Annie Blunt has had a truly terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident. Then, a small child decided to emulate the character in the children's books she has spent her life writing and illustrating, and lost his life. The fallout from that was huge, and the guilt she felt was enormous. Desperate to get away from the city for the summer, she rents a house in upstate New York for herself and her son Charlie. Little does she know, things are about to get a whole lot worse. Charlie discovers a train set in the shed behind the house and excitedly brings it inside and sets it up. Annie, however, finds the train set unsettling. She keeps hearing a train whistle in the night, and she has started compulsively drawing a disturbing rat/wolf hybrid creature that is nightmare-worthy. Annie is beginning to believe she walked out of one nightmare, only to walk into another.

This book was SO good. I couldn't put it down. This is definitely going on my list of top horror novels! It had alternating sections between past and present, with the past being the town where the train set originally came from. The book was very fast-paced and "Mr Choo" who owned Choo-Choo's Trains gave off such carnival showman vibes outwardly but then behind the scenes...... well, that is another story. I will never look at another model train set the same way again. If you love a good horror story, then this needs to be at the top of your TBR pile. Your are going to love it!

Barclays enters new territory with his newest book, Whistle. Wherever Mr. Choo sets up business with his “special” model trains, things begin to happen, bad things. This book has the creep feel throughout and packs a punch. No one is safe! Pages turn faster than the chuffchuffchuff of the train until you reach the final station! Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

i have mixed feelings about this book. on one hand, i thought it was a really fun homage to stephen king, namely the monkey, and reminded me a bit of final destination. on the other hand, i was left wanting a lot more. the premise was really fun, i enjoy a, for lack of a better word, haunted object story. but the motivation behind using toy trains wasnt really understood until it was spelled out in the last 15 pages. i think if we had more of edwin’s pov it would have been clearer for me. i still had a great time though and i think many people will love it.

Whistle by Linwood Barclay has a Stephen King/ Creepy Supernatural feeling to it. It's a horror read that gets pretty dark, scary, sinister and very unpredictable.

The story is told through two timelines, following two different people who are seemingly unconnected—except for the unexplainable things happening around them and the constant, eerie sound of whistling trains. You ask yourself while reading, how do these two timelines connect?

A very clever story which I really enjoyed, I've always been a fan of horror/ thriller books so this was a real treat for me! If you're a fan also I guarantee you will love it!

Short synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Many thanks to #Whistle #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrow for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

Whistle by Linwood Barclay is one of the most unique books I’ve read in a long time. I’ve seen a few other reviews compare it to “old-school” Stephen King and I definitely see where they’re coming from.

Told through two timelines, our main characters are Annie Blunt, a children’s author and illustrator going through the worst time of her life, and Harry Cook, the chief of police for Lucknow Police Department. It seems the only thing connecting these two timelines is an eerie train whistle, but, as the book progresses, all the pieces fall together.

I think this story is perfect to go in blind to and I did basically that - I could not remember the synopsis as it had been quite a while since I requested the book. I think it made the story that much better. Without giving anything away, just know this is an amazing psychological horror and I was chugging (ahh, get it? chuggachuggachugga…) through the pages to see what would happen next and try to finally wrap my head around the insanity within the story. Absolutely recommend this one to anyone interested in trains, small town horror or the supernatural!

Thank you to William Morrow, Linwood Barclay and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Linwood Barclay can do no wrong in my eyes! This was such a ride! The story starts out strong. I could feel what she was going through with her son after the loss of her husband. The shift into things becoming creepy and unnerving was subtle and so well done. A total hit!

Whistle gave me the train ride of my life.

I can’t even put into words how much I loved this book. It hooked me from the start and kept its hold on me until the very last page. Whistle perfectly captures that old-school Stephen King feel we all remember—dark, eerie, and terrifying in the best way.

I loved reading the perspectives between the different families over the years and how the train set impacted their lives. I honestly couldn’t make any predictions because it was completely unpredictable from start to finish.

Make sure you pick this book up on May 20th, you won’t regret it!

