I was kindly gifted a copy of Linwood Barclay’s ‘The Lie Maker’ by HQ Stories.
Wow, there are so many books in the world that, as I was reading this, I thought this was the first time that I had read Linwood Barclay – however, I was mistaken. In fact, five years ago I had read one of his books, and I admit that maybe I should remember all the novels that I have enjoyed, but I think, for me, this actually means this is evidence of a good author, as I do not feel I was reading a book that I had read before, but something completely fresh.
‘The Lie Maker’ was an absolutely fantastic read. In fact, I devoured it in two days; this was a book that the phrase ‘I cannot put it down’ was created for. I shut myself away just so that I could get the book finished.
A friend messaged me to tell me that ‘He [Linwood Barclay] is an absolute master’ – and she was not wrong. This was such a clever idea for a book; our main character is offered a job writing the background stories for people who go into witness protection, but – as you can imagine – this is not going to be a job that is smooth sailing…if it is a job at all. Now, that is as much as I can say for the moment because, as a thriller/crime novel, there will be no spoilers here.
But what I can say is that this book is well crafted and has you guessing from start to finish, I think maybe a couple of the reveals may not come as a total shock, but they are all so cleverly woven into the story that you are not at all disappointed. I definitely did not have the solutions in my head before we got to the end. The characterisation of all the characters was fantastic, too, making the story very believable as a piece of fiction.
I think it is fair to say that I have been reminded that I am a fan of Linwood Barclay, and I will be looking for his books in the bookshops and the libraries. And, as he is an author that counts Stephen King amongst his fans, you know you must be a reading an author who deserves the title of ‘an absolute master’.