Find You First is the first book I’ve read by Linwood Barclay, but it won’t be the last. This was a fast-paced, entertaining thriller with great characters and different storylines that all came together in a satisfying way.

Miles Cookson is a tech millionaire who has recently been diagnosed with an incurable disease. He has no children, so he decides to explore where his fertility donations went years ago. He gets a list of nine people that are his “children” and decides that he will divide up his millions among them. He sets out on a journey to meet each person and explain their unorthodox connection. He is hoping that he can do a DNA test on each one and find out if there is a chance that the disease has passed along to them. He will bequeath them millions of dollars so that they will have options if the disease emerges. He meets Chloe first and they form a connection quickly. Chloe is a young waitress who drives an ancient Pacer. She is tough, caring and completely likeable. They discover that the other people on the list are slowly being eliminated, including any DNA remains. It’s as if each one never existed. It’s a race to find the heirs before they disappear.

The pacing is good and you have multiple people to blame for what is happening. This was a book that I finished quickly and would recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Find You First is a fun, relatively fast-paced mystery/thriller. Barclay gives it a unique spin - a tech genius who donated sperm earlier in life to fund buying a new computer finds out he has Huntington's disease and decides he wants to track down any resulting offspring to pass along his fortune before he dies. The only problem is that he's not the only person who has the list and the people on the list are dying - before Miles. He teams up with the geographically closest person on the list, Chloe Swanson, to try and figure out what's happening before it's too late. The problem is that there are multiple people who have motives, including his dedicated assistant of the last ten years who isn't in his estate planning, and his ambitious sister-in-law, who thinks she's not getting her fair share. But it may not be either one of them, because something deeper might be at play. Barclay is winding the story together using quite a few threads, so there are parts that seem to have nothing to do with the main storyline until late in the book. The characters also tend to be a little bit one-dimensional. These things made it a little bit more difficult for me to get into the book. But let's just say there's an escape plan with a Winnebago in the book that's one of the more awesome scenes a writer has written into a book I've read in recent memory that helps make up for it.

To sound all scholarly and stuff, what a blast. Mr. Barclay's on quite the run, and this one's easily the most engrossing thriller I've read in a while. Cinematic, especially the ending's set piece (not sure how spoiler-y we get here) that had me visualizing how cool it's going to look in the (hopefully) inevitable film. Bravo.

Miles Cookson is a millionaire who seemingly has everything - everything but time, that is. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and decides to search for the 9 children he has out there as a result of being a sperm donor when he was younger. He connects with his daughter Chloe, but the other unknown children in his life start to vanish, one by one. Now it's a race against time for Miles to find the killer.

Miles is a tech billionaire who has just been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Years ago when he needed money he donated to a fertility clinic. Now it appears he has children out there who could inherit his disease. He sets out to find them but several of them disappear under mysterious circumstances. This is a story about power and how it can corrupt. There are all sorts of twists and turns in the story that kept me guessing. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Miles Cookson is a wealthy tech executive who finds out that he is dying from a hereditary disease. 20 plus years ago he was a sperm donor. While tracking down his offspring he finds out that several of them have gone missing. There is another story line going on also that all comes together.

My first Linwood Barclay book and I enjoyed it.

I am a big fan of Barclay. This book was SO GOOD! Miles is a billionaire with Huntington's disease. He is searching for children that he fathered by giving sperm when he was younger. This was a page turner for sure! I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone.

Find You First by Linwood Barclay is a fast-paced thriller readers won’t want to put down until the crashing finish! A tech millionaire, nine people created with help from a fertility clinic, a narcissistic mastermind, and cold-blooded killers come together in this book, about which writer Stephen King says “… starts with a bang and ends with an even bigger one. . . . It’s the best book of his career.”

When Miles Cookson, who has more money than a person could spend in a lifetime, finds out he has a genetic terminal illness, he calls to mind those days 20-some years ago when he needed fast money and became a sperm donor. With a 50-50 chance that his Huntington’s disease has been passed on to any children fathered by him, Miles realizes he needs to warn and provide for them.

