Whistle was such a creepy, addictive read and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Linwood Barclay. I’ve read several of his books before and always enjoy how he builds tension, but this one took a darker, more supernatural turn which I loved!

The setup pulled me in right away. Annie’s trying to start over after a devastating year, and the small-town setting gave everything an isolated and unsettling vibe. The mysterious train set that her son finds starts off innocent enough, but things spiral fast, and it kept me guessing the whole time.

I loved how the story blurs the line between grief, trauma, and something truly sinister. It had just the right amount of suspense and weirdness, and the pacing was spot on.

If you like thrillers with a creepy twist, Whistle is definitely worth reading. It had me staying up late to finish just one more chapter, and I’m already looking forward to whatever Linwood writes next.

Dear Readers,

Today, I would like to discuss the recently published horror novel Whistle by Linwood Barclay. The title and cover design evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of inexpensive horror novels from the 1980s.

The narrative alternates between the past and the present:

In the past, Chief Cook faced a notably challenging case involving the mysterious disappearance of animals and the discovery of a deceased man. This discovery marks the beginning of a series of troubling events that Chief Cook must investigate. He becomes aware of an enigmatic train store, owned by a man referred to as Mr. Choo Choo, which appears to be under unusual circumstances. The store's unique trains are pivotal, as unsettling occurrences arise following the identification of their owners.

In the present, Annie is seeking a fresh start after enduring a year filled with profound heartache, loss, trauma, and public scandal. Following the tragic death of her husband and the controversy surrounding her beloved children's book, she hopes to create a tranquil environment for her child, Charlie. However, she is unaware that her circumstances are about to worsen. When Charlie discovers an antiquated train set locked away in a shed on their new property, he is filled with excitement. Conversely, Annie begins to hear unsettling noises at night... and horror and madness lurk in the darkness.

Perhaps my exposure to numerous horror books and films has led to an overactive imagination, yet one does not need extraordinary insight to recognize that such a situation is likely to culminate in dire consequences.

I approached Whistle with an open mind, not particularly inclined to read a horror novel at that moment, but I found the premise intriguing enough to continue. I must say, the experience proved to be quite engaging. The narrative was effectively creepy and dark, featuring many intense and nostalgic scenes that kept my interest as I turned the pages. Linwood Barclay successfully integrates elements reminiscent of Stephen King, John Saul, and Bentley Little, crafting his own distinctive and twisted interpretation of supernatural horror. It is an unsettling yet captivating read, best enjoyed in a dimly lit environment. All aboard!

Pardon the pun, I chugged through this one like nobody's business. This reads like sad lit fic almost at first, then slowly descends into creepier themes with such ease. I wouldn't have guessed this author has never written proper horror before. I don't want to spoil any of the plot, I think going in semi blind was the move here. This book is 400+ pages but is so enthralling that it felt like half the size. Man, does Barclay know how to end a chapter! This one is also not very reliant on gore/body horror, though that is mentioned. I appreciate a horror book that lets you fill in the blanks a bit, chilling you with a sentence or two that leaves some implication. Feels so much creepier than shocking the reader with blood and guts (not that blood and guts don't have their place, love a good blood and guts lol). Read this if you like dual timelines, mystery, creepy trains, stories about grief and slow descents into scarieness.


tw: child death/endangerment, death of a spouse, minor body horror mentions, animal death, racism (minor)

OMG this book !!! 😱💀🖤🚂

Ok so I've always lived by train tracks. That is one of my comfort sounds ... Um not TF anymore ... This book has me looking at trains & the choo choo noise in a whole different way & thank baby Jesus I never played with trains as a kid 😂 but for real .
This world Linwood Barley creates is absolutely bonkers & freaky as hell. All Annie wanted was to chill out & have a nice summer vaca for herself & her son after the tragic unexpected death of her husband. Umm what a mistake! & This is why im a homebody 🙃
While reading this I kept thinking of The Witches of Eastwick except instead of a voodoo doll .. voodoo trains .. & American gods.
Idk how to properly explain this book . It's so wild. I loved it. It gives off definite Stephen King vibes so if u love his writing , you'll definitely love this.
Brilliant, freaky book. I wouldn't say its horror but I will tell u as I finished this book not 5 minutes went by & I heard the train coming through .. completely freaked me out .
Also just really makes u think of like things u pick up from goodwill & any used store ... 😳

