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Never Look Away
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, David Harwood is just a small-town reporter in need of a break. Now the only thing he cares about is restoring his family. Desperate for any clue, David dives into his own investigation—and into a web of lies and deceit. For with every new piece of evidence he uncovers, David finds more questions—and moves ever closer to a shattering truth.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Linwood Barclay's The Accident.
528 pages, ebook
First published February 26, 2010
1257 people are currently reading
11707 people want to read
About the author
Linwood Barclay
82 books7,160 followersLinwood Barclay is the #1 internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels for adults, including No Time for Goodbye, Trust Your Eyes and, most recently, A Noise Downstairs. He has also written two novels for children and screenplays.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
Three of those seventeen novels comprise the epic Promise Falls trilogy: Broken Promise, Far From True, and The Twenty-Three. His two novels for children – Chase and Escape – star a computer-enhanced dog named Chipper who’s on the run from the evil organization that turned him into a super-pup.
Barclay’s 2011 thriller, The Accident, has been turned into the six-part television series L’Accident in France, and he adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie, directed by Gail Harvey and starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Several of his other books either have been, or still are, in development for TV and film.
After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when he was 16, Barclay got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. In 1981, he joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming the paper’s humour columnist in 1993. He was one of the paper’s most popular columnists before retiring from the position in 2008 to work exclusively on books.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed by three more Zack Walker thrillers: Bad Guys, Lone Wolf, and Stone Rain. (The last two were published in the UK under the titles Bad Luck and Bad News.)
His first standalone thriller, No Time for Goodbye, was published in 2007 to critical acclaim and great international success. The following year, it was a Richard and Judy Summer Read selection in the UK, and did seven straight weeks at #1 on the UK bestseller list, and finished 2008 as the top selling novel of the year there. The book has since been sold around the world and been translated into nearly thirty languages.
Barclay was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post (before photography took over), accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border. Barclay, who graduated with an English literature degree from Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer. It was at Trent that he met Neetha, the woman who would become his wife. They have two grown children, Spencer and Paige.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,598 reviews
August 2, 2016
Things are not so good these days for David Harwood.
He cannot seem to nail down a solid lead on a corrupt, privately operated, for- profit prison story that he has been chasing for his local paper in Promise Falls, New York.
His wife Jan has recently been struggling with seriously, severe bouts of depression and has admitted to David that she has even considered suicide.
They definitely could use a break, so spending the day with their four year old son Ethan at a local amusement park, taking time to relax and focus on the good stuff, while enjoying a day of fun and frolic seems to be just the ticket.
They have barely made it through the gates though, when things really begin to spin out of control, starting with the disappearance of their son. David and Jan seperate, each of them frantically looking for Ethan, who they had taken their eyes off of for only a split second. Thank God, David soon finds him, unharmed and still asleep in his stroller. As soon as he is certain that Ethan is okay he begins to backtrack to find Jan and let her know......except Jan is not answering her cell and after much searching, waiting, and calling her repeatedly, it begins to dawn on David that she has simply disappeared, vanished into thin air!
Let me tell you, I have barely scratched the surface of all the twists, turns and sub-plots in this story of murder and deceipt, corruption and betrayal; that simply roars out of the station at break neck speed and never loses pace, hurtling faster, forward to it's mind-numbing conclusion.
This is the second book I have read of Linwood Barclay's and it blew me away! He is absolutely brilliant at writing what I would call, domestic thrillers, with a genuinely, believable cast of characters and unnerving,relatable circumstances that keep you on the edge of your seat.
No doubt about it, I am definitley looking for another Linwood Barclay novel.
He cannot seem to nail down a solid lead on a corrupt, privately operated, for- profit prison story that he has been chasing for his local paper in Promise Falls, New York.
His wife Jan has recently been struggling with seriously, severe bouts of depression and has admitted to David that she has even considered suicide.
They definitely could use a break, so spending the day with their four year old son Ethan at a local amusement park, taking time to relax and focus on the good stuff, while enjoying a day of fun and frolic seems to be just the ticket.
They have barely made it through the gates though, when things really begin to spin out of control, starting with the disappearance of their son. David and Jan seperate, each of them frantically looking for Ethan, who they had taken their eyes off of for only a split second. Thank God, David soon finds him, unharmed and still asleep in his stroller. As soon as he is certain that Ethan is okay he begins to backtrack to find Jan and let her know......except Jan is not answering her cell and after much searching, waiting, and calling her repeatedly, it begins to dawn on David that she has simply disappeared, vanished into thin air!
Let me tell you, I have barely scratched the surface of all the twists, turns and sub-plots in this story of murder and deceipt, corruption and betrayal; that simply roars out of the station at break neck speed and never loses pace, hurtling faster, forward to it's mind-numbing conclusion.
This is the second book I have read of Linwood Barclay's and it blew me away! He is absolutely brilliant at writing what I would call, domestic thrillers, with a genuinely, believable cast of characters and unnerving,relatable circumstances that keep you on the edge of your seat.
