story. Ok, major spoilers are to come, so reader, beware! You've been warned.
Barclay, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? From the very start, I made a conscious effort to follow the Marla thread. I appreciated how it had woven into its tapestry the threads of Dr. Strauss and the Gaynors. No, really, that was awesome. But there were other threads...loose threads. Threads that kept me page turning to find out how they were to be related. So why am I angry? BECAUSE THEY NEVER CAME TOGETHER. Instead, Barclay strings us along for a wild ride that ends in the middle of a damn desert--barren and thirsting for the hours it took to read this novel to be returned in some time-travel scenario. What? It's about as ridiculous as assuming the reader would in any way be content. So, Mr. Barclay, if by chance you're reading, I have a few suggestions and questions.
1. If this was a sequel piece of which understanding and appreciation came with a prereading prerequisite, TELL THE READERS BEFORE THEY BUY THE BOOK.
2. What the hell was up with David's father, Don? Why was he so sullen? What did Walden say to upset him?
3. What the hell was up with Trevor's father, Barry? What did Finley have on him?
4. Why add Arlene's leg injury? What purpose did it serve?
5. Who killed the squirrels?
6. Who put the mannequins on the ferris wheel?
7. Who killed Rosemary?
8. Who killed Olivia?”
There's a start. I've left out questions about the banality of including the Carol/Gill nonsense; about Fenwick's phone conversation that appeared to be leading to gratuitous phone sex; about the quick lay at Sam's; the number 23: the Thackery College buffoons. My GOD, the list is endless.
For me, this read like an installment of a serial story, like those that used to appear, one chapter at a time, in various publications. The difference here is that folks waited impatiently, prognosticating and predicting, full of great anticipation for those serial pieces. With this book, I've abandoned all hope on this bait and switch and will be seeking my closure in a stand alone novel that actually comes to a conclusion.
Barclay is one of those rare writers who excels in character development, and this book is no exception. Every single player here, from Marla, the broken woman with more than a few issues, to David, a single father forced through circumstance to live with his parents, is believable. What I most appreciate about Barclay's work is his ability to keep each character's actions/dialogue and reactions true to the persona he creates. Nothing is arbitrary, but rather each character interaction furthers that brilliant development and encourages empathy or enmity--occasionally, as in the case of Agnes, simultaneously.
I will also offer props to Barclay for his ability to weave a plot and be able to follow it. He must have a very large storyboard somewhere, as that would have been the ONLY way I could have kept up. It's a sad commentary when the lack of a graphic interface prevents the reader from being able to fully enjoy the story. Ok, major spoilers are to come, so reader, beware! You've been warned.
Barclay, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? From the very start, I made a conscious effort to follow the Marla thread. I appreciated how it had woven into its tapestry the threads of Dr. Strauss and the Gaynors. No, really, that was awesome. But there were other threads...loose threads. Threads that kept me page turning to find out how they were to be related. So why am I angry? BECAUSE THEY NEVER CAME TOGETHER. Instead, Barclay strings us along for a wild ride that ends in the middle of a damn desert--barren and thirsting for the hours it took to read this novel to be returned in some time-travel scenario. What? It's about as ridiculous as assuming the reader would in any way be content. So, Mr. Barclay, if by chance you're reading, I have a few suggestions and questions.
1. If this was a sequel piece of which understanding and appreciation came with a prereading prerequisite, TELL THE READERS BEFORE THEY BUY THE BOOK.
2. What the hell was up with David's father, Don? Why was he so sullen? What did Walden say to upset him?
3. What the hell was up with Trevor's father, Barry? What did Finley have on him?
4. Why add Arlene's leg injury? What purpose did it serve?
5. Who killed the squirrels?
6. Who put the mannequins on the ferris wheel?
7. Who killed Rosemary?
8. Who killed Olivia?”
There's a start. I've left out questions about the banality of including the Carol/Gill nonsense; about Fenwick's phone conversation that appeared to be leading to gratuitous phone sex; about the quick lay at Sam's; the number 23: the Thackery College buffoons. My GOD, the list is endless.
