I feel so special getting the opportunity to read Whistle before publication lol With as many books as I read I feel like I tend to re-read a lot of the same stories with slightly different twists, but not Whistle! Creepy trains that somehow bring chaos and destruction… excellent. It was such a good read I’ve already recommended it to others and I’ll be buying it for myself as soon as I’m able. I hope we get more books like this from Barclay in the future, I’ll be ready!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

4.25 Stars: Whistle is a book that slowly got under my skin. It lets you know what you’re in for from the top and you spend most of the book anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. This was very effective for me. As a parent, Annie and Charlie’s story had me perpetually on edge. Surprisingly, I still ended up liking Harry’s story more as he investigates the mysterious disappearances in his town. There were just enough sneaky hints throughout the book to keep me theorizing. It was a fun read that I had trouble putting down past the halfway point. I highly recommend this to any horror fans!

Eerie, magical and lyrical. This ended up being so much more than I expected. A mix of Needful Things and Something Wicked this Way Comes. So great. I loved the backstory of the characters and how in the end Barclay wrapped it altogether with a nice bow. I love that he took a chance with this story and may revisit this again. Read this!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for this free copy of "Whistle."

This will definitely make you skittish about starting a new hobby! I have an over-active imagination anyway, but now I'm glad our childhood train set didn't cause any weirdness to happen!

Annie is a super-successful writer and illustrator of a children's book series. Her husband John was recently the victim of a hit-and-run in New York City. To deal with the grief, she and her son Charlie rent a house in upstate New York for the summer.

Where Charlie is "drawn" to find the key to the locked shed where he finds a box of train parts....

With shades of tricksters Loki or Coyote, we meet Edwin, the owner of Choo Choo's trains where every train set helps him to enable and create chaos.

This was my first time reading an author Barclay book, but I'll definitely watch for any others with this supernatural, horror vibe.

I did not know what to expect with Linwood Barclay's newest book, Whistle. Wow! It was a knockout! It had an old school horror vibe that I loved!

Multiple povs
Lingering suspense
Crazy coincidences



This book made me question my sanity too many times to count. Bat shit crazy is great best way to describe this one. I was on the edge of my seat the more I turned the pages. And to think, all this from a bunch of train sets.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Whistle.

I think I read a book by the author many years ago.

I don't remember the title but I do remember I liked the writing and the premise but found the narrative too long and long winded.

The same goes for Whistle.

I liked the premise but it reminded me TOO much of Needful Things.

I love horror and supernatural novels, those themes are right up my alley, but there was too much exposition and POVs to keep track of.

The horror and supernatural elements were too tame but it takes a lot to shock or surprise me so it's not the author's fault those scenes didn't pull me in.

I liked how Annie and Charlie factored into the big bad's plans, but it took too long to get to the point.

Who is Edwin? Where did he come from?

He's some kind of wannabe Thanos with a terrorist complex?

I don't get it. And I don't get the point of Edwin. Come to a small town and wreak havoc?

Why not the big city where your antics would go unnoticed? Crime and accidents happen in a big town and no one would put two and two together.

The acts of destruction and chaos weren't bad, but not quite horror so much as Final Destination-like accidents.

And what's up with Annie?

Why does she have these certain abilities? Only creatives have it? Why her? Is it innate? Genetic?

I don't mind ambiguity but there's ambiguity and supernatural and 'magic?' and just plain nothing is explained and I'm supposed to suspend disbelief for it?

I wanted more exposition into Edwin and his past, more of a look inside of 'him' and where he came from and why he chose to do what he does.

Is he evil? Some kind of demon?

I have a lot of questions and not enough answers. Like I said, I don't mind ambiguity but you need to give me something.

A bit different from the books written by the author before. A bit of evil comes through in this book.

Annie and her son, Charlie, move to a small town to get away when her husband dies. It has been a hard year and they both need a change of pace.

