The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay

The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Linwood Barclay comes the third jaw-dropping thriller set in Promise Falls. 

Everything has been leading to this.

It's the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, May 23rd, and the small town of Promise Falls, New York, has found itself in the midst of a full-blown catastrophe. Hundreds of people are going to the hospital with similar flu-like symptoms—and dozens have died. Investigators quickly zero in on the water supply. But the question for many, including private investigator Cal Weaver, remains: Who would benefit from a mass poisoning of this town?

Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth is faced with another problem. A college student has been murdered, and he's seen the killer's handiwork before—in the unsolved homicides of two other women in town. Suddenly, all the strange things that have happened in the last month start to add up…

Bloody mannequins found in car “23” of an abandoned Ferris wheel…a fiery, out-of-control bus with “23” on the back, that same number on the hoodie of a man accused of assault…

The motive for harming the people of Promise Falls points to the number 23—and working out why will bring Duckworth closer to death than he's ever been before…

**********

Finally! That's how I felt when I started to read this book. The last book had a terrible cliffhanger and I've been waiting months to get to continue with the story. So, did this book live up to my expectations? Yes, and no. Don't take me wrong, it's a fantastic book, a page-turner. I loved that everything was starting to come together. However, not everything felt completely resolved, and right now I checked to see so it really is a trilogy and that no more books are planned in the series because, if there were more books would the ending have felt more understandable. But, no, this is apparently the last one.

At least the identity of the serial killer is finally revealed and that was a bit of surprise. Also, the truth about the number 23 is revealed, a little less of a surprise there. A bit of surprise for me was the sympathy I felt for ex-mayor Randy Finley in this book. He has never really been a nice character, but behind all that sleaze, well he did have a soft spot.

The Twenty-Three was a good book, despite leaving some people's fate hanging in balance. I would love to know what happens next so I really hope that Linwood Barcley will write more about Promise Falls. Perhaps a new trilogy?

I want to thank Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!