For me, this read like an installment of a serial story, like those that used to appear, one chapter at a time, in various publications. The difference here is that folks waited impatiently, prognosticating and predicting, full of great anticipation for those serial pieces. With this book, I've abandoned all hope on this bait and switch and will be seeking my closure in a stand alone novel that actually comes to a conclusion.
jonetta's review against another edition
4.0
David Harwood is a former Boston Globe city editor and widower who returned home to Promise Falls so he could spend more quality time with his nine-year old son (better hours). He was to be a reporter for the local newspaper but it closed on his first day and now he’s living with his parents until he finds something new. When he stops by to check on his cousin, Marla, whose baby was stillborn some months ago and she’s still pretty fragile, David finds her with a baby boy she says was delivered to her by an “angel.” He knows something’s wrong and discovers information that leads him to an address where he finds a murdered woman he suspects is the baby’s real mother. This discovery is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
I opted to listen to this book and that was a great decision. The two narrators were so good and made the book even more interesting. I also chose not to read the synopsis and had no idea where the story would lead. That also served me well as this tale meanders into several directions that eventually connect, some loosely and others more concretely. David is one of the two narrators, Detective Barry Duckworth who’s investigating this case is the other. Their perspectives couldn’t be more diverse, which adds another element of interest. There’s a strange phenomena occurring at the town’s theme park and a crisis at the local college. And, the connections between David and his family with others in the town provide more murky situations.
There are a host of surprises, small and major, to keep everything moving at a satisfying pace. There are also a lot of characters to track, which isn’t an issue for me as I maintain lists for all the series I follow. But be forewarned that it will be important to remember them and the audio performers help in how they distinguish them. While I figured out early on the biggest mystery, there are still other open threads that weren’t completely resolved...no cliffhangers, just a continuing story arc that’s very compelling. I really enjoyed the story, am glad I chose audio and am anxious to continue.
(I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review)
I opted to listen to this book and that was a great decision. The two narrators were so good and made the book even more interesting. I also chose not to read the synopsis and had no idea where the story would lead. That also served me well as this tale meanders into several directions that eventually connect, some loosely and others more concretely. David is one of the two narrators, Detective Barry Duckworth who’s investigating this case is the other. Their perspectives couldn’t be more diverse, which adds another element of interest. There’s a strange phenomena occurring at the town’s theme park and a crisis at the local college. And, the connections between David and his family with others in the town provide more murky situations.
There are a host of surprises, small and major, to keep everything moving at a satisfying pace. There are also a lot of characters to track, which isn’t an issue for me as I maintain lists for all the series I follow. But be forewarned that it will be important to remember them and the audio performers help in how they distinguish them. While I figured out early on the biggest mystery, there are still other open threads that weren’t completely resolved...no cliffhangers, just a continuing story arc that’s very compelling. I really enjoyed the story, am glad I chose audio and am anxious to continue.
(I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review)
lmt01's review against another edition
4.0
The blood, Jesus, it was everywhere. Smudged bloody footprints led toward a set of sliding glass doors at the back of the kitchen.
“God oh God Rose oh my God Rose oh God!”
Suddenly the man’s head jerked, as though something horrible had just occurred to him. Something even more horrible than the scene before him.
“The baby,” he whispered.
As somebody who prefers standalone novels to a series, I tend to find myself lured towards trilogies. Why? Well, perhaps because of how, despite being a series, it is short enough to not be daunting. Look at the Wheel of Time series, for example, as opposed to Peter Straub’s Blue Rose Trilogy: which one seems more accessible? This is part of the reason why I decided to read Linwood Barclay’s Promise Falls Trilogy, starting with 2015’s BROKEN PROMISE: because, along with being by an author I have enjoyed in the past, it is not too long a saga.
In the town of Promise Falls ex-reporter David Harwood just wants a turn for the better in his life; with his wife dead and his living area being his parents’ house, he just wants to get a job so that he can raise his son better. However, things are about to take a sinister turn for him. When he is asked to drop off some stuff to his cousin, Marla, who some time ago lost her baby, he finds Marla holding a new baby that she claims an angel gave her. However, David is suspicious, especially of the stain on Marla’s doorframe that looks suspiciously like blood…
Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth finds himself caught in a political battle as he begins investigating attempted rapes at a university in Promise Falls. However, he soon finds himself juggling this along with the murder of a woman who may or may not be the mother of this mystery child of Marla’s. Soon, Duckworth and David find themselves thrown into a dark world of even darker secrets that will rock Promise Falls to the very core of its black heart.
“Marla, I need you to tell me whose baby this really is.” I hesitated. “And why there’s blood on your front door.”
To be honest, I think my enjoyment was hampered by the fact that there are novels that feature these characters that were released before BROKEN PROMISE, which really annoyed me when I found out halfway through. However, despite not being as good as I had hoped, my second Barclay novel was still an enjoyable mystery that was mostly unpredictable throughout.
