Linwood Barclay’s Never Look Away

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay is one good book.  From cover to cover, this fictional thriller is a page turner that keeps you guessing as new twists are continuously introduced into the story.  Published in 2010, Canadian author and former Toronto Star editor and columnist Barclay creates an intriguing story that hooks you right away.  The book’s main character David Harwood, a reporter for a slowly failing newspaper, thinks he can uncover evidence of corruption involving members of city council.  Unfortunately before he can, a family member is kidnapped at an amusement park with devastating consequences.  Nothing is adding up for the reporter and it’s beginning to appear that evidence is pointing to him as the culprit.  Harwood must strike out and investigate the kidnapping and disappearance on his own to find out the truth about his loved one.  The book is one part whodunit and one part thriller.  The first part of the book will leave you speculating as to exactly what the heck is going on while the second part of the book is fast paced and suspenseful as Barclay fills in the reader with the methodology of the kidnapping and the reasoning behind it.  David Harwood, the book’s main character, is a “Joe Everyman” and the reader can’t help but relate to the character while being mortified as events continue to box him in.  I really liked the way the book flowed right through, from beginning to end with no lulls or sections that slowed the story down.  This was the first Linwood Barclay book I have read and right after putting this little blog entry up on the website, I am going to go downstairs and grab another one off the shelf.  Man, the beauty of working in a public library is you will never run out of books to read.