No doubt about it, I am definitley looking for another Linwood Barclay novel.
March 29, 2021
A pretty solid example of a 'page turner thriller' as the main character, a reporter, takes his family to an amusement park only for his young son to go missing! When he finally finds his son, it becomes apparent that now his wife has disappeared. As more and more evidence emerges and he becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance, it begins to look like he never knew who is wife ever was!
Although this is quite a compelling and interesting nail biter, so much of what characters do, how they react, what paths are taken etc. are to push along the story, at the expense of any realist storytelling! It is a thrilling read, but one that I can't see me ever returning to. 7 out of 12
Although this is quite a compelling and interesting nail biter, so much of what characters do, how they react, what paths are taken etc. are to push along the story, at the expense of any realist storytelling! It is a thrilling read, but one that I can't see me ever returning to. 7 out of 12
May 18, 2016
My sincere apologies to Mr Linwood Barclay for rating you only 3 stars this was a re read & i must say i loved every minute.
David Harwood was having a tough time working for a paper in Promise Falls he is working on a story of a corrupt prison that wants to open in his home town he is finding it tough to get any strong leads so he decides to take his wife Jan their son Ethan to an amusement park.
Jan decides to go back out as she left something behind but never returns she goes missing for no apparent reason, David looks everywhere for her but nowhere to be seen Ethan wants his mummy but David assures him she will be back soon.
Who had taken him?
This was so entertaining kept me on the edge of my seat right to the end a novel filled with lies deceit & Greed.
Mr Linwood Barclay let me tell you you have a knack of writing a compelling read every time you write a book i applaud you on your uniqueness & story telling that kept me captivated.
David Harwood was having a tough time working for a paper in Promise Falls he is working on a story of a corrupt prison that wants to open in his home town he is finding it tough to get any strong leads so he decides to take his wife Jan their son Ethan to an amusement park.
Jan decides to go back out as she left something behind but never returns she goes missing for no apparent reason, David looks everywhere for her but nowhere to be seen Ethan wants his mummy but David assures him she will be back soon.
Who had taken him?
This was so entertaining kept me on the edge of my seat right to the end a novel filled with lies deceit & Greed.
Mr Linwood Barclay let me tell you you have a knack of writing a compelling read every time you write a book i applaud you on your uniqueness & story telling that kept me captivated.
October 8, 2025
A wife and mother mysteriously disappears after her husband and son visit a fair. A bribery affair on public officials. Why did Jen disappear? What about her husband David Harwood, a reporter? Is he somehow involved? What does the police of Promise Falls think about the case? Extremely intriguing read up to the denouement. Linwood Barclay definitely knows his business and comes up with a nail biting tale about murder, theft and revenge. This is page turning stuff at its best. Never a boring moment. Highly recommended!
August 13, 2023
Not a really believable premise for a story. Jan Harwood disappears. She is the wife of David Harwood a journalist in Promise Falls. She disappears at an amusement park with their 4 year old son Ethan. The remainder of the book finds David battling to prove he didn’t murder his wife. He finds Jan is not who she appears to be.
Diamonds, private prisons, identity theft, bad police procedure work. I mean who lets a suspect into a crime scene especially a murder crime scene. A one armed psychopath who loves his cat!
Still it was easy to read and not a chore. The ending stretches credulity. Print press accidents, a number of deaths and a twist in who took Ethan.
Diamonds, private prisons, identity theft, bad police procedure work. I mean who lets a suspect into a crime scene especially a murder crime scene. A one armed psychopath who loves his cat!
Still it was easy to read and not a chore. The ending stretches credulity. Print press accidents, a number of deaths and a twist in who took Ethan.
January 21, 2025
4 Stars. It get's a little predictable as things turn from bad to much worse for David Harwood. The book catches us, the readers, in a vulnerable place. David's wife Jan wants to have a family day and bought tickets to the local amusement park. Along with their adorable 4-year-old Ethan, they're off to ride the roller coasters. In the park their son goes missing, but he's soon found. But then his wife is missing, not to be found in ten minutes like Ethan. David is desperate but everything he has done over the last few days and everything he has experienced over the last few weeks, now says something different in light of his wife being missing. Especially to the police. We all know the spouse is the first suspect. Harwood is a reporter for the local rag, the Promise Falls Standard, which is spiraling downward - like all papers. Does Jan's predicament have anything to do with Harwood's developing story about city hall corruption surrounding a proposal for a new private prison? What does the book's title mean? Ethan did disappear when Jan took her eyes away for a few minutes. Or is it something else? How can anyone not look away briefly? This one's memorable. (Oc2018/Ja2025)
August 6, 2010
What?? I'm stunned by the reviews that this book has gotten. I can't even understand how he gets published. You always think that he has a premise that will work really well, and then you start to read. Characters that are never believable, very average writing, and the way his characters speak is laughable. I guessed the "villian" within the first few pages and it was downhill from there. Who says to a four year child " ...... But you have to know she loves you more than life itself" about his mother? Done with Linwood Barclay.
