http://www.book-blog.com/2009/12/barc... ( )

This was my first Barclay book. It is about a father whose daughter goes missing. There are some twists and turns but all in all the book was rather slow. ( )

Fast paced edge of your seat thriller! ( )

This is the perfect summer book if you like light thrillers without a lot of gore.

I got an advanced reading copy (woo hoo for me!) and promptly devoured it. I kept turning the pages to find out what came next. Unfortunately, this meant my laundry got postponed, but what are dirty socks when there's a book to be read?

I wouldn't call this the most spectacularly written book I've ever read. And, to be honest, the storyline got a bit ridiculous. It didn't go where I thought it would go and I kept thinking to myself, "You've got to be kidding me!"

I liked the main character. The book also has a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing.

If you want some mindless entertainment (I often do), this book's for you! (If you can't suspend disbelief, I'd skip it!) ( )

Summary: Sydney Blake’s summer is shaping up to be typical for a teenager: she’s spending it with her father, and she has landed a part-time job at a local hotel. One night, Syd fails to come home from her shift, and her father Tim begins to panic after he visits the hotel and the manager claims that Syd has never worked there. As the list of unanswered questions grows, all Tim knows for certain is that he must continue searching for his daughter no matter how high the stakes become.

Fear the Worst, like most stories in the genre of thriller fiction is plot-based and relatively simple. It's the story of single dad, Tim Blake, spending the summer reconnecting with his teenage daughter, Syd. But what grabs the reader's attention from the start is that Syd goes missing after only her second week at a new job . What ensues is a fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride with twists and turns around every bend that keeps the pages turning quickly. A law-abiding dad who will leave no stone unturned to find his only daughter is something readers can understand and sympathize with, if not necessarily relate to. Of course, Blake's anguish makes sense as does some of his less-then-sound judgments considering that he's frantic to find Syd.

I found two basic problems with the book, however. First, too many plot tangents in the search for Syd are left hanging and never resolved and second, some of those that are resolved don't make sense. At times the story seemed little more than a vehicle for a mild-mannered dad to become this centuries' James Bond.

Tim Blake is a likeable character and a good dad. He's also one of only two or three fully developed characters in the book. Unfortunately, his daughter Syd, is barely two dimensional and we only know Tim loves her instinctively as a father. The why's of it and details of who Syd is are few and far between. Another main character, Detective Jennings (who appears to have a partner in only one scene, which also seems to be a contrivance of convenience), conducts almost no investigations and asks few questions of anyone beyond Tim Blake, leaving us to wonder if she's implicating him. Beyond making the most basic of connections the police seem unable to get anything accomplished in the story. Their very ineptness makes Tim look like a regular Perry Mason.

This roller-coaster ride of a story comes to a sudden end leaving the reader with several unanswered questions. I turned the page expecting a final chapter or an epilogue and discovered the story was over. The story doesn't need to be wrapped in a nice package and tied with a bow at the end, but when plot lines are left hanging and too many characters lives unexplained, it leaves the reader feeling like they missed something and looking for more. Fear the Worst is an exciting story filled with adventure, intrigue and suspense that left this reader wishing for clarity and a more comprehensive ending ( )

Excellent book. Never wanted to put it down. ( )

This suspenseful novel starts out in a very promising way with every parent's worst nightmare: A divorced father is dumbfounded and frantic when his teenage daughter doesn't come home from her summer job one evening. When he goes to her workplace to inquire about her, they claim not to know who she is. So if she wasn't going to work every day, where was she going, and where is she now?

The first two-thirds of the book are solid, filled with a frantic dad trying to convince everyone, including the police, that his daughter's an innocent teen mixed up in some scary stuff. I know you won't be shocked — shocked! — to hear that the police not only don't believe him, they think he had something to do with her disappearance. But the ending is so weirdly convoluted I'm still not sure I understand exactly what happened. Between dead bodies showing up on dad's lawn and a climactic scene at a shabby Catskills resort, it's a disappointing denouement to an otherwise tense thriller. ( )

A discombobulating roller coaster of a read. The Patty twist was a bit ridiculous and unnecessary, but the rest of the plot was awesome. And definitely a book you'll pick up and not put down until you've finished it. ( )

I suppose I enjoy psychological thrillers in which the suspense builds up slowly rather than those, such as this one, in which the story moves from one action-adventure to another and most chapters end on a cliffhanger or momentary mystery. The writing is decent and the story is interesting, but the book reads like a screenplay or a novelization of a movie. ( )

There's no shortage of twists in this one. Fear the Worst is magnetic, fast-paced, and a surprisingly fast read. I was completely absorbed in the plot once I started.

