Fear the Worst: A Novel
by Linwood Barclay
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Book Summary Information
Author: Linwood BarclayEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-08-11
ISBN: 0553807161
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Fear the Worst: A Novel
Book Review: What an Absorbing Page-Turner!
Summary: 5 Stars
"All the pressure of the last few weeks had come to a boil...I was a goddamn car salesman, for f***'s sake. Nothing in my life had even remotely prepared me for dealing with the things that were going on around me now." - From Fear the Worst
Hang on to the bar in front of you.
Buckled in? Great.
You'll need it.
Ready for one of the most heart pounding, believable, and keep-you-all-night thrillers ever written? Then go to Fear the Worst at Amazon.com, click "add to cart", and buy it. Now.
Or run to the nearest bookstore and hope-to-God they have this amazing book by Linwood Barclay in stock to quell your jonesin' for suspense laced with well-drawn characters, super-deft plotting, and "oh my God!" surprises that careen towards you chapter after chapter.
Do I sound like I'm gushing? Guilty as charged.
This book is one of the rare gems that have me saying to people (like my husband) "You *have* to read this! It's amazing!" And if you knew me, you'd know that I'm only a gusher when a book is over-the-top excellent.
In the case of Fear the Worst, I can only say great things about this 400-page masterpiece by Linwood who-is-this-author-and-where-did-he-come-from?! Barclay. It's an incredible thing to read a thriller with unforeseen twists and turns that don't elicit groans of "Oh, *c'mon"!" at its implausibility.
Equally, to have an author juggle over a dozen characters--each memorable, authentic, and crucial to the plot--while keeping a galloping pace when it matters most, and orchestrating a quicksand slowdown for delicious anticipatory torment...it just boggles my mind, not only as a seasoned reviewer, but also as a published author.
I have found a new favorite author, and if you try Fear the Worst, I bet you will, too. The plot is compelling enough--a daughter goes missing after work, car gone, and those at her supposed place of employment for the last two weeks say they've never seen her before. And neither has anyone employed at the neighboring businesses, for that matter.
Where is Sydney "Syd" Blake? Why did she leave? Was she mad about a confrontation at breakfast with her Dad? Why hasn't she been in touch, at least with her Mother? Her best friend, Patty? Is Syd OK?
Was she everything she seemed to be...?
Find out the shocking truth in Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author.
-- Janet Boyer, author of the Back in Time Tarot Book
Summary of Fear the Worst: A Novel
Your daughter doesn?t come home one night from her summer job.You go there looking for her. No one?s seen here. But it?s worse than that.
No one?s ever seen her. So where has she been going every day? And where is she now?
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.
Tim is an average guy. He sells cars. He has an ex-wife. She?s moved in with a man whose moody son spends more time online than he should. His girlfriend is turning out to be a bit of a flake. It?s not a life without hassles, but nothing will prepare Tim for the nightmare that?s about to begin.
Sydney vanishes into thin air. At the hotel where she supposedly worked, no one has ever heard of her. Even her closest friends seem to be at a loss. Now, as the days pass without word, Tim must face the fact that not only is Sydney missing, but that the daughter he?s loved and thought he knew is a virtual stranger.
As he retraces Sydney?s steps, Tim discovers that the suburban Connecticut town he always thought of as idyllic is anything but. What he doesn?t know is that his every move is being watched. There are others who want to find Syd as much as Tim does.
But they?re not planning a Welcome Home party.
The closer Tim comes to the truth, the closer he comes to every parent?s worst nightmare?and the kind of evil only a parent?s love has a chance in hell of stopping.
Amazon Exclusive: Lisa Gardner Reviews Fear the Worst
Lisa Gardner is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including Say Goodbye and The Neighbor. She lives with her husband and daughter in New England. She is currently at work on her next thriller, Live to Tell, which will be publish in 2010. Read her exclusive Amazon guest review of Fear the Worst:
Linwood Barclay is a #1 bestselling crime novelist in Britain and a major European suspense star. So when I received the advanced reading copy of his latest novel, Fear the Worst, my first reaction was guilt?what rock have I been hiding under that I?ve never heard of an author who counts Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, and Joseph Finder among his fans? My next response was sheer anticipation. There?s nothing better than discovering a great new author. I immediately cracked open Fear the Worst, hoping for the best.
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 gets a lot worse.
This tension-filled dichotomy of an ordinary man caught in extraordinary circumstances isn?t new territory. Harlan Coben would be drawn to this plot, not to mention a few others. But Barclay writes with a voice that?s all his own. His ordinary man, Timothy Blake, is at that middle-aged point in life where he?s racking up more losses than wins. First marriage has collapsed. Car dealership went down the drain. Parenting a teenage daughter remains a mystery. Blake is a man who?s down but not out, which makes his efforts to find his missing daughter realistic, compelling and completely nerve-wracking.
The supporting cast is equally well-done: the prickly ex-wife; the daughter?s troubled BFF; the female detective who seems to spend most of her time on the phone dealing with her own kid. Barclay excels at creating people you immediately recognize, and even if you don?t like them all, you understand them. He also stays true to his characters; Blake doesn?t magically turn into Rambo just because bad guys are now trying to gun him down. The prickly ex-wife doesn?t suddenly crave reconciliation, just because they?re now working together to find their child. By not taking the easy road, Barclay sets the stage for several shocking plot twists, not to mention one helluva dramatic climax.
Previous Barclay fans should enjoy this fast-paced outing. And if you?ve been hiding under a rock like me, time to crawl out and discover a great new author. ?Lisa Gardner
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