Using an underhanded method, Miles learns the names of the nine children who were born because of his donation to a fertility clinic in New York. He sets his assistant on an information journey to find out more about these nine people so he can find them and fund them with enough to take care of them no matter what.

As he begins his search, one of his children has already begun a hunt on her own to find her biological father, and Chloe Swanson has already found and developed a relationship with a half-brother, Todd Cox, through DNA matching. Coincidentally, she is first on Miles’ list as she lives in Providence, Rhode Island, closest to his home in New Haven, Connecticut, than the eight others.

When Miles and Chloe connect, she immediately wants to take him to Todd’s house to share the news. But something is amiss as Todd is gone along with all of his belongings; his unusually messy trailer is sparkling clean and reeks of bleach. A call from his assistant Dorian clues in Miles that two of his other children have “disappeared.” He soon suspects someone is hunting down his children, but he does not share his suspicion with Chloe yet. His mistrust is spot on as the gruesome murders have been revealed to readers in interspersed chapters.

Who is killing his offspring and why? Is one of the nine trying to secure all the inheritance? Just what is going on in this enthralling page-turner?

Linwood Barclay is the bestselling author of Elevator Pitch and 17 other novels. He adapted his novel Never Saw it Coming for the movie starring Eric Roberts and Emily Hampshire. Born in the United States, his family moved to Canada when he was a toddler. Prior to writing books full-time, he was a newspaper journalist and columnist. He lives with his wife in Ontario.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting March 6, 2021.

I would like to thank William Morrow and Custom House for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

This is a well-written mystery involving rich men and their long-forgotten "children." Billionaire Miles has just learned he has a fatal disease and has decided to track down the children he fathered 20 years ago through sperm donations. One of those offspring, Chloe, is doing her own research into her unknown father. The two pair up to search for the others, learning that some of them have mysteriously disappeared. There are a number of suspected culprits that the reader must sort through to get to the satisfying, although prolonged, finale. I did love the unique use of a motor home! Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an ARC.

Miles, a rich tech company owner, is asked if he has children when he learns the devastating diagnosis. Well, the answer is not a simple yes or no. He visited a sperm bank when he needed money in his youth. A bribe to the receptionist and he learns he has nine children. He sets out to find the nine but learns that somehow they are disappearing one by one. A twisted tale of power and wealth leads to the truth about these nine children and who they are.

This fast paced thriller kept me up all night. By far Linwood Barclay's best book to date. The subject were right out of today's news, and it was not hard to see the connection between the characters an the book and people and events that are in today's news. All the way through the pace was relentless. It seemed a little impossible when the killers had to fly half way across the country to take care of business, when things needed taking care of closer to home, but it was all part of the plot.

This was a pretty good read. Within the first few chapters, I had already accused about 20 people of being the villain so I *totally* figured it out! It counts... I had no idea why said villain had done it so that was a surprise I did not see coming. It definitely kept me up til 2:15 in the morning so I could find out whodunnit.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When an unattached wealthy man discovers he's got Huntington's, he begins to look back on his life... and remembers a quick money-making scheme from his college days. How many children came from his deposit? They'll have a 50/50 chance of getting sick, too. In his effort to track them down and make things right, things go badly awry. Filled with exquisite suspense and plot twists that will give readers whiplash, this one is great for fans of Lucy Foley and Harry Dolan.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. As a Linwood Barclay fan I knew his new book wouldn't disappoint, and I was right. It was a wild ride. Twice I thought I knew who was behind the murders and twice I was wrong. I love books that have a twist at the end, and throws you off your game. Miles is a very rich man who finds out he has a fatal disease that will eventually kill him. He uses what time he has left to find his 9 kids that were born to woman who used a fertility clinic to have a baby with him as the donor. Someone else is looking for these 9 people as well but for different reasons. In the usual Barclay style, there is a twist. This book is fast paced and a fast read. I wasn't too crazy about the ending with Chloe and Nicki, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. I highly recommend this book.

