Tim Blake is an average guy. He sells cars. He has an ex-wife who’s moved in with another man. It’s not a life without hassles, but not...
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Aug 03, 2011
Jeanette
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I won a copy of this book from good reads giveaways. This was the first book I'd read by Linwood Barclay, and I enjoyed the story. Great summer reading.
Tim Blake is a divorced Connecticut car salesman. His teenage daughter Sydney is staying with him for the summer. One night she doesn't come home from work. Tim goes looking for her at the inn where she's been working, and is told she never worked there. He tries to go on with his normal life while looking for Sydney, and even More...
Tim Blake is a divorced Connecticut car salesman. His teenage daughter Sydney is staying with him for the summer. One night she doesn't come home from work. Tim goes looking for her at the inn where she's been working, and is told she never worked there. He tries to go on with his normal life while looking for Sydney, and even More...
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Feb 02, 2012
Keith
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Herein lies a tale of what must be every parent’s worst nightmare. What happens to your life if you drop your teenaged daughter off at her summer job one bright weekday morning and she doesn’t return home that evening? Worry turns to fear but as you begin to search you find that not only has no one seen her but her supposed employer tells you that she doesn’t work there---never has---and they don’t even know her. Now the fear turns to panic. This is what Tim Blake, a divorced father, experie
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Aug 09, 2011
Kerstin
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Kurzbeschreibung:
Eigentlich wollte Tim einen schönen Sommer mit seiner Teenagertochter verbringen. Seit der Trennung von seiner Frau lebt Sydney bei ihrer Mutter am anderen Ende der Stadt.
Doch für einen Sommerjob in einem Hotel zieht sie vorübergehend zu Tim. Und verschwindet nach wenigen Wochen spurlos.
Voller Sorge macht Tim sich auf die Suche nach seiner Tochter, richtet eine Website ein, geht allen Hinweisen nach.
Als sein eigenes Haus verwüstet wird, ahnt er, dass er selbs More...
Eigentlich wollte Tim einen schönen Sommer mit seiner Teenagertochter verbringen. Seit der Trennung von seiner Frau lebt Sydney bei ihrer Mutter am anderen Ende der Stadt.
Doch für einen Sommerjob in einem Hotel zieht sie vorübergehend zu Tim. Und verschwindet nach wenigen Wochen spurlos.
Voller Sorge macht Tim sich auf die Suche nach seiner Tochter, richtet eine Website ein, geht allen Hinweisen nach.
Als sein eigenes Haus verwüstet wird, ahnt er, dass er selbs More...
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Feb 05, 2012
Jason
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Very rarely to I hand out five starts but I felt this book was among one of the best books I have every read. I picked up this book when I was in Pairs at the airport on my way home. The book was few among the English section. I read the entire flight home and never stopped.
This book is about Tim Blake, a divorced man who that is a salesman at a car dealership, whom has a teenage daughter named Sydney, Syd. Syd is temporarily staying with her father while she works at a run-down hotel More...
This book is about Tim Blake, a divorced man who that is a salesman at a car dealership, whom has a teenage daughter named Sydney, Syd. Syd is temporarily staying with her father while she works at a run-down hotel More...
Dec 31, 2011
Tim Blake’s teenaged daughter Sydney has vanished. Her supposed co-workers claim never to have heard of her. The police begin to turn their investigation toward Blake. As the days stretch into weeks, the lack of answers begins to drive Blake to desperate acts of recklessness. In Fear the Worst, author Linwood Barclay milks this scenario for every ounce of suspense he can. Barclay has earned favourable comparisons with American novelist Harlan Coben, a well-regarded purveyor of domestic terrors.
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Jun 06, 2011
Ms.pegasus
rated it:
Imagine that one morning your teen-age daughter goes to her summer job … and disappears. Linwood Barclay captures that single moment in all of its frantic terror, and suspends it in time. Into this void, he occupies us with circumspect introductions to his characters. We learn that the girl who has disappeared is named Sydney. We see her exclusively through the eyes of her father, Tim, a failed dealer and now a car salesman treading water in his career. Tim's ex-wife Susanne's boyfriend,
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Feb 24, 2011
Stephen
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Fear the Worst is written in the first person and it is a crime thriller in the top league. Tim's situation is very easy to relate to and this story has a good pace with a very good attention to detail. It is an engaging story and you develop a great empathy for Tim Blake in his quest to find his missing daughter. Tim has very little information to go on, where is Sydney and why has she lied to him? Why did she not leave a note or phone home?
There are plenty of twists and doubts for t More...
There are plenty of twists and doubts for t More...