A Fabulous Supernatural Thriller that reminded me of Stephen King's Needful Things. The story is intense and very suspenseful with a cast of characters you won’t soon forget. Highly recommend! I thank William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this book!

After a devastating year, Annie Blunt moves to a small town with her son Charlie, hoping for a fresh start. But when Charlie discovers an old train set in a locked shed, eerie things begin to happen—phantom sounds, strange drawings, and an unsettling presence Annie can’t explain. As grief blurs into horror, she realizes their new beginning may be the start of something far more terrifying. Oh wow! This was such a great read and my first by this author. I devoured it quickly and could not put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow and the author for an copy of this book!

Annie and Charlie seek refuge in a small town in upstate New York. Annie is a successful children's authour and illustrator. Her husband has died and her book is implicated in the death of a child. At the new house, Charlie finds a toy train set in a shed. The train gives Annie a weird feeling. Soon Annie starts hearing a train whistle in the middle of the night. There is no train tracks in the area.  Chief Cook tries to uncover the mystery of the train whistle among other strange things around town. A super creepy, very atmospheric story.

Thank you to William Morrow / Harper Collins for the ARC.

Wow! Very creepy in such a different way! I’ve only read one other book by this author but still wasn’t expecting the creepiness factor! I liked the structure of the book as it slowly unfolded to be two different timelines. The characters were well-drawn including Annie, Charlie, Chief Cook and even Mr. Choo Choo! This is not my usual genre but it had me turning the pages quickly in the second half. Well worth the ride! Thank you Net Galley for the early read.

Whistle, by Linwood Barclay, is a haunting thriller with creepy supernatural elements. Peculiar things happen when Mr. Choo’s new train shop sells trains to customers in the neighborhood. Could it be a coincidence, or could the whistling of a train harken something dark and sinister.

Annie Blunt has decided to take a much-needed summer break from her job as an author/illustrator with her son after a disaster of a year. When strange, inexplicable occurrences take place around town, Annie questions her sanity. We also follow Harry, the chief of police of the local police department who is investigating an unusual missing persons case, which leads to more. The story is told from two points of view that seem unrelated, the only connection being Mr. Choo Choo’s train shop.

This story is eerie, suspenseful, and has distinct horror elements to it. It is not for the faint of heart, filled with some gritty, graphic parts, but it clearly sets a chilling atmosphere, and the mystery and twists and turns keep the reader on edge throughout.

Linwood Barclay's latest novel "Whistle" has me at a crossroads. There is one narrator that I absolutely was entranced by, and another that I was wishing was more interesting, which ended up being the main narrator of the novel. Abrupt endings made for a frustrating read, but overall is an entertaining one to say the least.

I'm always excited to read a new Barclay book, whose works can be compared to Harlan Coben. I was surprised when I realized that Whistle, which will be released May 20, is more like an early Stephen King novel. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the book is fantastic! The excellent characterizations set the stage for an intriguing, engaging story in what seems like two typical small towns, but includes some strange, supernatural events.

The story covers two different timelines and each are equally interesting and suspenseful. One timeline occurs in 2001 in which Police Chief Harry Cook is fighting a series of unusual crimes in the small town of Lucknow, Vermont. The other timeline is in the present in which widowed mom, Annie Blunt, decides she and her young son Charlie need a break from their lives in New York City. Annie is a writer/illustrator of children's books and the content of her last book created a major scandal. She decides to rent a home for the summer in a small town in upstate New York.

At first Annie is happy for Charlie when he finds an old train set in a shed behind their rental house, but could that somehow be related to the sound of a train that Annie hears in the night - even though they're miles away from an active railroad line. The way the two timelines connect becomes evident and culminates in a dramatic and scary showdown between good and evil. There are some really creepy scenes in this book, but I loved it! There are elements of a horror novel, but the pace and storytelling are that of a suspenseful thriller.

I received an advance review copy of this book from William Morrow Books, and my review is voluntary.

