I Hear a Train A-Coming...

 

TITLE: Whistle

AUTHOR: Linwood Barclay

PUBLISHER: William Morrow

PUBLISHING DATE: May 20, 2025

PAGES: 464   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal. 

But Annie’s year is about to get worse. 

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book. 

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…

MY THOUGHTS: The main thought running through my head right now is that everyone who loves the horror or thriller genres needs to grab a copy of the book right away - especially fans of old school Stephen King.  I devoured this book in two days and still wanted more.

Annie Blunt, a famous children's author, has had a lot of loss and trauma in her life recently so she decides to take her son Charlie to upstate New York for the summer. Her editor has found the perfect rental home outside a small town in the hopes it will get Annie's creative juices flowing again.  

In a separate and earlier timeline, Lucknow Chief Cook is facing some pretty strange occurrences in his small town.  Several men have gone missing and peculiar events, which are initially written off as accidents, are popping up all over.  On top of that, an odd individual, Edwin Nabler, has just opened a model train store in town called "Choo Choo's."  Is it just coincidence or does Nabler have ulterior motives for settling in Lucknow. Soon the two timelines collide and the ride the reader is taken on by Barclay is one I won't soon forget.  

I loved everything about this book, and it is definitely in the running for one of my favorites of 2025.  The characters are well-written, and the story contains all the intrigue, death and supernatural elements I come to love in a book. Chief Cook really wants to save his town, and Annie wants only to make some positive memories with Charlie for the summer. But both are hearing mysterious train whistles at night and Charlie eventually runs away, in hopes of finding his dead father, and all train tracks seem to lead to Lucknow though, where evil awaits.

The formatting of this book really makes the story work.  Instead of alternating POVs each chapter, Barclay has divided the book up into five parts, alternating each part from either Annie's POV or Chief Cook's POV.  This worked really well for me because it allowed me some pretty big chunks of time in each world, learning more about the characters and how everything might eventually converge. Edwin Nable is one of the creepiest villains I've met in a long time and being inside his mind for any length of time is no real summer vacation. 

I can't say enough good things about this book.  It has a "Needful Things" vibe to it yet is a completely different story altogether.  I can't help but believe Barclay must have had the same feeling because he has several references to some of King's earlier works. I will close by saying I feel any horror-lover needs to pick this one up.

MY RATING: 5 PAWS