Feb 05, 2011
Paul
rated it:
I'm sure many of you have read Linwood Barclay's, "No Time for Goodbye" and "Too Close to Home".
You will find that in "Fear the Worst" Barclay has again put the reader on edge. A young girl, Syd Blake, goes to work at a hotel one morning and disappears. Not only does she disappear but when her father inquires at the "Just Inn Time" inn where she supposedly works, no one has ever heard of her.
Syd's father, Tim, starts searching for More...
You will find that in "Fear the Worst" Barclay has again put the reader on edge. A young girl, Syd Blake, goes to work at a hotel one morning and disappears. Not only does she disappear but when her father inquires at the "Just Inn Time" inn where she supposedly works, no one has ever heard of her.
Syd's father, Tim, starts searching for More...
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Jan 28, 2011
Lisa
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I'd just finished another of this author's books and was looking for something light and easy. This is hardly a 'thriller' as his other book is, but it's still a pageturner. My only problem is that the author doesn't follow Chekov's rule about the gun in the first act going off in the third act. (Spoiler below)
Why was the main character's house searched? What were the bad guys looking for? I thought FOR SURE that when the father had taken the stuffed animal on his road trip, More...
Why was the main character's house searched? What were the bad guys looking for? I thought FOR SURE that when the father had taken the stuffed animal on his road trip, More...
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Jan 22, 2011
Sarah
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I read this as part of the White Pine Book Club in my school (it's currently in the running for the White Pine Book Award as a 2011 nominee). As part of Club privileges, members get to vote which of the 10 nominees is worthy of the Award--that is, after reading a minimum of 5 books. Members only get to vote once, so choices definitely need to be well-thought out. This was my 7th book and while it wasn't too bad, it didn't set off any rockets in my head either. As I was scanning the shelves for a
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Jun 09, 2010
Denise
rated it:
3.0 out of 5 stars Misses the mark..., June 14, 2009
This review is from: Fear the Worst: A Novel (Hardcover)
I was so excited to get this book since I have read all of Barclay's novels. The genre of thriller/suspense is my favorite, and I read everyone. Barclay has a style similar to Coben, Finder, Gerritsen and Slaughter. Even so, all of them have trouble sometimes with their endings and some of the confrontation scenes have more than adequate drama and almost unbeliev More...
This review is from: Fear the Worst: A Novel (Hardcover)
I was so excited to get this book since I have read all of Barclay's novels. The genre of thriller/suspense is my favorite, and I read everyone. Barclay has a style similar to Coben, Finder, Gerritsen and Slaughter. Even so, all of them have trouble sometimes with their endings and some of the confrontation scenes have more than adequate drama and almost unbeliev More...
Nov 24, 2009
Banafsheh
rated it:
How would you feel showing up to where you thought your daughter had been working all summer only to be told she never worked there. Worst still how would you feel if your daughter was now missing? This is the nightmare Tim Blake, a Toyota car salesman, faces when his 17-year-old daughter Sydney who was staying with him for the summer, goes to work one day and fails to come home. So begins a mystery with more high speed twists and turns than the wildest rollercoaster. At every turn, there are
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Sep 28, 2009
Louise
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Wow!!! I have just discovered my newest 'favourite' Canadian author!! Linwood Barclay makes no bones about writing thrilling, fast-paced, hold onto your seat, and don't take your eyes off the page story telling. His talent for spinning out a bone-chilling mystery and thriller with neatly and precisely carved characters is mind blowing. Lots of thrills and unexpected's in this one! I'm on the hunt for ALL this author's work now!! lol
From dust jacket:
"Your daughter doe More...
From dust jacket:
"Your daughter doe More...
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Aug 20, 2009
Bobbie
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Fear the Worst
Written by: Linwood Barclay
Published by: Doubleday Canada
Date: August 11th, 2009
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0385668026
Fear the Worst is one heck of a ride and it comes from the Canadian, #1 Internationally Bestselling Author of Too Close To Home; I've never read it and if Fear the worst is any indication, it is probably phenomenal! I cannot say enough positive things about this book; it's high-adrenaline, fast-paced and has a More...
Written by: Linwood Barclay
Published by: Doubleday Canada
Date: August 11th, 2009
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0385668026
Fear the Worst is one heck of a ride and it comes from the Canadian, #1 Internationally Bestselling Author of Too Close To Home; I've never read it and if Fear the worst is any indication, it is probably phenomenal! I cannot say enough positive things about this book; it's high-adrenaline, fast-paced and has a More...
