The Twenty-Three

September 26, 2016
Bizarre incidents continue to maim and kill the residents of Promise Falls, N.Y., in Barclay’s fast and furious conclusion to the trilogy that began with 2015’s Broken Promise. Many believe a serial killer is at work, while others are perplexed and refuse to believe such a thing could happen in their beloved burg. But then the next calamity hits with brute force: townspeople—young, old, rich, poor—begin to drop like flies from a mysterious ailment. Symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, and a racing heartbeat come on suddenly, and most victims are dead within hours. Others linger, comatose in a hospital crammed with bodies and helpless nurses and doctors. As the death toll rises, a pattern finally emerges, and Det. Barry Duckworth races to save the town and his own loved ones. Though some readers may feel befuddled by the sheer number of characters and relationships, Barclay skillfully juggles all the different plot lines right up to the stunning conclusion. Author tour. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency (Canada).

More mass mayhem awaits Barclay fans in the final installment of his Promise Falls trilogy, in which bodies stack up "in the morgue like firewood before the winter."Upstate New York detective Barry Duckworth already has his hands full dealing with the sex crimes, campus murders, and drive-in disaster of Barclay's previous novel, Far from True (2016). The new book opens with an elaborate cross-section of town residents getting violently sick and falling over in critical condition. In one of the worst disasters in New York history, more than 100 people die. The immediate thought is that someone tainted the town water supply. Could it have been the loathsome former mayor Randall Finley, who operates a water bottling company? But water isn't the only thing killing people on this Memorial Day weekend. A knife-wielding criminal is on the loose, targeting women. With so many more people losing their spouses, their boyfriends and girlfriends, their parents and grandparents, you wonder how Promise Falls can possibly survive--though as orphaned 11-year-old Crystal says to DI Cal Weaver, aware of the murder charges that had been hanging over her mother before she died of the tainted water, "I guess there's one good thing....My mom won't ever have to go to jail." Barclay is one of the best storytellers in the thriller genre, and there are certainly pleasures to be drawn from this tale. But there are so many characters, most of them thinly drawn, that it's difficult to keep up with who's who and even who killed whom. (It's best to read the series from the beginning.) And anyone expecting a satisfying payoff to the mystery of the recurring number 23 will be disappointed. People die in large quantities in this deviously plotted but overly sprawling effort. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

Residents of Promise Falls, NY, are becoming violently ill after having their morning coffee and orange juice. Soon the hospital is overrun with sick and dying citizens. Former reporter David Harwood quickly surmises that there is something wrong with the water supply. It is up to Det. Barry Duckworth to figure out if this sabotage is linked to the bizarre and deadly crimes centered on the number 23. Both Harwood and Duckworth suspect Randall Finley, the former mayor and current owner of Finley Springs Water. As if mass murder weren't enough, another body of a young woman has been discovered and there is no longer any doubt that a serial killer is on the loose. While Barclay wraps up both mysteries, the solutions are lacking. The identity of the serial killer, especially, comes out of nowhere. VERDICT Although this series has been advertised as a trilogy (Broken Promise; Far from True), the fate of several characters are left hanging. Readers hoping for a satisfying conclusion will be disappointed.--Lynnanne Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL

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