The characters are very well-developed. Each one is given a detailed description, and I was curious to see which definitive roles they would claim by the end. Some of them I didn't expect; others were more predictable and gave the story cohesion. The heavy amount of drama is balanced with moments of humor and smart dialog between characters.

The one thing I really didn't like was the ending. It's very hurried and abrupt, and I didn't feel like all the events tied together completely. There are also a couple twists the story would've been better off without.

Even so, it's still an engaging read. I would recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers. ( )

I thought this book was a page turner that kept my interest. I have never read a book by Linwood Barclay before. I would pick up another one based on this one. I would think anyone that is a fan of his would enjoy this book. Overall I thought it was a good read. ( )

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The premise of this book is an interesting one: what would you do if, as a loving parent, your teenage daughter disappeared one day? And, added to that, what if you went to her workplace and they told you she'd never worked there, and they had no idea who she was?

The beginning of the novel, when a father is in just this situation, is really quite good. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes overburdened with a growing cast of characters and dozens of convoluted occurences, and the end result was a thriller with which I just could not get engaged. I actually found myself caring more about the intricacies of selling cars (the father is a car salesman) that I was about the ultimate fate of the characters.

Even if the reader makes it through this novel and enjoys it most of the way, I doubt many will be particularly satisifed with the ending, which is very abrupt and leaves most aspects of the characters' fates completely up in the air. It's barely the false closure that an action movie like "Die Hard" gives us -- it's more like the author just couldn't face the idea of trying to things up in a realistic but satisfying way, choosing instead to just stop writing and give up. ( )

I'm not much of a thriller reader, so maybe that colored my opinion. I did like the storyline, and it was fast-paced like the jacket said, it just wasn't my cup of tea.
I think the author did a good job telling the story he wanted to tell and it was easy to relate to the characters.
Overall, a good read, even if it's not my favorite genre.

First Barclay I’ve read, but if you’ve read Harlen Coben, you’ve read Barclay because I don’t see much difference in the two from this reading. Decent enough, fast-paced thriller. I’ve heard the book he did before this one is pretty good, but not sure if I’ll go back to it, mainly because there is too much other stuff I want to get to. ( )

Great book. Kept me up until 2:30 am right up to the last page... ( )

I was very excited to have received a copy of this book. However, I was a tad disappointed with it. The book screams out excitement but I was very bored with it. It was a slow start. It took many chapters to get to what was going on and a typical ending. I can tell how good a book is by how long it takes me to read it and this book took me almost two months to read. Overall not a bad book to read if you are not in any hurry to finish it. I have read other Linwood Barclay books and they are a little more exciting. I look for to reading the next book.

A couple months ago, I was thrilled to receive my first Review Copy from LibraryThing. I snagged Linwood Barclay's new thriller, Fear the Worst.

Tim Blake is Barclay's everyman and the driver of all the action. Blake is a divorced car salesman and father of a teenage daughter, Sydney. One day, after a brief argument over breakfast, Sydney never comes home. Weeks go by with no leads. What's a father to do? Well, like most good action heroes, Blake takes it into his own hands. He relentlessly retraces Sydney's last steps, continuously going by the hotel where she worked, her picture constantly in hand. Though Blake is a likable character, I couldn't help but be reminded of Frank Bascombe from Richard Ford's Independence Day and Liam Neeson's character from the movie Taken. I think Barclay got Blake right, but missed out on bringing real tension to the plot. The 'bad guys' aren't bad enough (like Eli Wallach said in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.")and the reason for Sydney's disappearance wasn't believable enough for me.

Worst of all was the cliche climax. A bridge at night, unlikely suspects, guns being kicked away, just out of reach. It seems as though Barclay was writing a movie script and they put it between covers and called it a book. This isn't always a bad thing. The book was fast and it was fun and I may read Barclay again, but I won't be passing Fear the Worst on to anybody that hopes for the best. ( )

Reason for Reading: Last year I read and enjoyed Barclay's Too Close to Home so much I just had to read his newest book.

Comments: One day Tim Blake's 17yo daughter Syd goes off to work her summer job as per usual but she doesn't come home. Since they had a spat that morning he gives her some leeway thinking she's angry and not calling to say she's working late but once plenty of time has gone by he drops by the hotel she's been working at all summer to find out that they've never heard of her, she hasn't worked there at all. And thus begins the worst journey of Tim's life as he searches for his missing duahter finding out about a dark and dangerous world he'd never known existed and also finding out that the police are not always on your side.