Aug 18, 2009
Fear the Worst, by Linwood Barclay, a-minus, narrated by Buck Schirner, Produced by Brillance Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
Tim Blake is a car salesman for a company with a Honda franchise. He is divorced from Suzanne, who has moved in with Bob, a successful used car salesman whom Tim hates. Tim and Suzanne’s daughter, Sydney, commutes back and forth between their houses. For the summer she is living with Tim. Tim drops her at work one day. He’s never seen the inside of the More...
Tim Blake is a car salesman for a company with a Honda franchise. He is divorced from Suzanne, who has moved in with Bob, a successful used car salesman whom Tim hates. Tim and Suzanne’s daughter, Sydney, commutes back and forth between their houses. For the summer she is living with Tim. Tim drops her at work one day. He’s never seen the inside of the More...
Aug 09, 2009
Michael
rated it:
This novel grabs your attention from the start.
Tim Blake has his 17 year old daughter, Sydney, staying with him during the summer. She never comes home from her job in a local motel. Tim goes to the hotel and asks the management about her. They don't know her and inform him that she never worked there.
He tries to keep his life going and barely succeeds until the police tell him that they've found his daughter's car in a local parking lot.
What would you do as a parent?
More...
Tim Blake has his 17 year old daughter, Sydney, staying with him during the summer. She never comes home from her job in a local motel. Tim goes to the hotel and asks the management about her. They don't know her and inform him that she never worked there.
He tries to keep his life going and barely succeeds until the police tell him that they've found his daughter's car in a local parking lot.
What would you do as a parent?
More...
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Jul 31, 2009
Pamela
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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Jul 31, 2009
Laura
rated it: 
This is a First Reads (my first First Reads), and I'm not sure if the book is out yet to the general public but it should be soon.
It's a decent thriller, and an absolute page-turner because, if for nothing else, the main character, Tim, rarely stops moving. The prose, while not particularly great, is solidly okay--clean and simple--and this also keeps the eyes moving quickly (although, FYI Barclay: no one in the states refers to drunk people as being "pissed," nor do many More...
It's a decent thriller, and an absolute page-turner because, if for nothing else, the main character, Tim, rarely stops moving. The prose, while not particularly great, is solidly okay--clean and simple--and this also keeps the eyes moving quickly (although, FYI Barclay: no one in the states refers to drunk people as being "pissed," nor do many More...
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Jun 21, 2009
Cheryl
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Tim Blake is divorced. He is looking forward to spending the summer with his seventeen year old daughter, Sydney. This year through she won’t be working at the car dealership that he works at. Sydney found herself a job working at the Just In Time hotel, which caters to traveling business men.
When Sydney doesn’t come home, Tim heads to the hotel only to learn his worst nightmare has just begun. Sydney has gone missing, without a trace. It is as if she never existed. The hotel staff More...
When Sydney doesn’t come home, Tim heads to the hotel only to learn his worst nightmare has just begun. Sydney has gone missing, without a trace. It is as if she never existed. The hotel staff More...
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Jul 09, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
Lynwood Barclay's latest thriller, Fear the Worst, tells the suspenseful story of a man searching relentlessly for his daughter who has mysteriously disappeared. The plot moves quickly and the cliffhanger at the end of each chapter kept me continuously engaged in the story.
Tim Blake's 17-year-old daughter, Sydney (Syd), is staying with him for the summer, as she does every year. During the visit last year, she worked at the car dealership her father works at, but this year she got a More...
Tim Blake's 17-year-old daughter, Sydney (Syd), is staying with him for the summer, as she does every year. During the visit last year, she worked at the car dealership her father works at, but this year she got a More...
Nov 21, 2009
Bob
rated it:
Tim is a car salesman; he used to have his own dealership but lost it because he just wasn’t suited to be a manager. He lost his wife as well because she didn’t think he had enough drive to do better job/money wise for the family. Still friends he and the wife share care for the teenaged daughter. When his daughter Sydney fails to come home from her job he begins to search only to find out that no one at the low rent motel where she was supposed to be working had ever heard of her. He repor
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Sep 28, 2009
Nicola
rated it:
Reason for Reading: Last year I read and enjoyed Barclay's Too Close to Home so much I just had to read his newest book.
Comments: One day Tim Blake's 17yo daughter Syd goes off to work her summer job as per usual but she doesn't come home. Since they had a spat that morning he gives her some leeway thinking she's angry and not calling to say she's working late but once plenty of time has gone by he drops by the hotel she's been working at all summer to find out that they've never he More...
Comments: One day Tim Blake's 17yo daughter Syd goes off to work her summer job as per usual but she doesn't come home. Since they had a spat that morning he gives her some leeway thinking she's angry and not calling to say she's working late but once plenty of time has gone by he drops by the hotel she's been working at all summer to find out that they've never he More...