January 7, 2013
I must be honest, the first Linwood Barclay novel I read did him no justice. I'm glad that this thriller in particular, redeemed the author in my mind. The story begins at an amusement park where a father is one moment sharing special moments with his family, and the next is searching frantically for his missing son. Only to find that son then his world be crumbling again at the disappearance of his wife. David Harwood is a reporter who's currently working on a huge story that could possibly turn things around for the failing town paper he writes for. But, suspiciously his life is turned upside down.
Barclay is extremely detailed in his character development. The main cast in this story were given full fleshed out traits and personalities with a past and motivations for the future. I really liked that aspect of this book. I felt I knew these characters and could believe some of their actions. Even the cliched fat cop, the richer than God "antagonist", or the scum-bucket low-life theives all fit and didn't seem too unbelievable.
The one thing I did not like about this novel was that I wanted to scream at David Harwood. He was making a lot of dumb mistakes that suspect 101 should know better than to do. I found him to be completely oblivious to his predicament. That was pretty annoying. One other aspect of this novel I didn't like was its predictability. But overall, it's a well written novel and makes anyone think twice about who they're spouse really is or what the people around them could be hiding. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Barclay is extremely detailed in his character development. The main cast in this story were given full fleshed out traits and personalities with a past and motivations for the future. I really liked that aspect of this book. I felt I knew these characters and could believe some of their actions. Even the cliched fat cop, the richer than God "antagonist", or the scum-bucket low-life theives all fit and didn't seem too unbelievable.
The one thing I did not like about this novel was that I wanted to scream at David Harwood. He was making a lot of dumb mistakes that suspect 101 should know better than to do. I found him to be completely oblivious to his predicament. That was pretty annoying. One other aspect of this novel I didn't like was its predictability. But overall, it's a well written novel and makes anyone think twice about who they're spouse really is or what the people around them could be hiding. I look forward to reading more from this author.
October 20, 2023
Thriller factoría Barclay una vez más. De los cuatro suyos que llevo leídos es el que menos me ha gustado.
La trama empieza bien. Como es habitual en este autor durante el primer tercio genera mucha intriga, muchos interrogantes y consigue atrapar el lector. El problema es que desde el momento en que nos desvela los porqués (antes de lo que esperaba), el interés decae mucho.
Por lo demás, capítulos cortos, ritmo vivo y muchos giros, demasiados. Los personajes perfilados lo justo, se da prioridad a la acción.
El final previsible, pero correcto.
En conclusión un thriller que recuerda a otros muchos similares escritos por el autor. Ni aburre ni aporta nada nuevo.
La trama empieza bien. Como es habitual en este autor durante el primer tercio genera mucha intriga, muchos interrogantes y consigue atrapar el lector. El problema es que desde el momento en que nos desvela los porqués (antes de lo que esperaba), el interés decae mucho.
Por lo demás, capítulos cortos, ritmo vivo y muchos giros, demasiados. Los personajes perfilados lo justo, se da prioridad a la acción.
El final previsible, pero correcto.
En conclusión un thriller que recuerda a otros muchos similares escritos por el autor. Ni aburre ni aporta nada nuevo.
June 19, 2024
Captivating thriller . Child vanishes at an amusement park. Then Harwood’s wife disappears. Although the setting is Promise Falls, NY, it is not part of the Promise Falls series. Great suspense builds to a great ending. Love Mr. Barclays’s writing style!
January 21, 2016
7/10
This is the second time I’ve read a Linwood Barclay novel and it seems that he’s got a similar style to that of Harlan Coben (earlier, good Coben, not some of his later bland/unbelievable work) in that there is a mysterious circumstance and then layers upon layers added to shroud that mystery before the inevitable conclusion where it all slots into place.
I like this type of book, admittedly less so now than I used to, as it’s an easy read to get into and run along with. The plot was intriguing in that a man, wife and son go to a theme park for the day and then the wife goes missing. On further inspection it turns out the wife was never at the park. This pipped my interest and was the reason why I chose it as my Audible selection for the month.
I’m newish to the Audible bandwagon which is why I chose this sort of novel to ease me into a longer book than those I’d previously listened to coming in at roughly the 13 hour mark compared to the 5 hours of the others I’d done. The narrator initially didn’t do much for me, he was good without excelling but I soon found that things changed and that I really enjoyed the voices he did for certain characters (even the voice of the Detective Duckworth who came across as a drunk stupid Russian even though he really shouldn’t have with him being a sober, clever American and probably wasn’t intending to). By the end it was the narration that was getting me through this more than the plot.
The plot, whilst intriguing, soon slipped away after the initial intrigue. By the halfway mark I’d called it and that’s not something I can often boast. I’d figured out the main twists and where it was going to go which sort of defeated the object of this type of book. They’re usually about the chase up to the big reveal. Without the narrator excelling then I could have easily found my attention waning.
I’m glad I did this in audiobook but it wasn’t the best thriller out there. It had been on my “wish list” for quite some time now and as a 2016 aim to clear that beast of a list down I thought why not start here. If you’re looking for a complex thriller that leaves you hanging to the end, you may not get what you’re after here. If you’re looking for a decent story with a couple of twists then it’s not a bad shout.