Review originally posted on mysteryandsuspense.com on 2/1/21. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/find-you-first/

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

I have been a fan of Linwood Barclay and his thrillers for years, but somehow fell off the bandwagon at some point. After jumping back on with last year’s Elevator Pitch, I was thrilled to read his latest.

Miles Cookson is, to put it mildly, a millionaire. He made his money in the world of tech and is extremely successful. He has everything he could ever want, and has just recently found out he has something he never wanted. Miles has been diagnosed with Huntingdon’s Disease, a terminal illness that will eventually eat away at his motor skills. On top of that, there is a fifty percent chance that the gene can be passed onto other members of the family.

Not many people know this, but before Miles was rich, he would supplement his income as a sperm donor. Through highly unethical resources, he finds out that he has nine children out in the world. Not only does he want to find them to have them get their DNA tested to see if they have the Huntingdon’s gene, but he also wants to start dividing his fortune out to them.

Chloe Swanson is an aspiring documentary filmmaker who is looking into her her biological father is. Through a DNA test, she finds out she has a half brother out there in the world. What she doesn’t yet know is that Miles is her biological father. They eventually meet up, but the excitement of finding each other is short lived. It seems as though some people don’t want Miles to connect to his children, and are doing anything necessary to eliminate the rest of them.

But, for what purpose?

You will have to read it to find out. There is a LOT going on in this suspenseful tale, but the less said is better. I was hooked from the start, and surprised that the book is told through multiple POVs and scenarios. Eventually, all of the stories connect to the main one. Some of them, I suspected. Others caught me by surprise.

The tension (and body count) rises as the story breezes its way to an ultimately satisfying - slightly cheesy - epilogue. There were moments where I had to suspend disbelief at the motives and actions of certain characters, but hey...it’s fiction.

While this may not be as riveting as Barclay’s earlier work (No Time for Goodbye or Never Look Away), it is an enjoyable, taut thriller that never lets up on the intrigue as it races to tie everything together. What more could I ask for?

Sincere thank you to William Morrow, who provided me with a widget of the ARC. This is set to be released May 4, 2021.

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

First thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tech giant Miles Cookson wasn’t always rich beyond his wildest dreams. As a struggling student he used a sperm donation clinic as a way to get some cash. Now, twenty years later, he learns he has a incurable ALS-type disease and wants to know if he passed that DNA marker on to any potential offspring. He illegally learns the names of nine of them, but to his horror, it appears that someone else is also looking to remove any trace of their existence.

Find You First is a great, fast-paced read with lots of twists that will keep you guessing till the end. It’s the perfect escape from today’s problems.

Linwood Barclay is a master of the page turner. Always easy and fun to speed through his latest work! Great for pulling anyone out of a reading slump.

Linwood Barclay’s novel, Find You First, could not have been written a few years ago due to the fairly recent proliferation of DNA testing sites. The plot centers around a very wealthy tech executive who is diagnosed with a death sentence disease in the first chapter. The doctor goes on to say the good news is that he has no children since this disease is genetic. However, when he was young and poor, he sold his sperm to a fertility clinic. His search for his “children “ to warn them and have them tested is a compelling read with interesting characters, some of whom have embarked on their own DNA searches for their fathers and have discovered that they have siblings.

This well written, fast-paced action thriller will be responsible for your lost sleep. This is an exciting and enjoyable read recommended for readers who want intrigue and suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read an advance copy of a sure fire future best seller.

I'm a big fan of Linwood Barclay and was pleased to read his latest book, Find You First. True to his writing style this was a slight departure from his other books, but it was really a good read. Many twists and turns keep you forging ahead wanting more.
Thanks for the advance copy and I look forward to recommending this book.