Wonderful book. First, a very different type of story than Too Close to Home, which is closer to my usual murder mystery genre. This one would be classified more as a suspense and I could very much see it as a being made into a movie. The plot isn't exactly fast-paced as it is pretty much one theme all along, the search for Sydney, or rather the chase. However, there is so much action happening all the time that the book does move along at a fast past. The twists and turns and reveals that are thrown regularly at the reader at any point in the story keeps the suspense and tension high, as one doesn't know what is going to happen next or who is not really whom they seem to be. From the two books I've read, I'm seeing this as Barclay's forte as an author. I look forward to reading more of his books.

I enjoy Barclay's writing. He keeps a tight, taut thriller with plenty of possible chances for the reader to figure it out but with all the twists from start to finish you'll be lucky to completely solve the intricate plot on your own. I had my eye on a suspect from the beginning but what they were guilty of I hadn't a clue, I was right in the end, but not very proud of simply picking out a guilty person. The only thing I'm not pleased with is the ending. The mystery plot itself is wrapped up nicely but it ends with the characters and it's a "what the?" ending. It's very abrupt and seeing as where the characters' plot was going, disappointing. Not a nice note, for me at least, to end a book on. If you've read the book you'll know what I mean. If you haven't don't let that stop you reading the book. Books don't always have "happily ever after" endings and this one is worth the ride. Looking forward to dipping into Barclay's backlist and hopefully a new book in the new year (2010)!

http://back-to-books.blogspot.com/ ( )

When I recieved this book, the cover shouted "A One-Sit Thriller" and various other exciting blurbs. I was skeptical at first since it takes quite a lot for me to become hooked by a novel like this. But, intrigued, I plunged in and was rather pleasantly surprised! While it is not a "roller cosater ride" of a novel, it certainly packs a few thrills and chills. Perfect for the beach or plane trip this summer. ( )

Full review at: http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

As Fear the Worst opens divorced dad Tim Blake is having a minor domestic spat with his teen-age daughter. Just pages later she is missing, and a whole sequence of thriller cliches is ratcheted into place.

Sydney, the daughter, is unknown by her supposed co-workers at the seedy hotel she's told her dad she'd been working in all summer. Tim, unable to handle the pressure of events, alienates his boss, his co-workers, his ex-wife, his girlfriend. Bigger and nastier goings-on are uncovered. None of it is believable (forget plausible).

Genre fiction--even great genre fiction--is frequently based on cliche, and the events in them are often unbelievable. However, in the hands of a master writer--or, at least, of one with a diligent editor--there are still thrills and fun to be had. Not here, I'm afraid. And this is a major disappointment, as Linwood Barclay's last two novels have been both original and exciting.

Maybe next time. ( )

The test that a book is great for me is that I can't wait to get back to it. While this book was an ok thriller(definetly not a roller coaster ride to me)it certainly did not leave me breathless page turning. I started it on Cape Cod and got as far as I did only because there was nothing else to do. Once I got home I was easily distracted from it by all the stuff I had DVR's while away. I guess I am a bit jaded having read probably hundreds of thrillers in the last 44 years since I read my first grown up book.
One thing that really annoyed me that is not really the author's fault(although he should have spoken up if he read a draft before it was posted)is that on BookReporter.Com in an interview with Mr. Barclay they state that this book is about human trafficking. Well,PART OF THE SUSPENSE OF THE BOOK IS NOT KNOWING WHAT OR WHY THE TEENAGE DTR. RAN AWAY!! Since I was 2/3 of the way thru this book and just pages before this was revealed,I was not that mad but if I had been early on in the book when I read this review and found out how long it took to really have this fact revealed,I would have been seriously mad! ( )

Fear the Worst takes the worst fear of every parent and tries to turn it into a page-turner. In some respects, the book succeeds - I did want to see where the book was going to go. However, in other respects, I don't think the book worked very well. Many parts were very repetitive...I don't need the story to TELL me about the main character's life - I would like it to show me. In addition, several parts of the story stretched the believability to its breaking point - without giving anything away, could so much really go on and no one be the wiser?

The main idea was solid, I just don't feel the writing did it much justice. ( )

This was my first Linwood Barclay book and I enjoyed it! I love a thriller with bits of humor sprinkled through the story. The main character Tim was very believable and the plot was intriguing. I would recommend this as a fast read and a good one. Try it or other Barclay books today. ( )