Whistle by Linwood Barclay was not like any of the other books I have read by this author. I thought this story was creepy, suspenseful and bordering on si-fi. It just wasn’t to my liking. I forced myself to finish the book because I just couldn’t like the characters, didn't feel they were real, and didn’t really like the story. It bounced around too much.

3.5 stars. Fun horror thriller that was definitely reminiscent of vintage Stephen King, though I don't think it will be as memorable as the stories it might be compared to. I liked the dual timelines of 2001 and present day and the mystery of just how they would come together. More gruesome than scary. Entertaining story that I would recommend for lovers of old-school horror, but not my favorite from Linwood Barclay, but he continues to be an auto-read for me.

Thank you to William Morrow for my gifted copy!

“Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance,
Everybody thinks it's true.”
- Train in the Distance by Paul Simon

Whistle reminded me of two of my favorite Stephen King books: Needful things and Christine. It was everything I needed in my life, and more. This book gave me nightmares for multiple nights in a row. My boys brought out trains at random that they hadn’t played with for a season, and the whistles haunted me. It was a scene straight out of this book.

I have never read anything by Linwood Barclay before, and I have been clearly missing out. His storytelling is akin to reading a Stephen King novel. It has the same fleshed out backstory that enriches the story, and brings it all full circle. I appreciated it so much. The dialogue was just as incredible. I found myself chuckling a few times, despite my horror.

Whistle is exactly the type of horror I love. It isn’t overly gory - though there were some solidly and respectfully written gore scenes - but it gets under your skin. It is a low level hum that makes the hair on your arms stand on end. It feels like eyes on the back of your neck. Every time I sat down with it, I felt uneasy. And I mean that in the best way. This book was such an incredible experience, and I know for sure that I will be reading more of Linwood Barclay’s backlog.

Every time I hear a train in the distance, I will forever think of this book.

Readers who enjoy Stephen King books will love this creepy, dark story. Readers will never see an old train set the same, This is a new genre for this author that some readers will really appreciate. Very tense and gripping. Recommended.

Take a ride on the wild side.

Annie is a woman who has had several losses and is trying to remain strong for her son. Harry is a cop in over his head, but doing his best. Both characters resonates with the reader across the two distinct time periods. The plot was intriguing, captivating and darkly suspenseful. The author seamlessly went from one time period to the other. The ending was full on creepiness and yet, strangely satisfying.

This review is entirely voluntary and my personal opinions.

Though Linwood Barclay has been one of my favorite authors for years, Whistle is his first book in the horror and supernatural genres, and he definitely hits it out of the park! This book really got inside my head! The creep factor and the suspense are both high and set my heart racing. This read sucked me in like a vacuum!

The story is told through two alternating characters and time periods.

2024 has been a horrible year for Annie Blunt, a famous author of children's books. Her husband John was killed in a hit-and-run accident. She's trying to process her grief and to be there for their young son, Charlie. She's also trying to put a tragic career scandal behind her. Annie rents a house for the summer in a small town in upstate New York, hoping the change will give them the respite both of them need. She is relieved when Charlie seems to settle in. He finds two new interests that enthrall him: riding a bike, which he wasn't permitted to do in New York City, and playing with a train set that he discovered in a shed on the property. Annie will soon discover that her troubles weren't left behind in New York City. If anything, her nightmare has only begun.

Harry Cook, the chief of Police in small town Lucknow, Vermont, is finding the autumn of 2001 a challenge. The town has always been relatively quiet and crime-free. Now, since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, everyone is on edge and Lucknow has had a sudden rush of inexplicable events. Two men are missing, and several animals have been killed. When a body is discovered, Cook realizes that something evil has taken up residence in the town. But what is it, and what can be done about it?

Barclay feeds the reader information bit by bit while weaving the stories of these two characters and their timeframes together in an intricate and masterful way. Be prepared to be enthralled; be prepared to be scared; be prepared to lose some sleep. One more thing, you'll never look at a train set in the same way again!

Thanks to the author for another fantastic read. My thanks also to William Morrow for permitting me access to a DRC via NetGalley. Publication is 5/20/25. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.