When I picked up Whistle, I fully anticipated a thriller, not realizing the horror that lay within. This story is absolutely bone-chilling in all the right ways: I almost had to DNF because the fear it imparted upon me started to impact my ability to function alone in my house during the holidays. But whew, what a fun and interesting story!

"𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧...𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰...𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲? 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤."

A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS is one of my absolute favorite books from this author, and WHISTLE has the same atmospheric vibe. Author and illustrator Annie Blunt has endured one tragedy after another. Shortly after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident, one of the children’s books she’s built her entire career on was the catalyst for a child's death. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie out of the city to a charming small town in upstate New York.

Charlie is bored and lonely, until he finds a long-forgotten train set that he becomes completely enamored with. Annie is happy to see him occupied, but there's something unsettling about this new toy. Never mind that she hears a train whistle in the night when there's not a track around for miles. Never mind all the bizarre things happening in the neighborhood that coincide with the arrival of a train shop that no one remembers seeing before. And the strange character that Annie has been drawing that belongs in a nightmare and not in a book for children? Never mind about that either.

This was a cross between a Stephen King book and an episode of Criminal Minds. While there are some supernatural elements in this book, they are well done and not over the top. I had no idea this book was such a chonky beast as I flew through it in just under a day. Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for the early copy. At the time this review was written, this title was expected to publish June 10, 2025.

This is Barclay’s first foray writing horror and I hope not his last. He is brilliant at it. Whistle had me on the edge of my seat, lights on scared and it was fantastic. After a year of losses Annie Blunt and her young son retreat to the country for the summer. Finding a Lionel train set in the shed, Charlie becomes obsessed with it. Annie’s not so sure as strange things start happening. In a Vermont town a new train store opens up with the strangest little man running it and no one can remember when it opened. Strange and horrible things happen to every house that buys a set and this is just the beginning. Eerie, creepy and the perfect horror read