Thriller

The book centers around con artist ‘psychic’ Keisha Ceylon. She lives with her dead-beat boyfriend Kirk, who I hated, and her young son Matthew. I thought it was quite clear from the start that Keisha is motivated by financial means to "trick" the bereaved into hearing what they want to hear. My first thought was "How does this woman sleep at night?". Then it became evident her tricks were soon to be catching up with her. The question then becomes what happens when the scammer is scammed? Overall this is an intense psychological thriller, slightly different than Barclay's usual fare, but filled with shady characters. It's a cleverly done story and a very satisfying read. ( )

I really enjoyed this short book, it had lots of twists and turns. ( )

Another very enjoyable read from Linwood Barclay. I like the way he links up characters from his different books, e.g. Main character from The Accident is mentioned in this book and the main character in this book has a part in at least two other books he had written. There is plenty of non-stop action in this book with plenty of twists to keep you engrossed. Only thing that stopped me giving it 5 stars was the ending (up till this stage it had five stars), as with one other of his books I read I feel there ending was rushed and didn't leave me feeling totally satisfied. But don't get me wrong I still enjoyed this book a lot! 4 stars. ( )

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

****

There are psychics, and then there are those who claim to be psychics in order to part people from their money. Keisha Ceylon is one of the latter. Her specialty is raising the hopes of those whose friends or relatives have gone missing, and it's nothing fancy -- very often, her marks provide all the clues she needs to give them reassurance without actually being psychic. However, this time, her "visions" are a bit too close to the truth, and she never saw it coming.

This was much better than I was anticipating. Normally Barclay writes large, chunky thrillers that still go by quickly. This one originally began as a novella entitled Clouded Vision, and I wasn't sure how much story there could be. But it was lean in a good way, not a wasted scene, and minimal backstory or infodumping. There was also maximum shock value from very few shocking scenes. For me, the scene with the knitting needle in the eye nearly made me pass out in public.

A female protagonist was a nice change as well from Barclay's mostly male protagonists---not that they're bad males, but it is good to see a female in the lead for once. I also like how all the characters in his thrillers live in the same universe, even if this isn't part of a "series": fans will recognize Terry Archer from No Time for Goodbye and a mention of Glen Garber from The Accident, and of course Rona Wedmore is still the police detective. Prior knowledge of No Time for Goodbye is not really a requirement, and there aren't any spoilers, but it does add a little something if you're in the loop.

I would perhaps recommend this if you're looking for a short entrée into the world of Linwood Barclay's thrillers. ( )