Parting Shot

Linwood Barclay returns with his riveting series, Promise Falls following  The Twenty-Three (Promise Falls Trilogy)  #3 (2016) with his best yet, in the twisty PARTING SHOT (#4) — a fitting title for his latest riveting thriller.Packed with a serious savage punch, and more twists than the Pacific Hwy., we revisit the small fictional town of Promise Falls in upstate New York, outside of Albany. A small town filled with scandal and secrets and an overwhelming need for revenge and some evil vigilante justice!However, often we find the revenge is directed at the wrong person which causes some major problems for everyone involved. (sorry, killed the wrong person-collateral damage).Read My Reviews:Broken Promise #1Final Assignment #1.5Far From True #2The Twenty-Three #3PARTING SHOT almost slipped by me. Thank goodness, the minute I received the newsletter from the author, I was on Amazon clicking away to purchase this one.Having read every book in this engrossing series, PARTING SHOT was my favorite. I stayed up until 5 am two mornings in a row to finish. It was worth every minute.Again, keep your scorecard handy and hang on for a roller coaster wild ride!This time around, we revisit with characters PI Cal Weaver and Detective Barry Duckworth (two of my favorites) from Promise Falls. Even though the two guys are familiar with one another, neither of the two realize the other is working separate cases which will ultimately connect.I for one, am hoping these two go into business together for future books. A huge fan of the series.There is a common interest that bridges the two cases. Just Deserts.A vigilante. A website for those who want Justice. Even though not in the legal sense. People all over the planet inspired to exact vengeance on people who've got it coming, hoping like crazy that what they do is nasty enough to be honored on the website.Of course, Promise Falls is well known in this department. Getting even.Duckworth almost died in the last book and is now a hero. He loves his donuts; however, his wife wants him around a little longer and has changed his diet. He is now down to 233 (loss of 47 pounds). However, he is still tempted.Could he be getting too old for the job? Maybe a career change is in order?His is married to Maureen and has a son named Trevor (now twenty-five living back at home). Duckworth's current case takes him to a bar, Knights and when he looks at the surveillance video; his son is lip locking in a corner with some gal, named Carol. Unemployed, but out drinking and evidently up to something secretive.What do they have to do with the abduction?A guy, Brian Gaffney was abducted from the bar and he does not remember anything. However, he has tattooed on his back, “I’m the sick F*** who killed Sean. He has no clue what this means? He seeks Duckworth’s help.There was also an older case of a younger guy, Craig Pierce (known sex offender) who molested a mentally handicapped girl and someone had taken matters into their own hands, months ago- since the law did not make him pay.Someone abducted him and had a dog to literally disfigure him. Half his face is missing, plus some manly private parts (ouch). The guy is barely alive. However, he is out to find the person who did this to him.Could it be the same person after Jeremy this time?However, did what happened to Brian have anything to do with the other cases, or was he in the wrong place at the wrong time?Cal Weaver has suffered much loss from the previous books. His wife and son are gone. He is moving on and out on his own with a PI business.His assignment takes him to twenty-something, Jeremy’s family. The wealthy grand-aunt, alcoholic mother-Gloria, her boyfriend, Bob, attorney, Grant Finch and big deal businessman, rich Galen Broadhurst – the guy who owned the Porch.Jeremy, was supposedly drunk driving one of his father’s friends' 9ll Porch and ran over and killed a young innocent girl. The attorney and mother helped him get off (so he did not have to do prison time), and there are many which are unhappy.They dubbed him as The Big Baby. He also has a friend Charlene. (many red herring here). The website followers are all over this case. They want to make him pay, since the legal system did not.Was there something else at play here they overlooked in the original investigation? Was Jeremy really guilty? You can be sure Cal will find it.Now throw in the mix, Jeremy and Brian look similar. Also to complicate matters, Brian was seeing a married woman Jessica (which he was unaware of her status). Also, Brian’s neighbors have issues (this gets quite comical with the dad).Why would someone tattoo something permanently etched into someone’s skin? A hidden message?In the social media world and in real life, they are making Jeremy and his family miserable. They are in danger. They call in Cal to be his so-called bodyguard while investigating. However, Cal digs a little deeper into Jeremy’s past problems and gets too close to the truth putting them in more danger.Cal is on the run with Jeremy to keep the wolves away and get him out of town; however, someone is tracking them. However, it may be more than one person after them with different motives.Wow, PARTING SHOT was unputdownable! As always, in addition to the main cases, there are also always some entertaining secondary characters which always bring more exciting drama. Leave it up to Barclay to bring in another shocker added twist at the 98% mark.Supercharged, from social media attacks and those who want to make their mark no matter how far they have to go to achieve their status.One of my favorite authors, (have read all his books), Barclay delivers a non-stop action crime thriller, in this town of wacky and dysfunction. A powerful writer, Barclay keeps the dry humor, domestic suspense, surprises, and plot twists coming full throttle from upstate New York to Cape Cod— there is never a dull moment.If you have not experienced Linwood Barclay, highly suggest you get started. For fans of Michael Robotham and Harlan Coben as well as those readers who enjoy intelligent dark thrillers with loads of twists.Can’t wait to see what’s next! It is high time for a movie. What an imagination and an amazing storyteller.JDCMustReadBooks