If you like this try: “Pines” by Blake Crouch for a mystery that twists until the end.
This is the second time I’ve read a Linwood Barclay novel and it seems that he’s got a similar style to that of Harlan Coben (earlier, good Coben, not some of his later bland/unbelievable work) in that there is a mysterious circumstance and then layers upon layers added to shroud that mystery before the inevitable conclusion where it all slots into place.
I like this type of book, admittedly less so now than I used to, as it’s an easy read to get into and run along with. The plot was intriguing in that a man, wife and son go to a theme park for the day and then the wife goes missing. On further inspection it turns out the wife was never at the park. This pipped my interest and was the reason why I chose it as my Audible selection for the month.
I’m newish to the Audible bandwagon which is why I chose this sort of novel to ease me into a longer book than those I’d previously listened to coming in at roughly the 13 hour mark compared to the 5 hours of the others I’d done. The narrator initially didn’t do much for me, he was good without excelling but I soon found that things changed and that I really enjoyed the voices he did for certain characters (even the voice of the Detective Duckworth who came across as a drunk stupid Russian even though he really shouldn’t have with him being a sober, clever American and probably wasn’t intending to). By the end it was the narration that was getting me through this more than the plot.
The plot, whilst intriguing, soon slipped away after the initial intrigue. By the halfway mark I’d called it and that’s not something I can often boast. I’d figured out the main twists and where it was going to go which sort of defeated the object of this type of book. They’re usually about the chase up to the big reveal. Without the narrator excelling then I could have easily found my attention waning.
I’m glad I did this in audiobook but it wasn’t the best thriller out there. It had been on my “wish list” for quite some time now and as a 2016 aim to clear that beast of a list down I thought why not start here. If you’re looking for a complex thriller that leaves you hanging to the end, you may not get what you’re after here. If you’re looking for a decent story with a couple of twists then it’s not a bad shout.
If you like this try: “Pines” by Blake Crouch for a mystery that twists until the end.
January 13, 2025
A thrilling read! This book had me feeling like I was the one stuck on a Five Mountains roller coaster. As David searches for his wife, everything else in his life seems to start crumbling before his eyes. It was a book that I could not put down and has convinced me that I'm a Linwood Barclay fan.
October 9, 2014
"Gone Girl" without the psychological acuity that Gillian Flynn brings to her writing. In fact, there is an air of unreality to the entire book that makes this seem like those CBS tv shows where you know that the characters are just that...fictional characters you would never see in the real world. Which is fine...this is a thriller, and on those terms, it's very entertaining. All the loose threads are tied up at the end, karma gets who it is supposed to, etc. etc.
Now let's talk about the Stephen King blurbs about this book: on the cover, it says "The best thriller I've read in five years", and elsewhere he says that the twists are wholly unexpected. As much as I love the man's writing, and I do love it a lot, let this be a warning to those of you out there who pay attention to these things: you cannot believe Stephen King's blurbs! The man is absolutely shameless in over-hyping both other people's projects as well as his own (he is still beating the drum for the tv series of his book Under the Dome, which is one of the stupidest, most lazily written and acted shows on television). And to say that in FIVE YEARS of thrillers being published from around the world, this is the BEST, is hyperbole of the highest order. I know someone will say he's only talking about thrillers HE has read, but this man reads like most people breathe, so it's unbelievable to me that he could rank this book so highly...practically any Michael Connelly book trumps it, just for one example. And perhaps I was predisposed to look for "twists" after his discussion of them, but I'd say 80% of the plot twists were easily deduced ahead of time. So, enjoy the book, it's a fun ride, but don't let Mr. King's exaggerated praise get your hope TOO high...
Now let's talk about the Stephen King blurbs about this book: on the cover, it says "The best thriller I've read in five years", and elsewhere he says that the twists are wholly unexpected. As much as I love the man's writing, and I do love it a lot, let this be a warning to those of you out there who pay attention to these things: you cannot believe Stephen King's blurbs! The man is absolutely shameless in over-hyping both other people's projects as well as his own (he is still beating the drum for the tv series of his book Under the Dome, which is one of the stupidest, most lazily written and acted shows on television). And to say that in FIVE YEARS of thrillers being published from around the world, this is the BEST, is hyperbole of the highest order. I know someone will say he's only talking about thrillers HE has read, but this man reads like most people breathe, so it's unbelievable to me that he could rank this book so highly...practically any Michael Connelly book trumps it, just for one example. And perhaps I was predisposed to look for "twists" after his discussion of them, but I'd say 80% of the plot twists were easily deduced ahead of time. So, enjoy the book, it's a fun ride, but don't let Mr. King's exaggerated praise get your hope TOO high...
January 10, 2018
Another great suspense novel by Linwood Barclay!
