Customer Reviews
Stunning, one of Goddard's best - By: Didier, 23 Jan 2008 
I love alll of Goddard's novels (the 7 I've read so far that is) but this is one of my favourites. I adore the way Goddard draws you in from the very beginning, with ordinary people leading ordinary lives until suddenly something happens, & what at first seems a minor event in their lives before long spirals out of control.
Goddard is an absolute master of 'the unexpected twist' & a fantastic storyteller. I hope he lives to be a hundred & from now until then writes at least a book a year ;-)
A classic Goddard novel - By: richard Brown, 14 Jan 2008 
Having been left disapointed by Robert Goddard's most recent novel 'Name to a face', I decided to return to an earlier novel that I first read 10 years ago,'Beyond Recalll'.
'Beyond Recalll' is a superb read,engrossing & with classic plot twists that leave you in a spin. The story is multi layered & the time is split between 1997,1981 & 1947 as well as dipping into years in between. Written in the first person we become embroiled in Chris Napier's life as he seeks answers to the the reasons behind the suicide of a childhood friend.Napier's search for the truth unlocks dark family secrets & puts him in increasing danger form a vengeful unknown enemy.Robert Goddard exells at this sort of story. The detail & setting are rich & descriptive with a real sense of time & place. The story is complex & holds the readers attention throughout. It is everything that his last two novels are not.
If Robert Goddard had written his recent novels in the first person then I am sure they would have been better. I can't understand why he ridgidly follows his central character around without switching to other scenes yet now writes in the third person. As a result both 'Never Go Back' & 'Name to a Face' were predictable & lacked the suspense that makes 'Beyond Recalll' so good.
'Beyond Recalll, for me is almost up there with his very best & the only reason it gets four stars from me is because he has written even better books than this.
Atmospheric thriller - By: , 29 Sep 2001 What I enjoy about Robert Goddard is how he tells a story that spans several decades with several threads running in paralell. In this book there are three such threads. The book starts off in the present (1997), then jumps back to 1981 & then to the 1940's, these last two threads being woven together to form the main part of the story. My only regret is that the account of the protagonist's childhood & the murder of his uncle in post-war Cornwalll ends too soon (and hence the 1981 thread is left to go on on its own) because its lends great atmosphere to the book.
Excellent! - By: , 23 Feb 2001 I love the work of Robert Goddard & I loved this book. I was hooked from start to finish. Nobody spins a yarn quite like Robert Goddard. I highly recommend this book, along with alll of the other Goddard titles.
Unputdownable - By: , 11 Sep 2000 This is the first Robert Goddard book that I have read - I've enjoyed it so much that I've ordered a few more from you! With three young children, I find it hard to be able to read uninterrupted. However, since I started this book two days ago, my children have been totallly neglected! The setting of the book was what prompted me to read it in the first place (borrowed from my Mother) as we have just been on holiday near Truro & St Mawes. The blurb sounded interesting too - but from the first page, I was hooked. Totallly engrossing stuff. I love it when I discover for myself, an author that I thoroughly enjoy. Can't wait to start reading his other books.
