Published
by Harpercollins,
16 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-00855574-0 (PB)Richard Boyle, the
protagonist of this delightfully twisty-turny thriller, is a reliably ordinary,
all-round decent guy. An English Teacher in a small-town high school, it seems
as though the worst thing Richard will ever have to face is an irate parent questioning
his choice of class reading.
But then he looks out of the window and sees a young man running across
the school playing fields wearing a suicide vest. From there on, Richard’s life
goes helter-skelter downhill.
Linwood Barclay is a master mystery writer with a hugely impressive and
highly successful backlist, so you know that, as a reader, you can settle back
for a deftly told tale.
I Will Ruin You gives you something more
than that, though. The issues raised in the book are real and pervasive, and
Barclay touches on them with clarity, compassion and a wry wit.
Well worth the read.
------
Sarah Williams
Linwood Barclay was
born 1955 in Darien, Connecticut. After
graduating high school Barclay studied literature at Trent University in
Peterborough. While at university, he began a correspondence with Ross
Macdonald that proved inspirational for Barclay. They met once, at which time
Macdonald inscribed one of his books to Barclay, "For Linwood, who will, I
hope, someday outwrite me."
After graduation, he could not sell any of his novels so he found work on a
number of local newspapers, starting his journalism career in 1977 at the
Peterborough Examiner, moved on to a small Oakville paper in 1979, and then to
the Toronto Star in 1981 where he was, successively, assistant city editor,
news editor, chief copy editor and Life section editor. He lives in Toronto
with his wife, Neetha and two children.
www.linwoodbarclay.com
Sarah
Williams has
been a professional writer for most of her adult life. She started writing
under the name of Sarah Matthews, publishing translations from the French, as
well as children’s information books, school textbooks, and school editions of
authors such as Conan Doyle and Mark Twain. Most recently, she turned to crime,
and has published How to Write Crime Fiction (Robinson), a second
edition of which is due in Spring 2025. There are also two crime novels in the
offing.
https://sarahwilliamsauthor.substack.com
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