David Harwood, a journalist who’s struggling to make ends meet, is on an innocent day out with his wife and son at the amusement park. Suddenly his son disappears, and David is afraid he’s been kidnapped. Later on, it appears that his wife, Jan, who was depressed in the last few days, showing suicidal behavior at times, is the one who’s gone missing. David is worried sick about her, but it seems that the police is more disturbed by the suspicious circumstances of her disappearance and David’s possible involvement.
Did some corrupt people caused this tragedy because they wanted to prevent David from publishing a certain story? Who tried to kidnap David’s son? And who is in fact his wife?
While there are some questions which is easy for us to answer in the beginning of the story, such as who did what, what is not as clear and makes our imagination work overtime is why they did it. I won’t elaborate on the questions that ran through my mind during the read, to avoid any potentials spoilers, but I’ll admit it took me some time to understand the motives that stood behind the operating characters. It turned out to be a complex and intriguing read. Each time we were introduced to another piece of the puzzle, until finally we could see the whole picture, clearly.
I loved reading this book and finished it rather quickly. I would recommend it to all the suspense lovers, and especially readers who are into psychological thrillers!
David Harwood, a journalist who’s struggling to make ends meet, is on an innocent day out with his wife and son at the amusement park. Suddenly his son disappears, and David is afraid he’s been kidnapped. Later on, it appears that his wife, Jan, who was depressed in the last few days, showing suicidal behavior at times, is the one who’s gone missing. David is worried sick about her, but it seems that the police is more disturbed by the suspicious circumstances of her disappearance and David’s possible involvement.
Did some corrupt people caused this tragedy because they wanted to prevent David from publishing a certain story? Who tried to kidnap David’s son? And who is in fact his wife?
While there are some questions which is easy for us to answer in the beginning of the story, such as who did what, what is not as clear and makes our imagination work overtime is why they did it. I won’t elaborate on the questions that ran through my mind during the read, to avoid any potentials spoilers, but I’ll admit it took me some time to understand the motives that stood behind the operating characters. It turned out to be a complex and intriguing read. Each time we were introduced to another piece of the puzzle, until finally we could see the whole picture, clearly.
I loved reading this book and finished it rather quickly. I would recommend it to all the suspense lovers, and especially readers who are into psychological thrillers!
October 3, 2012
What qualities do you look for in a novel? If any of the below fill you with joy and excitement, then this is the book for you!
1. Prose that is so truly prosaic I hoped and suspected it was an intentional parody (apparently it was not).
2. Dialogue so awkward and unpersuasive that it felt like a poorly dubbed movie.
3. Characters so stilted they were surely off-cuts from Geppetto's workshop.
4. Situations and plot-twists so contrived (even by cheap airport thriller standards) you begin to wonder if it's a Benny Hill farce.
In closing, I would like to thank Mr Linwood Barclay for doubling my appreciation of literary finesse, intimately drawn psychological portraits, and the power of great fiction to turn a mirror to one's very soul.
1. Prose that is so truly prosaic I hoped and suspected it was an intentional parody (apparently it was not).
2. Dialogue so awkward and unpersuasive that it felt like a poorly dubbed movie.
3. Characters so stilted they were surely off-cuts from Geppetto's workshop.
4. Situations and plot-twists so contrived (even by cheap airport thriller standards) you begin to wonder if it's a Benny Hill farce.
In closing, I would like to thank Mr Linwood Barclay for doubling my appreciation of literary finesse, intimately drawn psychological portraits, and the power of great fiction to turn a mirror to one's very soul.
December 4, 2025
A page turner to the very end!
David’s life will never be the same after a family outing to a local amusement park when his son goes missing. As he and his wife scramble to find four-year-old Ethan, he is found safe soon after, only his wife has disappeared. As the police investigate, David’s story isn’t believed, and he becomes a person of interest in the case. Being a newspaper reporter, David’s current story about a shady businessman becomes more sinister and he wonders if it has anything to do with his missing wife. But as things unfold, David finds confusing facts in his wife’s past that are unexplainable. Will David uncover the shocking truth before he’s convicted of a murder when he claims he’s innocent?
I devoured this book! The plot and subplot were gripping as well as the twists. The pace and events kept me glued to the page. I liked it while the suspense and threats snowballed, it didn’t veer into anything graphic (and the focus wasn’t about missing children).
This is my second book by this author and won’t be my last. While Whistle is good, this one is better!
David’s life will never be the same after a family outing to a local amusement park when his son goes missing. As he and his wife scramble to find four-year-old Ethan, he is found safe soon after, only his wife has disappeared. As the police investigate, David’s story isn’t believed, and he becomes a person of interest in the case. Being a newspaper reporter, David’s current story about a shady businessman becomes more sinister and he wonders if it has anything to do with his missing wife. But as things unfold, David finds confusing facts in his wife’s past that are unexplainable. Will David uncover the shocking truth before he’s convicted of a murder when he claims he’s innocent?
I devoured this book! The plot and subplot were gripping as well as the twists. The pace and events kept me glued to the page. I liked it while the suspense and threats snowballed, it didn’t veer into anything graphic (and the focus wasn’t about missing children).
