Linwood Barclay

• Name — Linwood Barclay • Born — 1955 03 • Birthplace — Darien, Connecticut, United States of America. • Language — English • Education — Trent University • Subject — Crime, humour • Notable Works — No Time For Goodbye; Trust Your Eyes • Spouse — Neetha Sands Barclay • Children — Spencer Barclay, Paige Barclay • Website — linwoodbarclay.com

Linwood Barclay was born in Darien, Connecticut, son of Muriel and Everett Barclay. His father was a professional illustrator who moved his family to Canada in 1959 where he had accepted a job with William R. Templeton Studios in Toronto. In 1966 the family purchased a vacation campground in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, which they ran for about five years until his father died from lung cancer when Barclay was sixteen. Barclay recognized his interest in writing detective fiction at an early age, inspired by the works of Ross Macdonald, who had grown up in Kitchener, Ontario. After graduating from high school Barclay studied literature at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, where one of his teachers was the noted novelist Margaret Laurence. While attending university, he began a correspondence with 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 with an English literature degree from Trent, he could not sell any of his novels so he found work on a number of local newspapers beginning with the Peterborough Examiner. He subsequently moved to the Toronto Star in 1981. In 1993, following the death of Gary Lautens, he began to write a thrice-weekly humour column for the paper. He also released podcasts of his articles and published three collections: Mike Harris Made Me Eat My Dog, Father Knows Zilch: A Guide for Dumbfounded Dads, and This House Is Nuts!. Between 2004 and 2007, while still writing his column, he published four mystery/comedies, all featuring a sleuth named Zack Walker who works as a newspaper columnist by day. The books were published in the United Kingdom and were modestly successful. His break came in 2007 when he published No Time for Goodbye. A runaway bestseller in the UK, it quickly sold a million copies there and elsewhere. He took a one-year sabbatical to promote his novel and he had planned to return to the Star in September 2008. On June 28, 2008, he wrote his last column, announcing his retirement from the newspaper. His 2012 novel Trust Your Eyes was a finalist for the Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read from the UK Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards. At the time of its publication, it was announced that Trust Your Eyes had been optioned by a Hollywood studio. Barclay made the cover of Variety Magazine because of the bidding war it had caused between Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Eric McCormack had planned a script for a film version of No Time For Goodbye, with himself starring. The project never came to fruition. A French TV adaptation titled That Night, was made in 2023. The series appeared on TF1 Television in France on April 23, 2025. Barclay lives in Oakville, Ontario, with his wife of more than three decades, Neetha, with whom he has two children - Spencer and Paige.

• Last Resort: A Memoir (2000, finalist for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour)

• Mike Harris Made Me Eat My Dog • Father Knows Zilch: A Guide for Dumbfounded Dads • This House Is Nuts!: Surviving the Absurdities of Everyday Life

• Year — Title — Publisher — Notes • 2004 — Bad Move — Bantam — 1st Zack Walker novel • 2005 — Bad Guys — Bantam — 2nd Zack Walker novel • 2006 — Lone Wolf — Bantam — 3rd Zack Walker novel • 2007 — Stone Rain — Bantam — 4th Zack Walker novel • 2007 — No Time for Goodbye — Orion — Featured on Richard & Judy's Summer reading list • 2008 — Too Close to Home — Bantam — Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel (2009), part of the Promise Falls series • 2009 — Fear the Worst — Bantam • 2010 — Never Look Away — Delacorte Press — Part of the Promise Falls series • 2011 — The Accident — Orion • 2011 — Clouded Vision — Orion — Quick read • 2012 — Trust Your Eyes — Doubleday Canada —. Originally titled 360: A Novel. Part of the Promise Falls series • 2013 — Never Saw it Coming — Orion — Based on the novella Clouded Vision. Features characters that appeared in No Time For Goodbye • 2013 — A Tap on the Window — New American Library • 2014 — No Safe House — Doubleday Canada —. Sequel to No Time for Goodbye 2007 • 2015 — Broken Promise — New American Library —. First in the Promise Falls trilogy • 2015 — Final Assignment — Orion — A novella ebook • 2016 — Far From True — New American Library —. Second in the Promise Falls trilogy • 2016 — The Twenty Three — New American Library —. Third in the Promise Falls trilogy • 2017 — Parting Shot — Orion — Fourth in the Promise Falls series • 2017 — Chase — Puffin Canada —. First book in the Chase series, written for kids (ages 9+) • 2018 — Escape — Puffin Canada —. Second book in the Chase series, written for kids (ages 9+) • 2018 — A Noise Downstairs — Doubleday Canada • 2019 — Elevator Pitch — William Morrow • 2021 — Find You First — William Morrow • 2022 — Take Your Breath Away — William Morrow — Shortlisted for 2023 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger • 2022 — Look Both Ways — William Morrow • 2023 — The Lie Maker — William Morrow • 2024 — I Will Ruin You — William Morrow • 2025 — Whistle — William Morrow • 2026 — Not a Word — William Morrow

Linwood Barclay is recorded as journalist, novelist, writer, philologist and literary scholar.