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Read Beyond Recall (1997)

Beyond Recall (1997)

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Genre
Rating
3.81 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0552142255 (ISBN13: 9780552142250)
Language
English
Publisher
corgi

Beyond Recall (1997) - Plot & Excerpts

Sometimes I think Robert Goddard's books are great, other times he sells us a turkey - they're silly, and they lack credibility etc, but this one was one of the first. A crime from forty years previously comes back to haunt a wealthy family when the son returns to a family wedding to find his old childhood friend has hanged himself. There's the usual raft of family secrets, flashbacks to the past and mysterious happenings whilst the hero runs round hopelessly at a breakneck pace.It filled up the time nicely whilst we were stuck in a traffic jam north of Troyes (I wasn't driving). Robert Goddard is good for ten hour car journeys, don't know if he'd hold my attention otherwise. His heroes are always hapless, they end up being accused of murder and look out for the baddy female in there somewhere. Goddard always likes a femme fatale type.My teenage daughter sneered at it at first but couldn't put it down later.

My 3rd-and favourite-Goddard to date. Lots of twists in a quite intriguing tale of revenge and misplaced loyalties. The ending was rather saccharine coated, but nonetheless wound up the tale quite adequately. I'm finding these novels rather interesting-some good insights into the motivations of the characters, and a fast enough moving plot to keep the pages turning. More depth would be appreciated at times-but guess that could be counter productive, and the plot would inevitably need to play a secondary role to the character development! Having said that, every peice of information given is important to the final conclusion, so Goddard does need to be read carefully, with all clues safely stored in the memory for future use.

What do You think about Beyond Recall (1997)?

A better-than-average run through of several genre tropes, from the past that won't stay buried to the mystery woman with an even more mysterious vendetta. But the moral conundrums on display don't impress as much as the author apparently believes--there's a lot of special pleading to make the black sheep narrator much the most honorable member of his family. And the plot twists, while not egregiously out of left field, are merely expedient. Flipping back after each rug-pull to the relevant conversations, there's mostly no hint of revelations to come, no pleasant little shiver at the diligent spadework done to pay off down the line.
—Bruce Reid

This is the tenth Robert Goddard novel I've read in my quest to read his novels in chronological order. This one seems back on track after a couple of not-so-good ones with plots that didn't seem to be terribly realistic. The male protagonist in this one is, as usual, flawed, but seems to have acquired a reasonable backbone for the inevitable role he assumes. The plot, as usual, has its twists and turns, including its places where you think some minor mystery is explained, only to have it snatched away later. The families involved, as usual, are relatively dysfunctional; it's sometimes hard to keep track of whom is whom, but that seems a common thread, too, in Robert Goddard novels.On to the next one...
—Bryan Higgs

I've read quite a few Goddards now, and it has to be said that like many authors he has a particular style. In fact, he has a very particular style. Fortunately for me, it's a style I like. I'm not going to give plot details as they are available elsewhere. Beyond Recall is typical Goddard, a mystery moving between related stories in different timelines. As such, it's an enjoyable read with quite a few twist and turns, some I saw coming, others not. For the most of the book, it was a solid 4 stars. However, the last ten percent (ish) of the book just didn't quite work for me, things tied up a bit too easily. For Goddard, it was a bit of a let down. Overall, I would probably rate if 3.5 stars for the overall experience, but with the ending there's no way I can give it 4. Goddard fans will enjoy it, but first timers should start with an earlier book.
—Joe Stamber

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