This is my second book by this author and won’t be my last. While Whistle is good, this one is better!
February 11, 2010
The book starts off with what seems like an innocent trip to the amusement park -- although why anyone would want to take a four-year-old to an amusement park is beyond my comprehension. When Jan and David Harwood's son goes missing at the park, it is the beginning of a chain of events that has David confused about his family, his job and his sanity.
The book sucked me right in, from the first chapter. I received this Friday afternoon, and finished it in less than 24 hours. There are several things that I really liked about it. First, it appears to be a "stand-alone" novel, not one of a series. While I like series thrillers (Michael Connelly's Bosch books are a good example), I always feel like I have to read the books in order. With stand-alones, I can jump right into an author's newest book, and then look forward to going back to the previous ones if I like this one. I will definitely go back and look up Barclay's newer books!
Second, the point of view shifts throughout the book. Normally, I don't like this, but Barclay is very good at handling the alternating first-person chapters, narrated by David, with the other sections told from the points-of-view of David's wife, the investigating police officer, and other characters as needed. The transitions were not jarring at all; I was never confused or thrown out of the story.
Lastly, I really liked the font used in this book. Isn't that weird? It isn't something I normally think about, the size and layout of the print seemed really easy to read, even in the low light of the bedroom, or while I was sitting in the brightly lit living room.
The book sucked me right in, from the first chapter. I received this Friday afternoon, and finished it in less than 24 hours. There are several things that I really liked about it. First, it appears to be a "stand-alone" novel, not one of a series. While I like series thrillers (Michael Connelly's Bosch books are a good example), I always feel like I have to read the books in order. With stand-alones, I can jump right into an author's newest book, and then look forward to going back to the previous ones if I like this one. I will definitely go back and look up Barclay's newer books!
Second, the point of view shifts throughout the book. Normally, I don't like this, but Barclay is very good at handling the alternating first-person chapters, narrated by David, with the other sections told from the points-of-view of David's wife, the investigating police officer, and other characters as needed. The transitions were not jarring at all; I was never confused or thrown out of the story.
Lastly, I really liked the font used in this book. Isn't that weird? It isn't something I normally think about, the size and layout of the print seemed really easy to read, even in the low light of the bedroom, or while I was sitting in the brightly lit living room.
June 29, 2010
Never Look Away ranks amongst the best thrillers released this year. While not so deep as to be ever considered literary, the characters of this novel have a realness that is both heart-breaking and frightening.
The story is told by David, a small-time reporter who gets himself mixed up in controversy surrounding the construction of a privately run prison in his home-town of Paradise Falls. After making a few barbed comments to a local politician, the CEO of Star-Spangled Corrections and his hired thug pay David a private visit that leaves him wondering if he’s bitten off more than he can chew.
As if that wasn’t enough David’s wife Jan begins to show signs of depression, and while there is a twist on this later I found this sequence of events particularly heart-renching.
The real action begins when Jan and her work-mate disappear and an official police investigation is launched with David as the prime-suspect. Caught between corrupt politicians, a suspicious and stubborn detective, David struggles to deal with the disappearance of his wife and destruction of his life as he knew it.
So while the characters are well thought out and the plotline is intelligence Never Look Away has some imperfections – some of the characters are a hairsbreadth away from stereotypeland and there are aspects of the wife’s disappearance which (aside from being hard to explain without spoilers) are a little theme-less, uninteresting and hard to fully reconcile with the overall storyline.
Perhaps it’s hard to grasp what the heck I mean here so I’d be interested in hearing what other readers have to say about it...
The story is told by David, a small-time reporter who gets himself mixed up in controversy surrounding the construction of a privately run prison in his home-town of Paradise Falls. After making a few barbed comments to a local politician, the CEO of Star-Spangled Corrections and his hired thug pay David a private visit that leaves him wondering if he’s bitten off more than he can chew.
As if that wasn’t enough David’s wife Jan begins to show signs of depression, and while there is a twist on this later I found this sequence of events particularly heart-renching.
The real action begins when Jan and her work-mate disappear and an official police investigation is launched with David as the prime-suspect. Caught between corrupt politicians, a suspicious and stubborn detective, David struggles to deal with the disappearance of his wife and destruction of his life as he knew it.
So while the characters are well thought out and the plotline is intelligence Never Look Away has some imperfections – some of the characters are a hairsbreadth away from stereotypeland and there are aspects of the wife’s disappearance which (aside from being hard to explain without spoilers) are a little theme-less, uninteresting and hard to fully reconcile with the overall storyline.
Perhaps it’s hard to grasp what the heck I mean here so I’d be interested in hearing what other readers have to say about it...
January 24, 2024
Linwood Barclay heeft met dit boek een knaller van een thriller geschreven. Hij slaagt erin je als lezer te boeien waardoor je wilt blijven doorlezen. Jan Harwood gaat samen met haar man en zoon naar een pretpark. Net aangekomen verdwijnt in een onoplettend moment haar zoontje. In volle paniek gaan ze op zoek. Ethan w slapend teruggevonden maar dan is plots Jan spoorloos. Al vlug is de echtgenoot als verdachte gezien. Alle gebeurtenissen van de afgelopen tijd verwijzen in zijn richting. Duckworth is verantwoordelijk om op zoek te gaan naar de verdwenen Jan.