The plot revolves around revenge attacks against people who have raped or killed — but managed to get off without going to jail.There are two parallel stories that come together in the end. And two heroic figures — one a cop and one a private investigator.Be prepared for some gruesome “punishment” — and some extra murders along the way.As usual, Linwood Barclay has produced a page turner with a nice mix of likable characters and despicable characters. I found the ending confusing though. And there are murders left unresolved. Not as tight a plotting job as usual, but enjoyable for all that.

I stumbled upon Linwood's Broken Promises at a Antique shop just to have something to read while traveling a long distance for Thanksgiving. I had never read nor heard of Linwwod Barclay. On our way back home I HAD to make a stop at the nearest Barnes and Nobel to get the next two books in the Promise Falls trilogy, (Far From True, and The Twenty Three). Since then I have purchased 10 more of his most recent books just so I was sure I had them in hand before my last book ended! I have devoured 8 of them in a little over a month. I am savoring the remaining 4 and will probably order his earliest 4 books.Linwood Barclay has found a new and devoted fan!!!! His characters are true to form, most likable and endearing, some despicable, but like us all, each are wounded in some way, shape or form. His writing draws you in with explicable and fascinating details And in each book the twists and turns are unpredictable, surprising and thrilling! With his style of writing each book is a satisfying read, a stand alone novel, yet leaves you anticipating for the next adventure.Mr. Barclay is a master craftsman of words and the human psyche with a talent for weaving past and future characters that are truly believable and thrilling.

If you are a Barclay fan this book is a must. If you haven’t read the Promise Falls series, you need to start at the beginning and read them all, although this does well as a standalone. Set in Promise Falls, it weaves an exciting storyline full of heroes and villains that makes it hard to put the book down! Love it and am waiting for the next one.

I stumbled onto my first Linwood Barclay novel pretty much by accident. After finishing that first book, I quickly devoured everything he'd written, and now preorder every new release. This new Promise Falls novel is just as entertaining as the others, full of quirky characters with real life flaws, and complicated problems. I took a star away as there are a few, small untied threads at the end of the story, but nothing that takes away from enjoying the book. Overall this is a solidly enjoyable story that I highly recommend.

As far as I know, I have read everything Mr. Barclay has written, and this story is one of the best. A reader could consider this to be #4 in the Promise Falls storyline, but if you are new to Mr. Barclay's writings, this story holds up on its own. For those who know the Promise Falls storyline, it was nice reading about Detective Duckworth and Cal Weaver working together. I won't go into any of the storyline, but I enjoyed it very much.

I wish I could give this 3-1/2 stars. I am usually a definite fan of Linwood Barclay, but I don't feel this is one of his better works. For the most part it's a solid read, but then came a seemingly unnecessary twist that was left unresolved. That was followed by a very abrupt 'cliffhanger' ending which is clearly going to lead to another book. I think this one could have been wrapped up in a more satisfying way.

Love Linwood Barclay stories. I had a difficult time with this book because of the glaring error in the name of the website - JUST DESERTS. Really? Does no one proofread anymore? Shouldn't the name be JUST DESSERTS? When the name is critical to the plot, please check more critically. Other than that, this is a great read!!

Fourth book in this series and it’s absolutely well written and great read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and had humour peppered on the way. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

This is another top class work by the author who doesn't write any bad book. The plot was very nice and so were the characters introduced or some from previous books. I would recommend this book to the thriller lovers as well as the fans of the author and to be read after reading the Promise Falls trilogy.

J'ai lu plusieurs livres de cet auteur et celui ci m'est apparu bien insipide

Good read and worth buying, I always find his books worth reading and enjoy his story lines and an entertaining read.