As in they were in A TAP ON THE WINDOW, the characters in BROKEN PROMISE were fleshed-out, three-dimensional folks who felt not like fictional characters but like real people. A majority of the characters who show up in this book feel like proper human beings, only a scant few feeling like props (which, as secondary characters, they kind of are). Take this quote for example:
“Why does there have to be an autopsy? For Christ’s sake, all you have to do is look at her to know…” He put his face into his hands and cried. “Hasn’t she been through enough?”
The emotions that the characters feel appear to be real, the people themselves not mere plot devices. However, it is possible that I missed out on some of the important character-developing moments due to there being books that come before BROKEN PROMISE which feature the same characters (David Harwood, for example).
I also liked the unpredictability of the novel. Like my first Barclay book, BROKEN PROMISE is hard to predict and, at times, immensely surprising. However, there are aspects to the mystery that aren’t actually solved in this novel, though this is due to it being part of a trilogy. It is a bit annoying, though excusable.
Twenty-three dead squirrels. Good-sized ones, too. Eleven gray ones, twelve black. Each one with a length of white string, the kind used to secure parcels, knotted tightly around its neck, and hung from the horizontal metal pole that ran across the top of the fence.
To conclude: BROKEN PROMISE, despite letting me down slightly, is still a pretty good thriller, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Promise Falls Trilogy.
“God oh God Rose oh my God Rose oh God!”
Suddenly the man’s head jerked, as though something horrible had just occurred to him. Something even more horrible than the scene before him.
“The baby,” he whispered.
As somebody who prefers standalone novels to a series, I tend to find myself lured towards trilogies. Why? Well, perhaps because of how, despite being a series, it is short enough to not be daunting. Look at the Wheel of Time series, for example, as opposed to Peter Straub’s Blue Rose Trilogy: which one seems more accessible? This is part of the reason why I decided to read Linwood Barclay’s Promise Falls Trilogy, starting with 2015’s BROKEN PROMISE: because, along with being by an author I have enjoyed in the past, it is not too long a saga.
In the town of Promise Falls ex-reporter David Harwood just wants a turn for the better in his life; with his wife dead and his living area being his parents’ house, he just wants to get a job so that he can raise his son better. However, things are about to take a sinister turn for him. When he is asked to drop off some stuff to his cousin, Marla, who some time ago lost her baby, he finds Marla holding a new baby that she claims an angel gave her. However, David is suspicious, especially of the stain on Marla’s doorframe that looks suspiciously like blood…
Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth finds himself caught in a political battle as he begins investigating attempted rapes at a university in Promise Falls. However, he soon finds himself juggling this along with the murder of a woman who may or may not be the mother of this mystery child of Marla’s. Soon, Duckworth and David find themselves thrown into a dark world of even darker secrets that will rock Promise Falls to the very core of its black heart.
“Marla, I need you to tell me whose baby this really is.” I hesitated. “And why there’s blood on your front door.”
To be honest, I think my enjoyment was hampered by the fact that there are novels that feature these characters that were released before BROKEN PROMISE, which really annoyed me when I found out halfway through. However, despite not being as good as I had hoped, my second Barclay novel was still an enjoyable mystery that was mostly unpredictable throughout.
As in they were in A TAP ON THE WINDOW, the characters in BROKEN PROMISE were fleshed-out, three-dimensional folks who felt not like fictional characters but like real people. A majority of the characters who show up in this book feel like proper human beings, only a scant few feeling like props (which, as secondary characters, they kind of are). Take this quote for example:
“Why does there have to be an autopsy? For Christ’s sake, all you have to do is look at her to know…” He put his face into his hands and cried. “Hasn’t she been through enough?”
The emotions that the characters feel appear to be real, the people themselves not mere plot devices. However, it is possible that I missed out on some of the important character-developing moments due to there being books that come before BROKEN PROMISE which feature the same characters (David Harwood, for example).
I also liked the unpredictability of the novel. Like my first Barclay book, BROKEN PROMISE is hard to predict and, at times, immensely surprising. However, there are aspects to the mystery that aren’t actually solved in this novel, though this is due to it being part of a trilogy. It is a bit annoying, though excusable.
Twenty-three dead squirrels. Good-sized ones, too. Eleven gray ones, twelve black. Each one with a length of white string, the kind used to secure parcels, knotted tightly around its neck, and hung from the horizontal metal pole that ran across the top of the fence.
To conclude: BROKEN PROMISE, despite letting me down slightly, is still a pretty good thriller, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Promise Falls Trilogy.
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