Far From True (#2) by Linwood Barclay

3.0 out of 5 stars -- Something is seriously rotten in Promise Falls...

I was excited to get this second book in the trilogy by one of my favorite authors. Had I known that the cliffhanger at the end of this one was going to be so glaringly a slap in the face after the time I invested reading it, I would have definitely not read it at this time. If you haven't yet started this trilogy, my recommendation would be to wait until all 3 books are available so that you don't experience the frustration of wanting to throw the novel at the wall!

The story is a complicated mix of various plot lines and a vast cast of characters. Trying to keep them all straight is difficult as there are multiple investigations going on simultaneously. Lots of death, murder and mayhem with some titillating scandal involving some of the members of this small community. The opening features a giant drive-in movie screen exploding and falling on a couple of cars in the lot. Once the dust settles from that event, we move on to situations involving a tragedy or two from the previous book and a current shocker of "spouse sharing" that might lead to a murder or two. And that's just the beginning.

I had read #1 also as an ARC (in June of 2015) so it had been awhile, and my memory of that book was resurrected as events evolved so there was some familiarity with several of the characters. I thought at least ONE of the crimes would have been solved by this one's end, but no joy. I enjoyed the writing and the stories and would have rated this higher had it actually had a definitive conclusion giving some resolution or answers. Of course I'll read the third one having already come this far, but I don't like having to wait for it and I do not like it when authors do this to fans.

I'd describe it as a mystery thriller involving domestic issues. Thank you to the publisher for the e-book ARC to review.

PS The reader gets a sneak peek into the beginning of the next and last book in this trilogy and, whoa, now those poor folks in Promise Falls have a really big problem!