Too Close To Home

Book Review

by Matt Orlando

Not interested in Matt’s opinion of Linwood Barclay’s, Too Close to Home? We understand…but you should look into his work here:

Too Close to Home Apple Books | Amazon | Goodreads | Wikipedia | Website

About Linwood Barclay

The following was gathered from his Wiki:

Born in 1955, Linwood is an American-born Canadian author, novelist, humorist, and former columnist for the Peterborough Examiner and Toronto Star. His popular DETECTIVE AND THRILLER novels are bestsellers in Canada and internationally, including No Time for Goodbye, The Accident, Never Look Away, Fear the Worst, and Too Close to Home. Multiple titles have been optioned for film. “Barclay lives in Oakville, Ontario, with his wife of more than three decades, Neetha, with whom he has two children - Spencer and Paige.”

Editorial Reviews

““Affecting and effective . . .[Barclay] hit the international best-seller lists last year with his first thriller, No Time for Goodbye. Too Close to Home shows him in even better form.” —Wall Street Journal”

““A terrifically fast-paced suspense story.” —Washington Post”

““Barclay knows how to put ordinary people into extraordinarily dangerous circumstances…. Readers will zip through it with delight.” —Publishers Weekly”

Book Review Introduction

Too Close To Home came to me under rather odd circumstances, and it turned out to be a mystery as to where the mystery book had come from.

I like writing about where, when, and how books make it into my life because that’s usually how it happens. Books find me.  They do this through a good friend, an enigmatic stranger, or an unknown entity.

The book arrived in my mail with another used book, The Chef by James Patterson in a package that I had not ordered. What was interesting, was that the name for the recipient was my nick name — Buzz.

It did, however, include my last name — Orlando, but there is only a small circle of people who know and use my nickname. The origin address was from Dallas. But there was no note. No card as to who sent it.

I have a younger brother in Dallas Fort Worth area who often refers to me as Buzz, so I text him. Negative. “I didn’t send you any damn books.”

Strange.

The books were used books and inside there was a stamp that said they must be returned within three weeks. Then, I thought it was a scam. Someone sends you books and then they start billing you late fees when you don’t return them on time.

I was baffled.

But how would they know my nickname, and why would they use that instead of my real name?

Must be an old enemy. Someone from my past. They were going to sign me up for every book-scam under the sun until I was desolate and homeless. I couldn't sleep. I couldn’t even read the books. I knew of Patterson. I’d probably read ten of his books.

But Lynwood Barclay? Who the hell was that? Never heard of him.

And I for sure wasn’t up late the week before, drunk-ordering books, and using my nickname because I was so drunk, I forgot my real name.

My younger brother in Dallas was sending texts every day for a week, with ideas about how this could be happening to me.

All his ideas surrounding the arrival of the books were catastrophic and included me going to jail or being homeless.

He has an imagination maybe greater than mine, but the outcomes were all similar — someone had it in for me.

I don’t remember what time it was — probably morning, and probably before three – when I had bolted upright in bed with a sigh of relief escaping my lips before I had even figured out why.

I had unconsciously solved the mystery of the mysterious used books.

I have another younger brother up in Portland. Triplet younger brothers in all, but this particular one had said he’d bought me a Christmas present and it was on the way.

He is a thoughtful brother, and he evidently had made sure I received my present weeks before Christmas.

Well, he used my nickname, and bought the books for me online out of a place in Dallas. I confirmed the story later that day. I felt the weight of the books taken off my shoulders. Mystery solved.

My Final Opinion of Too Close to Home

Too Close To Home was the book I had read at night because The Goldfinch was keeping me up too late.

Not to say that Too Close To Home was putting me to sleep. I thought it was a great book. “Great”, you ask? Great? As “great” as The Goldfinch? I don’t compare books like that. To me, an In-N-Out 4x4, animal style, is a great burger, and so is a Kobe burger topped with foie gras. But quite frankly, I don’t want to eat a sixty-dollar burger every night because that’s expensive, and it’s really rich…which I’m not. #buymybooks

Here’s what I liked about Barclay’s writing: it has very little cheese.

That’s right, more food! Seriously though, I like things to be a bit gritty, and a bit serious, and sometimes completely believable. Truth, in general, can be more fascinating than fiction, so it helps me to believe that something can take place. I really enjoyed the characters. All relatable. All colorful. All flawed to the bejesus belt.

The story was entertaining. Could happen.

Probably does happen from time to time, or things like it. But it was not just about the mystery, it was about the relationships. And if you don’t believe the relationships, you won’t give a crap what happens. I liked the hero. I liked his flaws, but I also liked his reasoning. He was believably tough. But also, believably weak.

I can’t say that the story twisted out of my imagination in a way that I hadn’t seen coming. I imagine many readers will pick up on a few of the turns. But also, there were some well hidden gems in there.

I love when authors make you seek justice, and make you turn the page to get it, adding layer upon layer of stress for the hero.

Barclay created an interesting, layered, and believable world.

He makes you want to turn the page, and he doesn’t smother the whole damn thing with cheese.

I will be reading more of Barclay’s books, and I’ll be letting you know what I think of them. If you’re looking for a fun ride, like a good mystery that isn’t driven by some superhero ex-green beret private investigator, who knows three languages, is an expert marksman after also training with Mossad agents in Israel, all who he calls upon for help when things get sticky… then give Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay a Try.

And hey, for me the mystery of the mystery book's arrival added some great flavor!

Yum!

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He was a walking talking wrecking ball of destruction.

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