Charlie finds a train set in a shed and is thrilled! Evil then takes over… Mr Choo begins taking over and taking the reader into another realm. The train comes to life to give you the ride of a lifetime! I could not put this book down! I would highly recommend!!

Thank you Net Galley for an early copy.

Whistle felt like a return to the classic horror of Stephen King with multilayered flawed characters, a dark and supernatural villain, and that oh so specific style of writing that reminded me of Needful Things meets Something Wicked This Way Comes.

I think due to that classic writing style it took me a while to get into the swing of the story. There was a slowness to the beginning that had me itching to drop the book and look for thrills elsewhere. I've gotten a little too comfortable with instant gratification from my recent horror reads, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Whistle has a good bunch of character POVs, jumps between timelines in the story, and no characters (narrator of the chapter or not) were safe - this book was a rail fan's Final Destination nightmare scenario. The violent kills were incredible once they started rolling but it definitely took me a minute to get into the swing of this book. If you love classic Stephen King, then I think you'll thoroughly enjoy Whistle.

A decently enjoyable read by an author I had no idea was already a famous author of a different genre. A toy train set keeps getting passed around but it may be playing with you more than you-it, and it likes to play with blood. I found Linwood’s prose to be easily accessible but I found the story to be very slow, which makes sense because he tipped his hat to Needful Things which is brutally slow. If you’re a major King fan then you’ll love this, but I think most people will find it average

Creepy, chilling and sooo good!!! Absolutely loved this one! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc of this book

🚂 M A S T E R M I N D M O N D A Y review 🚂 featuring “Whistle” by Linwood Barclay!

MY RATING: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/4

Annie Blunt has been faced with so much trauma after losing her husband suddenly from a hit and run accident and being blamed for the death of a young boy who misinterpreted a story she wrote. Annie is a children’s book author and new widow and decides that her and her son Charlie needed a change and a break from the Big City. Annie rents a house in Upstate New York for the summer with hopes of being able to mend themselves in the peace and quiet of the countryside.

Charlie becomes fixated on an old shed on the property and finds a train set that someone had left behind. Charlie is totally obsessed with the train set … and the more he plays with it, the more strange, disturbing and haunting things start to happen. The train set has a past history that is (literally) off the rails and Annie and Charlie have no idea what nightmare is upon them 🫣

Choo Choo! This was a very different writing style from Linwood Barclay and I really enjoyed the change to more of a supernatural chiller! I have never read anything like WHISTLE before and found myself totally immersed in the world of toy trains! Who would have thought that trains could be so creepy, unsettling … and dangerous!

Thank you kindly to @linwoodbarclay @williammorrowbooks @harpercollinsca @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on May 20, 2025!

Release: May 20, 2025
Author : Linwood Barclay
Publisher: William Morrow

Rating: 4.25 ★ 

After a devastating year that saw her husband killed in a hit-and-run and her career thrown into controversy, Annie Blunt moves with her son, Charlie, to a small town in upstate New York, hoping for a fresh start. But things quickly take a dark turn. Charlie stumbles upon an old train set hidden in a locked shed on their new property, and while Annie is relieved to see him happy again, there’s something deeply unsettling about it. Soon, Annie starts hearing phantom train whistles at night—even though the nearest tracks have been abandoned for years—and strange events ripple through the neighborhood. As her unease grows, Annie finds herself compulsively sketching a sinister new character, one that doesn’t belong anywhere near a children’s book. She begins to wonder if grief is playing tricks on her mind—or if she and Charlie have stepped into something far more terrifying.

"Whistle" gave me such strong old-school Stephen King vibes, it felt like stepping back into my teenage years—locking myself in my room, devouring a chilling supernatural horror until sunrise. This book is scary, sinister, and unpredictable, with a slow-burn tension that builds until you can practically hear the ghostly train coming for you. It completely got under my skin in the best way.

