Saturday 2 July 2022

Book ~ "Take Your Breath Away" (2022) Linwood Barclay

From Goodreads ~ One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder - it's always the husband, isn't it? - but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom - he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business and became a pariah in the place he once called home.

Now, six years later, Andy has finally put his life back together. He sold the house he once shared with Brie and moved away. Truth to tell, he wasn't sad to hear that the old place was razed and a new house built on the site. He's settled down with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.

But Andy's peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, "Where's my house? What's happened to my house?" And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman - who bears a striking resemblance to Brie - is gone. The police are notified and old questions - and dark suspicions - resurface.

Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy's future, and the lives of those closest to him, depends on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers.


Six years ago, Andy was spending the weekend with his best friend, Greg ... and that weekend Brie, his wife, disappeared without a trace.  Everyone assumed Andy had something to do with it and Brie was never found.  Andy's life fell apart ... he drank too much, Brie's family continuously tried to prove he killed her, he lost his business, sold their house (which was ripped down and rebuilt) and more.  But six years later, he has gotten things on track again ... he's picking up jobs and he's living with Jayne.

Then Andy gets a call from his former neighbour that someone who looks like Brie just showed up, wondering what had happened to her house.  Brie's family has a sighting outside the hospital where their mother is dying.  Has Brie returned and if so, where has she been?  As Andy tries to figure out what's going on, he has to deal with how it will impact his new life with Jayne.

I've read many books by this author and I liked this one.  It is written in first person perspective in Andy's voice and third person perspective from many points of view, depending on where the action was.  There were a couple twists with the ending(s) and I was okay with them.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

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