Too Close to Home

August 11, 2008
Canadian author Barclay’s previous novel, No Time for Goodbye
(2007), a Thriller Award–finalist, showed that he knows how to put ordinary people into extraordinarily dangerous circumstances. Barclay works some of that same magic in his second stand-alone thriller, which opens with the shooting deaths of Albert and Donna Langley and their teenage son, Adam, in their Promise Falls, N.Y., home one hot summer night. Bill Cutter, a neighbor who works as a gardener and was once the driver and “glorified gofer without an ounce of self-respect” for the town’s nasty mayor, and Bill’s wife, Ellen, soon find themselves wondering who would want to kill the Langleys and what part their sullen 17-year-old son and Adam’s friend, Derek, may have played in the tragedy. While this one isn’t quite up to the standard of No Time for Goodbye
—its convoluted plot creaks occasionally—readers will zip through it with delight.

July 15, 2008
How well do you really know the people in your life? That is the question addressed in Barclay's second stand-alone thriller after "No Time for Goodbye". On a hot summer night, the Langley family is murdered in their home. There seems to be no motive for the crime, and the town where they live is shocked. Jim Cutter, their neighbor, is drawn into the investigation when his son is mistakenly arrested for the crime. Soon he discovers everyone has secrets, as they begin to bubble to the top. Jim has to find redemption, not only for his sins but also for those he loves most. This is a terrific read full of false leads and shady characters, offering an entertaining look into small-town life and the connections among people, both good and bad. Strongly recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/1/08.]Elizabeth Cornelius, Trevor Day Sch., New York

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2008
Derek Cutter, a high-school student, takes advantage of his neighbors vacation and hides in their house when they leave. He envisions his girlfriend coming over and having a quiet run of the house and a chance to get to know each other better. While calling her to come over, he is surprised by the neighbors return. Thinking they forgot something, he hides in the crawlspace in the basement and waits for them to leave. A few minutes later, however, he hears a doorbell and gunshots. When he finally gets the courage to go upstairs, he discovers their dead bodies. The ensuing chaos will disrupt a small town and devastate him and his family. Barclay tackles a scary scenario and with the proper twists and turns creates an engaging thriller. Excessive profanity sometimes distracts to the point of grinding the story line to a halt, but that quibble aside, this is a gripping read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

March 2, 2009
Barclay’s latest novel about ordinary people in extraordinary peril is filled with complications and coincidences that in a less propulsive thriller would push readers past the boundary of credibility. Christopher Lane adds a needed layer of reality to the yarn, giving each character unique shadow and substance. The novel’s hero is a grass cutter named (oddly enough) Cutter, whose neighbor, a hotshot lawyer, is murdered along with his family. Lane provides Cutter with the voice of an educated, clever guy operating beneath his potential and rounds out the book’s other characters, too—Cutter’s literary wife, his surly teenage son, a smarmy mayor, the arrogant dean of the local university and his Mafia-princess wife, a slow-talking mysterious stranger and assorted thugs and lawn-owners. A Bantam hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 11).