The story follows two seemingly separate timelines. In the present day, Annie Blunt is trying to rebuild her life after a series of devastating tragedies: her husband’s sudden death and a controversy surrounding one of her beloved children’s books. Hoping for a fresh start, she moves with her young son Charlie to a quiet town in upstate New York. But when Charlie finds a locked shed with an old train set inside, strange things begin happening—phantom whistles at night, unsettling dreams, and Annie’s disturbing new artwork.

Meanwhile, in 2001, Harry Cook, the police chief of a small Vermont town, is investigating a rash of bizarre events after a strange toy train shop appears out of nowhere. Disappearances, gruesome deaths, and sudden suicides start plaguing the town, all seemingly tied to the mysterious Edwin Nabler, the shop’s peculiar owner.

As the timelines converge, it becomes clear that Annie’s new home—and her family—might be in far more danger than she ever imagined.

While the dual timelines add depth to the story, I felt the 2001 plotline could have been tighter. It sometimes pulled focus from Annie and Charlie, who were the real emotional heart of the book. I would’ve loved even more development of Annie’s past and Charlie’s eerie experiences, especially since the supernatural elements around the train were so compelling. The horror moments were chilling, but I couldn’t help but wish they had been pushed even further.

That said, Whistle is a fast-paced, creepy ride that kept me hooked. Even when I saw a few twists coming, the atmosphere and eerie tension made it a fun, spine-tingling read. Fans of small-town horror, ghost stories, and sinister toys will definitely enjoy this one.

Favorite Quote:
"trust is fragile. It takes years to build, and only moments to destroy."

Fantastic book! I would highly recommend both this book and other books by this author. Be sure to read this book!

Oh my god! This book perfectly brought back the old-school Stephen King vibes. It took me on a quick trip back to my teenage years, when I would lock myself in my bedroom, disconnect from the world, and devour the latest King supernatural horror all night—reading until the next school day. This book gave me that same sensation I’ve missed so much.

It’s scary. Sinister. Unpredictable. It paints a vivid portrait of a small town and a rich cast of characters. Everything moves at a slow burn, the tension gradually building. You can almost hear the choo-choo of a train approaching—closer, louder, more urgent—until you're hiding under a blanket or behind the couch, wherever feels safest. And yet, even when you're scared out of your mind, you cannot put this book down.

Anything can happen. Don’t get attached to any of the characters—one might suddenly die, and next thing you know, you’re screaming at the pages like a lunatic. It gave me chills. It ran my blood cold. It’s the best kind of old-school horror: the kind that gets under your skin. Even though it's dark, the villain is dangerously unsettling, and some scenes are truly gory, that's exactly what makes it so perfect.

The story is told through two timelines, following two different people who are seemingly unconnected—except for the unexplainable things happening around them and the constant, eerie sound of whistling trains.

Annie Blunt is having the worst year of her life. A famous children’s book author and illustrator, she's devastated when a young boy—who idolized her flying penguin character, Pierce—jumps off a roof with wings he made at home, believing he could fly. While Annie is drowning in guilt, her loving husband becomes the victim of a hit-and-run. Her agent and close friend, Finn, intervenes and rents a Victorian house in a quiet upstate New York town, hoping it’ll be a peaceful break from the chaos—and good for Annie’s grieving young son, Charlie.

Once they move into the house, they meet their neighbors, including Dolores, a woman suffering from amnesia, traumatized after working at the very same house during a previous rental. Charlie discovers a locked shed with a mysterious train toy set inside. From then on, Annie starts hearing ghostly train whistles—even though there are no running trains nearby, and the town’s station has been shut for years.

We also meet Harry, the chief officer of the Lucknow Police Department. He’s married to Janice and father to young Dylan. Harry is investigating several bizarre missing persons cases: two men and a goat vanish. One of the men is later found in a horrifying state—left in the middle of the road, his body completely stripped of hair and bones. The goat is discovered in the same grotesque condition. Soon after, the town is plagued by abrupt suicides, aggressive dogs, and eerie disturbances. All the chaos seems to have started when a strange new shop opened: Choo Choo’s Trains, run by the enigmatic Edwin Nabler.

