Reviews

Find You First by Linwood Barclay

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nreyno's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

paulabrandon's review against another edition

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3.0

Billionaire app designer Miles Cookson discovers that he has Huntington's disease, and his condition is deteriorating, causing him to reassess his life. Twenty-odd years ago, he donated sperm. He wants to find any children he sired so that he can leave money for them, and also inform them of the possibility they have inherited his condition. However, once he begins looking for them, it seems someone is getting to them first...and killing them! Is there someone out there who is eliminating them so that they can get their hands on Miles' fortune?

To be honest, this was terribly and sloppily written, with too many characters and a somewhat cringey forced team-up between Miles and Chloe Swanson, one of his daughters. The many different plot strands at play only serve to undercut a lot of the suspense and surprises. For example, who know that billionaire Jeremy Pritkin is involved in things up to his eyeballs, otherwise why would we be learning so much about him? And the shock Chloe and Miles experience when they realise someone was in a trailer with them and didn't know is made redundant by the fact we already knew who was in there with them and why. Absolutely everything here gets telegraphed in advance merely by the way the story is set up.

However, the plot is fast-moving enough to let you skip past how badly written this is (unusual for this author) and at least doesn't try to sock us over the head with too many outlandish twists. My interest was engaged all the way through. (I could have done without the guessing-someone's-password after 'hundreds' of attempts sequence. Does Barclay even know how passwords work and what happens if you get it wrong too many times?) It builds to a decent, over-the-top climax. Books get extra points from me simply by virtue of not being boring. This works just fine on a turn-your-brain-off level, but don't go looking for more than that.

highlanderporc's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

tfisher78's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

billymac1962's review against another edition

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4.0

It's been way too long since I've read Linwood Barclay. The guy can plot like nobody's business.

This one is his latest, and again with a highly engaging plot. As with all of his novels (as far as I'm concerned, EVERY novel), you're best going in blind and let him take you around the corners.
My favourite of his still remains Trust Your Eyes, which was one of my favourite reads the year I read it. He knocked it out of the park in every aspect.

Find You First didn't wrench my emotions in any way, but as far as a thriller goes, and this is coming from a guy who has not shaken thriller fatigue in years, it delivers very well. Also fun that there is a character who is unsubtly inspired by notable scumbag Jeffrey Epstein. Hard to ignore the past five years or so as inspiration for deplorable characters, eh Linwood?

This was an entertaining read and a solid four stars.

woody1881's review against another edition

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4.0

Another winner from Linwood Barclay. This is, for me at least, an original premise for a story. I have come to expect a series of twists and turns from this author. Not so many that it becomes unbelievable but just enough to keep you wondering, now what?

I really liked the story and the characters. Great book!