Linwood Barclay

"In the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay, a teacher's act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants"-- How would you react in a life-or-death situation? It's a question everyone asks themselves, but few have to face in real life. English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent...

"The New York Times bestselling master of psychological suspense returns with a riveting thriller in which the possible heirs of a wealthy dying man are mysteriously being eliminated, one by one by one"-- Tech billionaire Miles Cookson has everything he could dream of-- except time. Recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. Two decades ago young, struggling Miles was...

College professor Paul Davis has a normal life until late one evening he spots a colleague disposing of two dead bodies. After nearly losing his life that night, Paul is battling PTSD, depression, and severe problems at work and home. His wife, Charlotte, tries to cheer him up by giving him the vintage typewriter he always wanted but it becomes a source of anxiety itself as Paul swears he can hear the keys clacking when everyone is in bed. Increasingly...

“The best thriller I’ve read in five years.”—Stephen King
A warm summer Saturday. An amusement park. David Harwood is glad to be spending some quality time with his wife and their four-year-old son. But what begins as a pleasant family outing turns into a nightmare after an inexplicable disappearance. A frantic search only leads to an even more shocking and harrowing turn of events. Until this terrifying moment,

...

"From the New York Times bestselling author of No Safe House comes an explosive novel about the disturbing secrets of a quiet small town... 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...

"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 in the basement. All evidence points to the room being used for salacious activity. Perhaps something illegal. He also finds that a cache of DVDs has been stolen from the room and soon realizes it may not be discs the thief was actually interested in. But there is something even...

"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. Terry's wife, Cynthia, is living separate from her husband and daughter after her own personal demons threatened to ruin her relationship with them permanently. Their daughter, Grace, is rebelling against her parents' seemingly needless overprotection. Terry is just trying to keep...

Long and short of it--Barclay delivers on the hype. Fear the Worst starts with one of the better opening lines I've read in a while: "The morning of the day I lost her, my daughter asked me to scramble her some eggs." It's such a simple sentence, speaking of everyday domesticity. You can picture a father. You can picture a daughter. Yet you're already filled with dread. A bad thing has happened. And yeah, for the next four hundred pages, the bad thing...

An unprecedented collective features pairings by 23 best-selling and critically acclaimed suspense writers, who in short high-action stories pit their most popular characters against one another.