Pub Date: 7/20/25

Thank you to #NetGalley for this Arc.
I absolutely loved it !!! 🖤

⭐⭐⭐💫 | "All aboard the nightmare express—next stop, sleepless nights"

After losing her husband in a tragic accident and weathering a career scandal, Annie Blunt moves with her son Charlie to a quiet upstate New York town, desperately seeking healing. When Charlie discovers an old train set locked away in their property's shed, what should be innocent childhood joy becomes something far more sinister. Strange nocturnal sounds plague Annie—phantom trains that shouldn't exist—while disturbing visions creep into her illustrations.

This hit me right in the vulnerable places where grief and fear intersect. Barclay's dual timeline structure brilliantly weaves Annie's present terror with Chief Cook's investigation of mysterious deaths linked to the eerie toy shop owner, Mr. Choo Choo. The supernatural elements felt genuinely unsettling without being gratuitously gory—perfect for horror newcomers. While I crave deeper character backstories, the small-town menace and cursed object tropes landed with chilling effectiveness.

Vibes We Are Tracking:
🚂 Cursed Objects That Should Stay Buried
👻 Grief-Fueled Supernatural Encounters
🏚️ Small Town Secrets & Sinister Neighbors
⚡ Dual Timeline Mystery Magic

Reading this book, I could not help but make comparisons to the creepy guy in the hat, Charlie Manx, in Nos4a2. Whistle had the same kind of impending dread, of something just beyond consciousness, that you knew was bringing evil to town.

How can the words "ChuffchuffCLICKETYCLACKclikcetyCLACKwooWOOchuffCLICKETYchuffCLICKETYchuff" hold such horror? How can the innocuous train spinning around the Christmas tree that we see as a symbol of the holidays hold such suspense? Linwood Barclay, that's how!

Annie Blount is a children's author who has gone through a great deal of trauma over the past year. Her editor takes all the guesswork out of vacation planning by renting a beautifully renovated house in the country, away from the hustle and bustle of NYC. The first sign that it may not be the bucolic country home she thinks, comes when a neighbor is unpardonably rude. And then her son Charlie finds the train in the backyard shed. And things start to get weird.

Told from the perspective of 23 years earlier when the train store comes to Lucknow, and the investigation of the proprietor by the good-intentioned Chief of Police, Harry Cook, to the present day disappearance of Charlie, the author is not afraid to "kill his darlings". You have been warned! If that's not convincing enough, the author gives a special thanks to Stephen King in the acknowledgements.

Read this now. Because, according to Barclay, "this might not be my last time exploring an even darker world."

Much thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for taking me on my beginning foray into horror with this advance reader's copy!

Annie was living her perfect life. She had a career as an author and illustrator of children’s books, a husband she adored, and a young son. Then, everything changed. A series of tragedies resulting in the loss of her husband and possibly her future as a writer. A summer away from the city with her son seemed like the perfect solution to all her problems.

When Charlie, Annie’s son, finds a train set in a locked shed, strange things start happening.

In a parallel story, in the town of Lucknow, strange things are also happening that may be related to trains and train sets. Missing persons, unusual accidents, and general chaos have the local police chief spooked and chasing shadows.

To say anymore would ruin the dark and twisty surprises to come.

Whistle gave me Stephen King vibes, but also brought back flashbacks of Linwood Barclay’s Look Both Ways. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

I gave this book a solid 4 stars out of 5. It grabbed me from the beginning and constantly had me wondering what was around the next corner.

This sounds like it came from the Stephen King universe. But, when a train maker’s vision starts to destroy the town, people start to catch on. Killer train sets are spread throughout town and have no plan to stop their reign of terror.