Ik heb van ieder leermoment genoten. Ik ben fan van deze schrijver.
Gelezen met kobo plus abonnement
Ik heb van ieder leermoment genoten. Ik ben fan van deze schrijver.
Gelezen met kobo plus abonnement
May 26, 2016
Wow! Lots of twists and turns!
April 1, 2022
The third novel I have read by Linwood Barclay, and another that I have really enjoyed.
I felt involved and engaged with the detailed, yet uncomplicated storyline.
Reasonably fast paced. 😁
I felt involved and engaged with the detailed, yet uncomplicated storyline.
Reasonably fast paced. 😁
December 23, 2024
Another gripping read. After reading a few of Linwoods books i very quickly figured out what the wife was doing but not why til further on in the book.
December 15, 2015
I have a love/hate relationship with Linwood Barclay's books. It's like I can feel the potential could be there, it just doesn't materialize. I started reading Oct 20 and was having a hard time for the first 25% of the book I was pretty bored and not pulled into the plot. Although I wanted to find out what happened to Dave's wife, it was difficult to wade through all the details he drops which he may pick up at a later point.
Then this week, I decided to push through and get this book off my "currently reading" list. I knew if I got far enough into the story that I would be able to get this finished. The book uses a 3rd person and a 1st person narrative which I'm not too fond of. When the story is centered on Dave, the reporter, it's in 1st person. When the police are pulling the threads of his missing wife together and they are leading to him as a prime suspect, the story actually gets frustrating, not interesting. In 1st POV, his frustration with the situation is coming through, but then it just made it frustrating to read.
None of the characters are very likable or interesting and it's hard to be concerned about them. In fact, most of the characters I didn't like. Dave, the main character got on my nerves with constantly doing the opposite of what he should do. The bad guys are TV cliche bad guys.
There were some elements of the plot I really liked, but it got lost in all the meanderings the plot took.
Then this week, I decided to push through and get this book off my "currently reading" list. I knew if I got far enough into the story that I would be able to get this finished. The book uses a 3rd person and a 1st person narrative which I'm not too fond of. When the story is centered on Dave, the reporter, it's in 1st person. When the police are pulling the threads of his missing wife together and they are leading to him as a prime suspect, the story actually gets frustrating, not interesting. In 1st POV, his frustration with the situation is coming through, but then it just made it frustrating to read.
None of the characters are very likable or interesting and it's hard to be concerned about them. In fact, most of the characters I didn't like. Dave, the main character got on my nerves with constantly doing the opposite of what he should do. The bad guys are TV cliche bad guys.
There were some elements of the plot I really liked, but it got lost in all the meanderings the plot took.
July 21, 2014
Wow. What happened?
Linwood Barkley is brilliant at coming up with convoluted plots and slowly peeling the layers back, slowly bringing the reader out from a state of unknowing one little reveal at a time.
And his characters are quite well drawn. I got quite a kick out of the protagonist's dad, who, I'm embarrassed to say, reminds me a little of myself. No, I haven't made those traffic signs, but it has occurred to me once in a while.
But what happened? Did he hand off the writing duties to some kid for the last 50 pages or so?
Suddenly the dialogue became inane, and there was one plot development that defied reason so badly that I almost couldn't finish it.
Sorry. I can't buy any of that. Even fiction needs to adhere to some understandable human behavior.
I will read him again because other than that gap of believability, he is a pretty skilled plot master. But jeez.
Linwood Barkley is brilliant at coming up with convoluted plots and slowly peeling the layers back, slowly bringing the reader out from a state of unknowing one little reveal at a time.
And his characters are quite well drawn. I got quite a kick out of the protagonist's dad, who, I'm embarrassed to say, reminds me a little of myself. No, I haven't made those traffic signs, but it has occurred to me once in a while.
But what happened? Did he hand off the writing duties to some kid for the last 50 pages or so?
Suddenly the dialogue became inane, and there was one plot development that defied reason so badly that I almost couldn't finish it.
Sorry. I can't buy any of that. Even fiction needs to adhere to some understandable human behavior.
I will read him again because other than that gap of believability, he is a pretty skilled plot master. But jeez.
August 5, 2015
Forgettable characters and a yawn-inducing plot.
I felt at least 100 pages could have been cut (or used to develop the characters instead).
Overall not something I'd recommend.
Thanks for reading with me, Angela xx
August 27, 2024
4.5 Stars
I'm on a Linwood Barclay roll this month.
This started out slow, but I stuck with it, and it gets really good.
David and Jan are visiting an amusement park when their 4 yr old son goes missing. David is frantic looking for him, and when he finally finds him safe, he can't find his wife.
The story escalates very fast.
David turns from a concerned husband to murder the suspect.
