Latest thriller from Linwood Barclay

By JEFF AYERS

Associated Press

“Far From True” (New American Library), by Linwood Barclay

“Far From True,” Linwood Barclay’s sequel to “Broken Promise,” continues the interweaving tales of the inhabitants of Promise Falls.

Barclay does an admirable job of familiarizing the reader with the characters and their backgrounds without being intrusive to those already familiar with the town.

The Constellation Drive-In Theater is closing and the owner is having a party to say goodbye. The entire facility is packed when the screen explodes. The investigation leads to the demolition company hired to make way for condos, but the company hasn’t yet visited the site. The explosives were deliberate and meant to invoke fear.

The daughter of one of the victims hires private investigator Cal Weaver after she discovers her father’s house has been ransacked.

Weaver uncovers a secret room, and the materials inside could be a motive for the act of terror.

Toss in a disgraced mayor who wants to become relevant again and several folks who don’t want the truth of the secret room to get out and you’ve got a heady mix of small-town politics, sex and murder.

Barclay writes terrific suburban thrillers.

The lack of closure can be frustrating, but the conclusion to his trilogy is due later this year.