Whistle
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- ¥1,600
Publisher Description
'Terrific' STEPHEN KING
When you hear it, be afraid…
Celebrated children’s author and illustrator Annie Blunt has had a dreadful year. Her husband was killed in a tragic accident, then one of her children’s books ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her young 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 in the grounds of their new house. While Annie is pleased to see Charlie happy, there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie – she’s sure she can hear a train in the middle of the night, although there isn’t an active line for miles. And then bizarre things start happening in the neighbourhood. But even stranger, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book…
Grief plays tricks on 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…
Sunday Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a fiendishly twisted supernatural chiller.
PRAISE FOR LINWOOD BARCLAY:
‘Linwood Barclay has crafted another perfect page-turner’ The Times
‘Pacy and tense, it’s a triumph from a master thriller writer. Every page makes your heart beat that little bit faster’ The Sun
‘You’ll be left speed-reading towards the end to discover answers expertly posed by the bestselling Toronto-based crime writer’ The Independent
‘Totally absorbing… brilliant stuff’ Neil Lancaster
‘A superior thriller’ Sunday Times
‘A suspense master’ Stephen King
Readers are jumping on the Linwood Barclay train!
'Dark and thoroughly absorbing … A creepy and atmospheric book' (Five stars)
'Whistle is simply genius … my favourite book of [Linwood Barclay's] I've ever read' (Five stars)
'A twisty horror thriller with a Stephen King feel. Do yourself a favour and read this book' (Five stars)
'Bravo Mr Barclay – Whistle is a brilliant read, everything I want from a book was here and so much more! I enjoyed every twisted horrible brilliant minute of it' (Five stars)
'First class storytelling. I was hooked from the first page, I raced through the book in one sitting' (Five stars)
'This creepy atmospheric story does not disappoint. I absolutely loved this book' (Five stars)
Reviews
PRAISE FOR LINWOOD BARCLAY:
‘Devilishly good’ Shari Lapena
‘The novel speeds from first page to last… Bravo!’ Jeffery Deaver
‘A fast-moving, high-concept thriller from the talented Barclay’ Daily Mail
‘Linwood Barclay is in a class of his own’ T.M. Logan
‘One of the finest thriller writers in the world at the very top of his game’ Mark Billingham
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Barclay (I Will Ruin You) delivers a harrowing supernatural thriller centered around a model train set. In 2001, seven-year-old Jeremy receives a toy engine for Christmas and ties one of his sister's dolls to the tracks. When the train strikes the doll, a glass shatters in the kitchen, severing one of his sister's fingers. Decades later, bestselling children's author Annie Blunt is haunted by the death of a six-year-old fan who was attempting to fly like one of her characters. Then her husband is killed in a hit-and-run. Grief-stricken, Annie flees Manhattan with her son and settles in the small Vermont town of Lucknow for the summer. On their first night there, Annie hears a train whistle, only to learn, the next morning, that no trains run nearby. Then two locals disappear, and one is found without his hair, teeth, and bones. Toggling between 2001 and the present day, Barclay gradually focuses in on Choo-Choo's Trains, a mysterious Lucknow novelty shop that seems to be connected to a spate of tragedies. As the horror mounts, Barclay grounds the action through the eyes of his well-developed protagonist, offering scares and pathos in equal doses. It's a top-shelf chiller.