Who is this man with odd motives? Could he be a psychopath hiding behind an innocent facade?

How do these two timelines connect?
Can Harry save his town from spiraling into darkness?
Did Annie unknowingly place her family in danger by moving to this seemingly quiet town?
As the whistling grows louder, one thing becomes clear: something terrifying is coming—and it’s speeding up.

Overall: This book was an absolute delight. I enjoyed every second of it and proudly give it five blazing choo choo stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this fantastic horror thriller with me in exchange for my honest thoughts—I truly appreciate it!

First off: Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Two timelines that converge into a completely creepy, supernatural thriller. This novel follows Annie who has endured a series of personal tragedies recently from her husband dying to controversy over a children’s book she had written. After the death of her husband Annie decides she wants a fresh start with her young son, Charlie. They rent a house in upstate New York, in a small town. Charlie finds a train set in an old, abandoned shed on their property and becomes obsessed with the toy. But, when unsettling events begin to take place, Annie starts to question the true nature of the train set and its influence on her son.
In 2001, a few months after September 11th, a mysterious train shop opens in Lucknow, Vermont, seemingly overnight. Mr. Choo offers train sets to residents but when bizarre and tragic events start to happen, local police Chief Harry Cook, starts to investigate. Harry suspects a connection to these train sets and the peculiar vendor. As the two timelines converge, the novel delves into themes of grief, the supernatural, and the unforeseen circumstances of normal, daily actions.

I was really excited to get approved through NetGalley to read this ARC. The first part of this book is creepy and spooky and checked all the boxes for the start of a good horror/supernatural thriller. The tragic events, the fear and eerie emotions of the characters led me to believe that I was getting a great horror novel. It held my attention until the last three quarters of the book. It changed from horror novel to a spooky carnival type vibe. I felt like I needed more of an explanation of the history or world that the villain came from. I did enjoy the author’s writing style, it was easy to read and kept my flipping pages until it didn’t. I overall would recommend this book, I just felt like it was an appetizer and left me without the main course.

Linwood Barclay enters the world of supernatural horror with his new novel "Whistle," but unfortunately it isn't the slam dunk I hoped it would be. While fast-paced and intermittently engaging, its best moments feel like pale imitations of its inspirations, most noticeably Stephen King's "Needful Things," which is directly name checked. As one of King's "Constant Readers" and a massive horror fan, I'm very used to novels in the horror space trying to imitate his various works. There are flashes of successful homage here, but Barclay's book never separates itself from those attempts to provide anything new, and the mention of "Needful Things" frankly made me want to set this one down for a bit to read that instead.

"Whistle" is a book with two lightly interlocking stories, one about children's book artist Annie and her son Charlie taking a break from New York City after a tragedy and the other about Harry, a small town sheriff growing suspicious of the weird man running a new toy train store that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Both of these halves of the tale are given roughly equal time, but I couldn't help but feel as though the earlier set (just after 9/11, mentioned so often as to be distracting) cop vs. mysterious stranger chunk should have been a small prologue instead. Much like the toy trains the strange new salesman Edwin Nabler is handing out to the town's denizens, this part of Barclay's novel stays on a track that runs from a generic point A to a predictable and unsatisfying point B. While it does explain some parts of the later set Annie and Charlie story, it is so light on character development on its own that the scares never delivered and the fates of various thinly-drawn townsfolk barely registered with me.

Annie, the children's book artist going through turbulent times, is the book's more interesting protagonist, and truthfully I wanted to know more of her past and the way it eventually ties into the strange events set in motion when her son Charlie finds a toy train set in the shed of their new rental home. We only get little flashes of her backstory before the death of her husband due to spending so much of the book on rails with the other half of the story. Charlie is definitely assembled in the general mold of a Stephen King-esque child, but oddly we never get any horror elements from his point of view and very little of his experiences with the supernatural events at hand. This, to me, is the book's weakest element and where it truly loses any hope of approaching King territory. King novels like the aforementioned "Needful Things" or "Salem's Lot" or "Desperation" always feel like they give if not equal time than at least equal detail to every character's experiences. Sure, it runs the page count up when every character gets this sort of attention, but it makes you care about what happens to them or at least intrigued as to what their eventual fate will be. In this novel, Linwood Barclay gives vague silhouettes of characters who head in a very easily sussed out straight line.