Haunted. That’s one word to describe how the past year has left poor Annie Blunt. First, her husband was killed in a hit-and-run accident, leaving her alone to raise their young son, Charlie. Her personal life in shambles, at least she still had her career to anchor her—Annie was the author and illustrator of a beloved children’s book series featuring a lovable penguin. But then, tragedy bled into that world, too. In one of her books, the penguin crafted wings out of cardboard and tape in a whimsical effort to fly, its message clear: you can do anything you set your mind to. Tragically, a young reader took that message literally, fashioning wings of his own and leaping to his death. Annie couldn’t help but blame herself. Now, she’s haunted by everything she’s endured, unable to write, barely able to live.

Her agent suggests a change of scenery, somewhere far from the noise and reminders of her life in New York City. A quiet town in upstate New York might give Annie and Charlie the space to heal, maybe even help her start on the next book in her series, for which she’s already been paid an advance. Their new surroundings are peaceful, if a bit too quiet, and boredom soon begins to creep in. That is, until Charlie discovers an old, forgotten train set hidden away in a locked shed on the property. At first, Annie is relieved to see her son smiling again. But there’s something off about the toy. At night, Annie wakes to the sound of a train, despite the nearest tracks being miles away. And strange things begin to happen around the neighborhood. Most unsettling of all, Annie finds herself compulsively sketching a new character—one that has no place in a children’s story, and one she doesn’t remember creating. Despite her quest to escape her grief, Annie’s misery may only be beginning.

Only in the capable hands of Linwood Barclay could a model train set become the stuff of nightmares. I first encountered his writing with the stellar thriller A Noise Downstairs, so when his publisher offered me the chance to read his latest, Whistle, I jumped at the opportunity. There’s a timelessness to this terror. Barclay sets Annie’s story in the present day but also takes us back to 2001, offering glimpses of the horror that was and hints of the darkness still to come. We’ve seen where the tracks go before Annie does. All we can do now is look on in dread as it all unfolds. Whistle reads like a classic Stephen King novel. It's full of unsettling scenarios (some of which are genuinely hard to read), but anchored by well-developed characters who bring even the most outlandish moments into sharp, chilling focus. It’s the kind of summer page-turner that demands to be read. Quick, eerie, and thoroughly enjoyable.

I now feel like i need to read everything by the author - this was really compelling, dark, twisty, and moving in the end!

I’ve read several Linwood Barclay novels before and thoroughly enjoyed them, though it’s been a while since I picked one up. When the opportunity arose to read a Barclay novel in a different genre, I decided to give it a try. Whistle is a horror novel, which isn’t usually my preferred genre. However, I found myself really enjoying it. The book was written in Barclay’s signature style, making it a quick and engaging read.

Easily on of the best horror reads of the year so far!

The dual timelines, the haunted toys, the villain. The book is made up of a whole slew of compelling ingredients that add up to a thrilling and terrifying story that emanates classic King vibes from start to finish.

Thank you William Morrow for Whistle....
If this one doesn't set you on edge from the very first chapter, I don’t know what will. Linwood Barclay masterfully blends reality with the supernatural in a way that’s both chilling and electric—horror hiding in plain sight, which is somehow the most terrifying kind. The tension never lets up, delivering gasp-out-loud moments and eerie reveals that had me devouring each page. This book feels like a love letter to classic supernatural thrillers, giving strong Stephen King vibes without going overboard on the gore. The pacing is tight, the suspense razor-sharp, and the creepy elements lingered long after I turned the last page. Clever, clever storytelling—and Chief Cook? An unexpected MVP. If you're looking for smart, unsettling suspense with a supernatural twist, this one absolutely delivers.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC of Whistle!

What a ride! This was darker than what we are used to by Linwood Barclay!
This book have me Stephen King vibes and it did not disappoint. Let's just say I won't be looking at toy trains for a while!

It’s so hard to keep order and balance in the world…

I’ve long been a fan of this author, and when I saw he had tried something new with this book, a supernatural chiller, I thought I’d give it a go. Even though I’m more a modern thriller and suspense fan, I decided to check it out with high hopes. I ended up disappointed.

