The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay – Book Review

Book review and Summary of ‘The Twenty-Three’:

The book, ‘The Twenty-Three’, is the brilliant conclusion to the ‘Promise Falls’ series, written by the master of the crime-fiction genre, Linwood Barclay. The ‘Promise Falls’ series consists of 4 books. The entire story-line of the series is vividly explained in this book, hence you can read ‘The Twenty-Three’ without reading the rest. However, to get the best experience, I recommend reading ‘Far From True’, but the novel is just as enjoyable without reading any previous book. Without doubt, I would say ‘The Twenty-Three’ is Linwood Barclay’s best book to date, so reading this article is definitely worth your time!

In the town of Promise Falls, mayhem has spread faster than wind, when a dismaying incident takes place. The hospitals are overwhelmed by the crowd that is emerging on a seemingly normal Saturday morning. Emergency services are in aghast by the sheer numbers, and the symptoms of all patients are similar, yet the cause of this catastrophe remains unknown. Is this a mass case of food poisoning? Or something more sinister? The entire town is thrown into a state of chaos with the clamour of dying people filling up the street.

It is up to the police of Promise Falls to solve this crisis, with their lead detective, Barry Duckworth, flooded with ongoing cases. Detective Barry Duckworth had already been investigating the explosion at the town’s drive-in, 2 murders, and several strange cases. He is worried that all of these cases are somehow connected to the number ‘23’. He suspects these mysterious events are a way of sending a grave message to the residents of Promise Falls. Duckworth is almost certain, that this ‘mass poisoning’, has been caused by someone, rather than something. It is up to him, to stop Mr 23, and the deadly messages being sent, before it’s too late…

This book, in my opinion, is one of the best crime-fiction novel ever written (up for debate in the comment section!). Every single chapter entails a new plot-twist, with mysterious revelations on almost every single page. This book is a page turner. It will definitely keep you up at night! The readers’ wild imagination is constantly fuelled throughout. The ending, is the most unbelievable part of the book, with a result, no one would’ve expected. This book literally screams suspense, and is an absolute must-read. The entire story makes perfect sense at the end, and all the puzzle pieces join beautifully. Overall, this is definitely the best Linwood Barclay book I’ve read so far, and highly recommend reading it now!

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