It's by no means a bad novel, and the pages often fly by. I found myself getting excited for the horror and supernatural moments, but ultimately they were underdeveloped and certainly under explained. The antagonist seems to have new powers a few times towards the end that would have been well-utilized earlier on. I wonder if there are much longer earlier drafts of this book and what those might look like. If the King vibe was truly Barclay's goal, a couple hundred extra pages would have helped, not hurt.

"New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Evil has a one track mind....

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children's books she's built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie's year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there's something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night - she could swear she hears a train, but there isn't an active track for miles - and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can't seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children's book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she's walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying..."

Oh, it would have been extra ironic if her husband was killed by a train...

Whistle is wonderfully written, well thought out, creepy, dark, chilling, gripping and dripping with dread! Just how I like them! Who knew a toy train set could be so unsettling and completely frightening? Not me! But in Linwood Barclay's hands, this toy for both young and old alike, becomes a toy that chug chug chugs on a trail of terror!

In the present
Annie is looking for a fresh start after a year full of heartbreak, loss, trauma, and scandal. Her husband died in a horrible accident and her beloved children's book became the cause of a scandal. She just wanted a new quiet place in which to raise her son, Charlie. Little does she know things are about to get worse. When Charlie finds an old train set in a locked shed on their new property, he's happy. But Annie begins hearing weird things at night. I wanted to say "ummm, Annie. stop and think about why it was locked in the shed!" Maybe I have seen too many horror films, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that nothing good can come from this. But I digress....


In the past
Chief Cook has one heck of a case on his hands. Animals have gone missing, and the body of a man has been found and well, it's bad to say the least. His body is only the first of many that Chief Cook will investigate. The chief can't help but notice that there is a train store in town that just seemed to appear and is owned by Mr. Choo Choo. His trains are unique and well, thing begin to happen when they find an owner....

This book was CREEPY and DARK. Linwood Barclay proved that he could give Stephen King a run for his money with Whistle. Barclay captured the small-town feel, the nostalgic vibe of having a train set, the eeriness of hearing strange noises, and the creepiness of having neighbors who seem to know more about your home than you do.

I loved the tension, the supernatural element, and the unsettling vibe in this book. I also loved the creepy and diabolical Mr. Choo Choo. I mean come on, from that name alone, you know you are dealing with a 'unique' individual. This book is told in two timelines and in two different places, yet they mingle beautifully at the end of the book. Speaking of the end of the book, hats off to Linwood Barclay for pulling off a brilliant ending.

Creepy, wonderfully written, well thought out, unique, and hard to put down!

Actually, 3.5 stars

“Whistle” delivers a suspenseful, character-driven ride with a supernatural twist that lingers long after the final page. The story begins in the shadow of grief, slowly unraveling a strange and eerie mystery centered around a possessed train set—a chilling and original element that adds a haunting layer to the plot.

Told through multiple points of view, the novel offers a rich tapestry of perspectives that deepen the emotional weight and drive the suspense. While this approach adds complexity and depth, it can occasionally become a bit convoluted if you're not paying close attention—especially as the supernatural elements start bleeding into the more grounded moments.

Barclay’s characters are well-drawn and believable, each one carrying their own burdens and secrets. The emotional stakes are high, and the tension builds steadily, with moments of quiet dread punctuated by bursts of real terror.

Blending grief, mystery, and the uncanny with Barclay’s signature pacing, Whistle is both a ghost story and a psychological thriller. Fans of layered suspense with a supernatural edge will find a lot to love—just be sure to keep your
eye on the tracks.

Thank You NetGalley and the Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.