Thank you William Morrow Publishing and Net Galley for ARC. This book is very much like Stephen King's storytelling. I have read other Linwood Barclay psychological thrillers and loved them. This book was so creepy. As each chapter went, I could feel evil lurking. The dual time lines interwoven so well. I highly recommend this book.

A mix between thriller and cosmic horror, I had a really fun time. I will certainly be reading more by this author.

Whistle is a story that dabbles in the supernatural. I don't normally read books like this, but this is a Linwood Barclay book. I had to give it a try and I'm so glad I did. This was amazing and didn't get too deep into the supernatural aspect, just enough to make it a great storyline.

The story is told in two timelines, present and 2001. The parallels of the two timelines is unclear at first, but then suddenly they are tied together. This is brilliantly done in typical Barclay fashion. In 2001,Harry a police chief is investigating mysterious murders and chilling events happening throughout town.
Oddly, they all seems to be tied together by a new train store opening. In present time Annie, a children's book author and illustrator, and her son Charlie leave the big city for a quiet town, to recover after the death of her husband and an accident to a child as the result of one of her books. Once there, Charlie is bored until he discovers an old train set on the property. Once he puts it together and starts playing with it sinister things begin to happen and no one is safe. When the events of the two timelines come together it results in an explosive conclusion.

This book was a true page turner and gripped me from start to finish. I didn't think I could gasp as many times as I did reading this. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a good thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow Publishing for the advanced copy

I remember getting a wooden Brio train set for Christmas when I was probably four or five year old. I loved that train. It didn’t do murderous things, so that’s good.

You know what else is good? This book.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC, and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

This book hums along with a steady, determined combination of eeriness and ebullience, and while it clearly pays tribute to books like Needful Things, it never crosses that line into emulation.

The good…
Barclay can write. He doesn’t have beautiful prose or dazzle with linguistic sorcery, but his straightforward, accessible style is perfect for telling this story; and this story is worth being told. I loved everything about it, from the dual timeline traversal, to the imparting of metaphysical evil into a benign entity, to the unforeseen event that punctuates the nature of villainy.

The less good…
I don’t have much to say here. I probably could have done without maybe 50 pages, but none of those felt belabored or uninteresting. They just might be unnecessary, and this book’s length could serve as a barrier to mass accessibility.

To read, or not to read…
Absolutely go read it. It’s a great time

I did not know what to expect when I read that this was a paranormal story from Linwood Barclay. I have read many of Barclay's books and enjoyed them all. so I was excited to see what he would do with this. I was not disappointed. This was written well, not in a silly way that I many times find paranormal novels. The timeline was a little confusing to me until it all came together at the end. I enjoyed the story very much and genuinely loved the ending. The characters were well done and I felt for some of them when they met their fate. All in all I enjoyed this book immensely.

What did I just read? Oh wait, I didn't actually read it -- it turned out to be something I have generally thought of as impossible: this one was a DNF. I have read and reviewed many Linwood Barclay books over the years, and he has consistently been on my "yes! A new book by < >!!" list. Possibly it is my own fault, I actually requested this one, without reading carefully enough what the book was about? The blurb for Whistle included mentions of grief, strange sounds in the night...should have tipped me off that this was likely to veer into the horror combined with supernatural -- generally not my thing. Looking at the reviews, I am clearly in the minority on this, for which I am glad -- Mr. Barclay has provided me with MANY hours of enjoyment, and apparently many of his fans thought this one was terrific. So with many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley, I appreciate being given the opportunity, but as George Costanza would say, "It's not you, it's me!" One star.

Having read most, if not all, of Linwood Barclay’s books, I was elated to receive an ARC from NetGalley. Ostensibly, the novel is about a murderer who selects his victims by making and selling toy trains to them. After a promising beginning, the book turns into a horror story and, to this reader, was akin to a Stephen King novel. It is more fantasy than a mystery/thriller and I am bewildered as to why I muddled through to a completely unsatisfactory conclusion. I thank NetGalley and William Morrow Books and the opportunity to read and review this very unsavory book.

This is Linwood Barclay's first foray into the supernatural, and he did a fantastic job! Whistle is a creepy, fast-paced, unputdownable story! It's well-written and full of great characters. There are two timelines. In the present day, Annie is desperate for a break and takes her son Charlie to a house in the country. While there he finds an old train set and their lives will never be the same again. In 2001, Harry, a small-town police chief, investigates the murders and mayhem that seem to coincide with a new model train store appearing in town. Both timelines were interesting, but my favorite parts were Harry's. What happens in that town is absolutely chilling. I was wondering how the timelines would come together, and I was surprised by the way they did. I hope Mr. Barclay writes more supernatural novels because I loved this one! Highly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Whistle. I have been a fan of Linwood Barclay for a long time. Read all his books but this new novel is a departure from his other novels and I love it
This book is a supernatural thriller and I found it very entertaining and believable.
The story centers on a writer, Annie. She writes children’s books and in particular one about a Penguin. Kids love her books and she is very successful.
But unfortunate accidents happen and she’s ready to put the pen away and stop writing.
Her publicist comes up with a plan for her and her son to get out of the city and go to the countryside. Get away from it all and start working again well maybe but it’s not a bad idea. Annie and her son travel upstate to a beautiful place and they are going to have time to do some things together they never had a chance to do.
But something’s calling to her son and he finds an old toy. One that he starts to play with all the time. It’s a toy train set.
The only thing that is wrong is the change she sees in her son and the message from an old woman who lives next door.
Something is wrong.
A parallel story is being told by a police man in 2001 who is also finding out that there are things going on in his small town that seem to revolve around a small shop in town that sells toy train sets. People are going missing and people are dying from accidents. If he told people what he was thinking they would think he was crazy.
These two timelines converge and intersect to create a novel of suspense and mystery.
Excellent!!! 5 stars!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of Whistle by Linwood Barclay due to be published May 20, 2025.

Annie Blunt had an unimaginably terrible year with her husband dying and another accident that she blamed on herself. She decides to get away with her son Charlie. Charlie is thrilled when he finds an old train set in the shed. He puts it together, and that’s when strange things start to happen.
I thought I would be reading a typical Linwood Barclay thriller, but I was in for a surprise! This was unlike any of his other books, and I loved it! Told from alternating time periods, it was a horror story like no other I have read. I love his thrillers, but he did a fantastic job with this one – kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I would highly recommend it!

#NetGalley #WilliamBarclay #WilliamMorrow #Whistle

4.5 stars

I’ve never read Barclay before and always thought of him as a mystery author. But damn this book was phenomenal! If this is what he has to offer call me a fan!

This just might be my favorite Linwoid Barclay book to date. "Whistle" gave us chills and thrills and it delivered on every aspect you want on a novel. Great book.

I am a big fan of Linwood Barclay, but this book was very different! I enjoyed his foray into the horror and supernatural genre. The writing was excellent and that man can tell a story!

What did I just read? I went in thinking oh my a Linwood Barclay book I need to read it. I love his books. I went in blind and boy of boy am I glad I did. I’m not into supernatural at all. This books centers around two time periods one is back in the early 2000’s. It follows a police chief and the mysterious happenings with a train shop owner who sells his trains and when he send them into the community bad things happen. We also find out he is up to no good in the hood so to speak. And then present day it follows a mom and son who move away from the city due to tragedy’s ready for some peace. But they don’t get it instead the son finds a train set - what could go wrong? Turns out everything! And I was down for both stories to play out. So intriguing and I could not put this book down and read it faster than any book I have ever read. So good! Sounds like Linwood may make more of these types of books and I am down for it …. Well as long and there are some traditional Linwood ones too!

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