Take Your Breath Away

A Novel

By: Linwood Barclay

Narrated by: Joe Knezevich, George Newbern, Hillary Huber, Pete Simonelli, Michael Crouch, Lauren Fortgang, Jim Meskimen, Karissa Vacker

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A missing woman. A husband suspected. The truth will . . .

TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY

From the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Elevator Pitch comes a gripping psychological thriller about a formerly missing woman who has suddenly returned under mysterious circumstances.

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. To tell the truth, 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 depend on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers.

©2022 Linwood Barclay (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Great Book

My second time reading Linwood Barclays. I discovered him by chance, in a store with a limited selection of novels and figured I would give him a try, so glad I did! He is a great storyteller, the plot keeps you guessing, the descriptions are enough to give you the vision but not so much that you get bored. He is one of my new favorites!!

Not sure I can finish

Intrigued by the story, but really put off by the insertion of unnecessary political points. And for sure including anything related to the pandemic was totally unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story. Giving it a couple more chapters, because I do want to know how the plot plays off.

Take Your Breath Away

Plot. Andrew Mason goes on a fishing weekend with his work partner and comes home to find his wife, Brie, missing. Poof, just gone. Naturally, the police suspect Andrew, but the case goes cold. Fast-forward 6 years, and she's back. But, not really - she's making one-stop appearances at her old house, a window, and her mother's deathbed. But, that's all. Andrew is again suspected by the police and is in another relationship, but goes on the hunt to find out if Brie is alive and why she disappeared.

Liked: Twisty, which is fun. Surprise ending.

Not so hot. Too many narrators; this is not a play. Just my opinion, but eight narrators is a severe overkill - I couldn't tell the difference in voicing. The audio is a bit slow.

Written by Linwood Barclay, eight narrators: Joe Knezevich, George Newbern, Hillary Huber, Pete Simonelli, Michael Crouch, Lauren Fortgang, Jim Meskimen, and Karissa Vacker. Ten hours of listening in unabridged audiobook format, released in May 2022 by HarperAudio.

Entertaining listen.

Twists

If you like a good who dunnit this book is for you! Loads of twists and turns in the plot.

Barclay's books rarely disappoint

Her husband is away on a fishing trip when she calls an exterminator, an odd duck who dislikes killing anything. He advises her to dust the kitchen floor by the sink with flour and look for mouse tracks in the morning to determine if she needs him. She gets up during the night and checks the kitchen and sees tracks -- great big man-sized footprints.
Brie Mason disappears. A cloud hangs over her husband -- because the detective assigned to the case suspects him and his sister-in-law campaigns to have him arrested. He finally changes his name. Years pass. He has a girlfriend and a life again. He is an eminently reasonable man -- rather like the hero of Crichton's "Prey." Then his old neighbor calls him and say a woman pulled in the driveway with groceries and demanded to know what happened to her house. (The new owners leveled the old house and built a new one). She looks like Brie. And that's not the only sighting. And Andrew's world is turned upside-down.
Captivating premise and well executed work.

Great twisty story line…

I loved this audiobook!! I didn’t want to turn it off. The narrator’s were also all very good and that’s what is most important for audiobooks.

wonderful

it was hard for me to stop it was so good. I loved it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Absolutely wonderful and even better with 8

This is a DEFINITE MUST! The storyline is remarkable and the narration is absolutely stunning. Like these reading it actually is those characters. There is absolutely no slouching along in this storyline. It keeps you immersed and gripped by the seams. You will love this.

Good plot, entertaining

I was attracted by the plot summary and found that the the book held its promise. Great narration helps as well

A Maze of Plots

At first I thought this Who-Done-it was rather tame for Linwood Barclay and then it became wound up in itself with a myriad of plots which I found compelling and intriguing. Just one criticism - I found it difficult to focus on the storyline with so many different narrators and constantly changing characters.