Yet no body has been found.
David quickly starts pulling together what he knows about his wife of five years.
He'd never met her family as she was estranged from them.
Facts start coming together about his wife but make no sense.
Barry Duckworth is on the case in this book. The great detective who can't stop eating unhealthy food despite what his wife says. He's in a few books. Great character.
Another page turning thriller from LB
If you love Harlan Coben, you'll love Linwood Barclay
I'm on a Linwood Barclay roll this month.
This started out slow, but I stuck with it, and it gets really good.
David and Jan are visiting an amusement park when their 4 yr old son goes missing. David is frantic looking for him, and when he finally finds him safe, he can't find his wife.
The story escalates very fast.
David turns from a concerned husband to murder the suspect.
Yet no body has been found.
David quickly starts pulling together what he knows about his wife of five years.
He'd never met her family as she was estranged from them.
Facts start coming together about his wife but make no sense.
Barry Duckworth is on the case in this book. The great detective who can't stop eating unhealthy food despite what his wife says. He's in a few books. Great character.
Another page turning thriller from LB
If you love Harlan Coben, you'll love Linwood Barclay
January 4, 2024
Stephen King vindt hem de beste thrillerschrijver ooit en zegt dat hij dankzij hem terug thrillers is beginnen lezen
Dit is dan ook weer een meesterwerkje van Barclay. Een echte rollercoaster. Hitchcock zou duimen vingers aflikken als hij dergelijk verhaal had kunnen verfilmen.
Een massa gegevens, maar toch heb ik geen enkel los eindje kunnen ontdekken.
De schrijver weet uitstekend hoe hij de spanning er moet inhouden en je acht het niet voor mogelijk hoe de eindjes samenvallen naargelang het verhaal vordert
Met ander woorden een aanrader met stip!
Na 2 jaar 1/2 herlezen en mijn mening is nog steeds dezelfde
Dit boek is de beste thriller die ik ooit gelezen heb!
Dit is dan ook weer een meesterwerkje van Barclay. Een echte rollercoaster. Hitchcock zou duimen vingers aflikken als hij dergelijk verhaal had kunnen verfilmen.
Een massa gegevens, maar toch heb ik geen enkel los eindje kunnen ontdekken.
De schrijver weet uitstekend hoe hij de spanning er moet inhouden en je acht het niet voor mogelijk hoe de eindjes samenvallen naargelang het verhaal vordert
Met ander woorden een aanrader met stip!
Na 2 jaar 1/2 herlezen en mijn mening is nog steeds dezelfde
Dit boek is de beste thriller die ik ooit gelezen heb!
June 29, 2015
Another great read from Linwood. I Read this in two days,very hard to put down.
February 9, 2010
David Harwood, reporter, has been working on a story of Star Spangled Corrections. They are a private correctional corporation and want to build a prison in his town. David has records of payoffs of politicians by the president of the corporation but David's editors delay in publishing it.
One day, David goes to Five Mountains amusement park with his wife,Jan, and their four year old son, Ethan. As they approach the park enterence, Jan remembers her back pak and returns to the car, telling her husband that she'll meet him inside.
David waits but Jan never appears.
He begins a search and notifies park security. When the search is unsuccessful, park officials check security cameras of people entering the park but there is no record of Jan's enterance.
Local police begin their investigation and find that the tickets were purchased on line but that only two tickets were purchased. Now, the lead detective believes that David may have caused his wife's disappearance.
David conducts his own search and discovers that many of the things that he and his wife built their lives around were falsehoods. Ethan keeps asking for his mother, David needs to find her and learn why she deceived him.
As a character, David is most sympathetic. His plight is tragic but the reader also learns what his wife is doing and wonders why David, a reporter, couldn't see things as they really were. Jan is a true Machiavellian, out for herself. She's a truly unlikable person and this makes the readers empathy for David even greater.
The plot is magnificant. Barclay is like a master fisherman, casting his lines in different directions and then reeling them back with a story that catches the reader's breath.
One day, David goes to Five Mountains amusement park with his wife,Jan, and their four year old son, Ethan. As they approach the park enterence, Jan remembers her back pak and returns to the car, telling her husband that she'll meet him inside.
David waits but Jan never appears.
He begins a search and notifies park security. When the search is unsuccessful, park officials check security cameras of people entering the park but there is no record of Jan's enterance.
Local police begin their investigation and find that the tickets were purchased on line but that only two tickets were purchased. Now, the lead detective believes that David may have caused his wife's disappearance.
David conducts his own search and discovers that many of the things that he and his wife built their lives around were falsehoods. Ethan keeps asking for his mother, David needs to find her and learn why she deceived him.
As a character, David is most sympathetic. His plight is tragic but the reader also learns what his wife is doing and wonders why David, a reporter, couldn't see things as they really were. Jan is a true Machiavellian, out for herself. She's a truly unlikable person and this makes the readers empathy for David even greater.
The plot is magnificant. Barclay is like a master fisherman, casting his lines in different directions and then reeling them back with a story that catches the reader's breath.
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