The narrative jumps back and forth in time and point of view so it took quite a while before the dual timelines merged. I confess to enjoying one part of the story and its main characters much more than the other. Hint: events in the town of Lucknow, Vermont, the police chief there, and the townspeople were much more interesting and believable. The premise of trains and malevolent forces was enticing because I really like model trains for one, and I was curious as to how these special trains worked.

I didn’t like Annie right off the bat and Charlie, her 7-year-old son, totally pushed the outer limits of my credulity about what a 7 year old can do and understand even with a supernatural force at play. I was so bummed by the conclusion. This little mean person inside of me wanted a far different end for Annie. OK, I won’t spoil it for you. But a completely different conclusion would have really enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

Ultimately, I think Barclay should stick to the genre he’s best known for writing and I’ll continue to be a fan. It’s fine to try, but I’m not the audience for supernatural phenomena so this book might have just been a bad choice. It could have been a 4, however, had the right characters made it out alive.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Eva Kaminsky, did an OK job of voicing the characters but her most stellar contribution has to be when she makes the train sounds! It’s a shame that there wasn’t a male voice to do part of the narration as that would have boosted my listening pleasure.

Alright, buckle up, because Linwood Barclay, usually known for his heart-pounding thrillers, takes a wild detour into supernatural horror with Whistle. And let me tell you, it's a creepy, unsettling, and totally gripping ride that even got a nod from Stephen King himself. If you're looking for something that'll make you second-guess every creak and groan in the night, this one's for you.

The story kicks off with Annie Blunt, a children's author whose life has basically imploded. First, a kid tragically dies trying to "fly" like a character from her book, then her husband is killed in a hit-and-run. Talk about a rough year. Desperate for a fresh start, Annie packs up her son, Charlie, and heads to a quiet rental house in upstate New York, hoping for some peace and healing.

But guess what? Peace and healing are definitely not on the menu. Charlie stumbles upon an old train set in a locked shed, and while Annie's happy to see him engaged, there's just something off about this toy. Soon, Annie starts hearing phantom train whistles at night, even though there are no active tracks for miles. Then, weird, disturbing stuff starts happening all over the neighborhood, and Annie can't stop drawing this bizarre, sinister wolf-rat creature that looks like it crawled straight out of a nightmare.

Barclay's a master at building tension, and he does it brilliantly here by weaving two timelines together. We follow Annie and Charlie in the present, dealing with the escalating supernatural chaos. Then, we jump back in time to uncover the chilling origins of that train set and its connection to a string of gruesome disappearances and deaths in the town of Lucknow, investigated by Police Chief Harry Cook. The way these two stories slowly, inevitably, click into place is pure storytelling genius.

Whistle is definitely a slow burn, but it's the good kind – the kind that slowly tightens its grip, pulling you deeper into a world where even a toy can be a conduit for pure evil. It digs into heavy themes like grief and guilt, and how malevolence can fester in the most unexpected corners. And yeah, Barclay doesn't shy away from the dark and gory bits, but they always feel justified and impactful within the story's unsettling vibe.

Whistle had me hooked from the beginning!
This was super creepy, and is described so well that I had goosebumps at certain points.
With detailed world-building and complex characters, this book will draw you in and keep you reading until the last page.

This latest from Canadian mystery writer Linwood Barclay just shot straight to the top of my favorite books I've read of his!!! It's CREEPY AF in the best possible ways. The first few pages grab you right away and this runaway train ride of a chiller never stops!! Part mystery, part family drama, part serial killer story and part sci-fi horror. This genre-defying book is great on audio and sure to keep you riveted to the very last page! HIGHLY recommended especially for Stephen King fans. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

WHISTLE was a creepy and atmospheric read, easy to follow and yet full of darkness and foreboding. I’m not typically a horror or supernatural fan, and this is a departure from Linwood Barclay’s typical thrillers, so those elements weren’t my favorite. That said, this was a fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review WHISTLE.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Whistle was a solidly terrifying book that I could NOT put down. I loved the depth of the characters, and I loved the use of the two timelines, they way it was done was really intriguing. This was my first novel from this author, and it certainly it won't be my last! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.