Aug 25, 2009
Becky
rated it: 
As Fear the Worst opens divorced dad Tim Blake is having a minor domestic spat with his teen-age daughter. Just pages later she is missing, and a whole sequence of thriller cliches is ratcheted into place.
Sydney, the daughter, is unknown by her supposed co-workers at the seedy hotel she's told her dad she'd been working in all summer. Tim, unable to handle the pressure of events, alienates his boss, his co-workers, his ex-wife, his girlfriend. Bigger and nastier goings-on are un More...
Sydney, the daughter, is unknown by her supposed co-workers at the seedy hotel she's told her dad she'd been working in all summer. Tim, unable to handle the pressure of events, alienates his boss, his co-workers, his ex-wife, his girlfriend. Bigger and nastier goings-on are un More...
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Oct 13, 2009
Kirsten
rated it:
The premise of this book is an interesting one: what would you do if, as a loving parent, your teenage daughter disappeared one day? And, added to that, what if you went to her workplace and they told you she'd never worked there, and they had no idea who she was?
The beginning of the novel, when a father is in just this situation, is really quite good. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes overburdened with a growing cast of characters and dozens of convoluted occurences, and the end r More...
The beginning of the novel, when a father is in just this situation, is really quite good. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes overburdened with a growing cast of characters and dozens of convoluted occurences, and the end r More...
Aug 10, 2009
Gail (myJunegirls)
rated it:
rating is more a 3 1/2 star than a 3.
This was a book I won on here (Goodreads). It has not been released yet. It was an entertaining story. Enough that it kept me wanting to read to see what had happened/ what was going on. Writing was very good. I have to say- first 14 pages- completely had me hooked. Then we went off to the dad's job and I was dying. I wish he had done something other than sell cars. To me those parts of the book just dragged. This could be my own snobbery that More...
This was a book I won on here (Goodreads). It has not been released yet. It was an entertaining story. Enough that it kept me wanting to read to see what had happened/ what was going on. Writing was very good. I have to say- first 14 pages- completely had me hooked. Then we went off to the dad's job and I was dying. I wish he had done something other than sell cars. To me those parts of the book just dragged. This could be my own snobbery that More...
Feb 24, 2009
David
rated it:
Barclay is the author of Too Close to Home and No Time for Goodbye and he's definitely on a par with Harlan Coben for domestic suspense. In this novel, due out late Summer 09, a teen girl disappears and no one where she claimed to have worked says they even know her. Father and Mother are divorced so step-brothers, friends, lovers, and suspicous cops abound. The suspense is believable, and a very compelling page-turner. I didn't guess the twists and turns but it was all laid out logically wh
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Jun 10, 2011
Patrice
rated it:
This is the first time I'm writing a review so I'm not sure what's expected except my honest opinion. This was the first book I read by Linwood Barclay. It was an extremely fast read. The beginning started out fast paced enough (most likely because the writing is simplistic). The picture of a loving father was given from the beginning of the book which helped to justify rooting for him. The main character Tim, seems like a good guy but at times he's so gullible. Which brings me to my main r
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Feb 20, 2011
Bee
rated it:
Everyone has guilty pleasures. Most peoples literary guilty pleasures may be tacky chick lit, or a bit of steamy saucy fiction. Mine are... crime novels.
Actually scratch that. It isn't even the genre on the whole; it is just this author Linwood Barclay! I actually really don't usually like grizzly, gruesome reads. I sort of feel that same about movies & TV too; in that there is so much appaulling violence and sadness on the news, why would I want to consume even more of the fictional variet More...
Actually scratch that. It isn't even the genre on the whole; it is just this author Linwood Barclay! I actually really don't usually like grizzly, gruesome reads. I sort of feel that same about movies & TV too; in that there is so much appaulling violence and sadness on the news, why would I want to consume even more of the fictional variet More...
Aug 23, 2009
Mark
rated it:
Barclay has done it again written a tight, well crafted tale of suspense out of a seemingly every day occurrence gone wrong.
The book is so well written and the plot and story so wonderfully strung together that I had trouble actually finding a spot to stop reading. It's very "un-put-downable."
Barclay is a master at throwing an average everyday type person into the role of crime-solver, which allows the reader to feel a closer connection to them.
Not More...
The book is so well written and the plot and story so wonderfully strung together that I had trouble actually finding a spot to stop reading. It's very "un-put-downable."
Barclay is a master at throwing an average everyday type person into the role of crime-solver, which allows the reader to feel a closer connection to them.
Not More...
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