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Linwood Barclay

Biography

Linwood Barclay

Linwood Barclay, a New York Times bestselling author with over 20 novels to his credit, spent three decades in newspapers before turning full time to writing thrillers. His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold millions of copies, and he counts Stephen King among his fans. Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, a series has been made in France, and he wrote the screenplay for the film based on his novel NEVER SAW IT COMING. Born in the US, his parents moved to Canada just as he was turning four, and he’s lived there ever since. He lives near Toronto with his wife, Neetha. They have two grown children.

Books by Linwood Barclay

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others. But when Mark LeDrew shows up at Richard’s school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is hailed as a hero. However, Richard’s brief moment in the spotlight puts him in the sights of a deranged blackmailer with a score to settle. The situation rapidly spirals out of control, drawing Richard into a fraught web of salacious accusations and deadly secrets. As he tries to uncover the truth, he discovers that there’s something deeply wrong in the town --- something that ties together Mark, the blackmailer and a gang of ruthless drug dealers, and Richard has landed smack in the middle of it.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son. These are some of the last words that Jack Givins’ father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives as best they could. Years later, Jack is a talented but struggling author. So when the U.S. Marshals approach him with a lucrative opportunity, he’s in no position to turn them down. They’re recruiting writers like Jack to create false histories for people in witness protection. Jack soon realizes this may be a chance to find his dad. But Jack’s father hasn’t made contact with his handlers recently, and they have no idea where he is. He could be in serious danger, and Jack may be the only one who can find him.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had gotten away with murder, but the police could never build a strong case against him. 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. 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.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The media have descended on Garrett Island, a small, isolated community that is the setting of a visionary experiment. All the residents’ cars were sent to the mainland, and for the past month the islanders have been “driving” the Arrival, a revolutionary autonomous vehicle. With a simple voice command, an Arrival will take you wherever you want to go. As the excitement reaches a fever pitch, public relations executive Sandra Montrose prepares for Arrival Inc.’s flashy press event. But as the celebratory day gets underway, disaster strikes. A visiting journalist has vanished, possibly murdered. Before long, the Arrivals run amok, no longer taking orders from their passengers. They’re starting to organize. They’re beginning to hunt. And they seem hell-bent on killing any human they encounter.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Tech millionaire Miles Cookson recently has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a 50 percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has nine kids, and they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him. Aspiring film documentarian Chloe Swanson embarks on a quest to find her biological father, armed with the knowledge that 22 years ago, her mother used a New York sperm bank to become pregnant. When Miles and Chloe eventually connect, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’ other potential heirs are vanishing --- every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, nonstop, to the top. Once there, the doors don’t open. Instead, the elevator begins to descend floor by floor. Then it plummets. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It appears to be a random accident. But on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And then Wednesday brings yet another tragic high-rise catastrophe. Clearly, this is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. Fearing for their lives, thousands of people who work in high-rises across the city refuse to leave their homes. Who is behind this? Are these deadly acts of sabotage connected to a fingerless body found on the High Line?

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s "normal" existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, brings home a vintage typewriter to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write. However, Paul swears that it is possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs; Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries he’s going off the rails. Paul believes the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

After a tragedy rocks the community of Promise Falls, Cal Weaver is asked to investigate the threats being made to the accused's family. He's heard all about it on the news: the young man who drank too much, stole a Porsche and killed a girl, and who claimed afterwards not to remember a single thing. The whole town is outraged that he got off lightly, but for reasons Cal can't explain, he accepts the job. Then he finds himself caught up in a vicious revenge plot, chasing someone set on delivering retribution. In Cal's experience, it's only ever a matter of time before threats turn into action.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

It’s May 23, and the small town of Promise Falls finds itself in the midst of a full-blown catastrophe with dozens dead from a flu-like virus. Investigator Cal Weaver quickly zeros in on mass poisoning and a tainted water supply. Meanwhile, a college student has been murdered, and Detective Barry Duckworth recognizes a killer’s handiwork from the unsolved homicides of two women in town. Suddenly, the strange events from the last month start to add up. The motive for hurting the people of this town points to the number 23 --- and working out why will bring Duckworth closer to death than ever before.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

When private investigator Cal Weaver looks into a break-in at the home of a recently deceased man, he uncovers far more than he is prepared for after he finds a hidden room that was used for salacious activities. Detective Barry Duckworth is doggedly trying to solve two murders, one of which is three years old. He believes the killings are connected, since each featured a similar distinctive wound. And the key to his mystery may lie with Cal Weaver’s own case. As the lies begin to unravel, and another murder occurs, Cal and Barry find themselves headed straight into the heart of dark secrets as they uncover more startling truths about Promise Falls.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent. Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions that will affect not only his family, but the entire town.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Seven years ago, Terry Archer and his family experienced a horrific ordeal that nearly cost them their lives. Today, the echoes of that fateful night are still audible. When his daughter, Grace, foolishly follows her delinquent boyfriend into a strange house, the Archers must do more than stay together. They must stay alive. Because now they all have been unwillingly drawn into the shadowy depths of their seemingly idyllic hometown.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

One night, a girl drenched in rain taps on private investigator Cal Weaver’s car window and asks for a ride. She’s the same age as Scott, his teenage son who died in a tragic accident, and maybe she can help Cal find the dealer who sold his son the drugs that killed him. After a brief stop at a roadside diner, Cal senses that something is not right with the girl or the situation. Before he knows it, Cal is drawn into a nightmare of pain and suspicion.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Thomas Kilbride is a map-obsessed schizophrenic so affected that he rarely leaves the self-imposed bastion of his bedroom. But with a computer program called Whirl360.com, he travels the world while never so much as stepping out the door. Then he sees something that anyone else might have stumbled upon --- but has not --- in a street view of downtown New York City: an image in a window. An image that looks like a woman being murdered.

by Linwood Barclay - Fiction, Thriller

In Linwood Barclay’s riveting new thriller, an ordinary man’s desperate search for his daughter leads him into a dark world of corruption, exploitation, and murder. Tim Blake is about to learn that the people you think you know best are the ones harboring the biggest secrets.