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: Misses the mark...
Summary: 3 Stars
This started out well -- had a great premise -- and kept me glued to the pages, racing through the action -- but missed the mark in the final 75 pages when I believe it all started defying logic, the body count mounted, and the ending really made me angry. I understand an author taking liberties with his characters -- but I don't like senseless deaths when less dramatic resolutions would have made the story a bit more believable. I don't like pat conclusions and I don't like predictability -- it seems that both became increasingly likely in the last few chapters.
Tim Blake's daughter, Sydney, simply doesn't come home after work one evening. He drives to her place of employment, Just Inn Time, and when he questions the employees at the hotel as to her whereabouts, none of them admit to knowing her and they deny that she works there! From that point on, we're led on a whirlwind of frantic activity as Tim tries to find his missing daughter. We meet his ex-wife Susanne and her boyfriend Bob, and a host of other characters -- some germane to the investigation and some that have unnecessary side plots that contribute nothing to the flow and advancement of the central story. Frankly, there was just too much going on, and I think it detracts from the main story line without really adding to the enjoyment of the novel.
What I liked: originally I liked the character of Tim Blake, but then as things evolved, I really felt that he was going off half-cocked on his own independent investigation and that I had to suspend a lot of disbelief. I liked the idea of a parent being surprised by something such as a child not working where she said she was.
What I didn't like: the stereotypical supporting cast including the bumbling police who can't help Tim find his daughter and who accuse him at every turn impeding his search, the exwife and her boyfriend who are a cliche, the assorted and sundry workers at Just Inn Time, the bad guys, and the innocent victims who were basically just collateral.
I have reservations about recommending it highly. As I said, it started out as a definite 4 star + read, but it just couldn't carry it to the end. This one is nowhere nearly as good as No Time for Goodbye but is equivalent to Too Close to Home.
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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