The twenty-three cover

The twenty-three

by Linwood Barclay

"It's the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, May 23rd, and the small town of Promise Falls, New York, has found itself in the midst of a full-blown catastrophe. Hundreds of people are going to the hospital with similar flu-like symptoms--and dozens have died. Investigators quickly zero in on the water supply. But the question for many, including private investigator Cal Weaver, remains: Who would benefit from a mass poisoning of this town? Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth is faced with another problem. A college student has been murdered, and he's seen the killer's handiwork before--in the unsolved homicides of two other women in town. Suddenly, all the strange things that have happened in the last month start to add up ... Bloody mannequins found in car "23" of an abandoned Ferris wheel ... a fiery, out-of-control bus with "23" on the back, that same number on the hoodie of a man accused of assault ... The motive for harming the people of Promise Falls points to the number 23--and working out why will bring Duckworth closer to death than he's ever been before..." -- Provided by publisher.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?