How does a whole village vanish?
Well, it’s a small village – four houses, nine people – but this is still a cracking premise for a crime thriller. Where did the people of Black Gale go?
Two and a half years on, there are still no answers. Enter: David Raker, a Private Investigator whose sole remit is to find missing people, alive or dead…
What’s it about?
On Halloween night, four neighbouring families gather for a party. Photos automatically uploaded to the cloud show appear to show that they had a grand time, but there’s no evidence of where they disappeared to afterwards. Police posit a game of hide and seek gone wrong on the bleak, surrounding moors, but when no evidence arises to support any thesis, desperate relatives hire David Raker to investigate.
Raker soon discovers that there’s something odd afoot, but his investigative partner, Colm Healy, is a man in hiding, previously declared dead and only surviving with Raker’s support. Will this be the case that forces Healy back into the open? Or will it be the case that destroys Raker?
Meanwhile, a young police officer, Jo, balancing family commitments with her career in a deeply misogynistic environment, (1980’s LA,) investigates the disappearance of a young girl. As time passes, she never loses her commitment to this case. It’s obvious that the two cases will eventually connect, but how will they intersect? The answers will be shocking.
What’s it like?
Fast-paced, brutal, atmospheric. Short chapters keep the action moving swiftly and it felt as if there was a genuine threat to Raker’s life, though fans may know that this is book 10 in a series that currently spans 14 books.
The ending feels rather drawn out, with waves of resolution to various elements, but ultimately ties everything together satisfactorily. Perhaps the biggest issue for me was that, when the events of Halloween are unravelled, it felt almost too simple an answer – at least initially – for a resolution to such a complicated plot. As with most fiction, a certain level of suspension of disbelief is required, but as is almost equally often true, if you fully embrace Weaver’s premise, you’ll find the outcomes more convincing!
Final thoughts
This was easy to read and enjoyable, though there was a little too much reliance on ‘telling’ as opposed to ‘showing’ for my liking, particularly in the case of one character, who helps Raker connect a lot of dots late on in the story (though fails to give him one vital piece of information!)
I do find premises with a good ‘hook’ pretty much irresistible, which is why, after completing ‘No One Home’, I immediately read ‘The Last Goodbye’, Raker’s 12th outing, in which a man and his son go into a fairground ride but don’t come out…
Although this is part of a series, I was able to read it happily as a standalone. I am now tempted to read the whole series from the beginning, though as ever, I make this assertion while casting a glance at my tottering TBR pile and am not sure quite when I will find time to fully embrace these characters. One day!
