I don’t think I have read a Linwood Barclay book with so many twists, turns and red herrings!
The subject matters covered are truly upsetting and controversial; gun law; school shooting; mental health; abuse of power and the vulnerability of children and the position teachers and adults working with children can find themselves in.
All of these issues were wrapped up in a fictional mystery thriller , but nevertheless they are important enough to have an impact on the reader.
A. Linwood Barclay book is always one to look forward to and this one did not disappoint.

A modern American twisty tale told in typical Mr Barclay style.

The main character is a High school English teacher, Richard Boyle, who comes face-to-face with an ex-student who has a bomb strapped to him trying to enter the school. If you are thinking this is America today then you will be correct as guns and shootings seem to be part of everyday USA school life?

Into the mix Richard, his wife and next door neighbour end up with a drugs connection. Mr Barclay is brilliant telling the story, with good characterisation and well described violent scenes. Loved it!

I still feel sad at the the state of these aspects of American life, guns and drugs, and maybe this is Mr Barclay's intention?

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ for the chance to read and review.

Bestselling Canadian author Linwood Barclay often writes about contemporary issues, exploring the things that trouble us through crime fiction. For example, in Look Both Ways he concocted a plot about self-driving cars, and in Find You First we meet a tech billionaire who has everything except the feeling that his life is worthwhile. I Will Ruin you plucks a whole range of topics from the headlines, such as violent incidents in schools, sexual abuse of minors, drug addiction and the recent increase in attempts to censor certain books. How does he pull these seemingly unrelated topics into a taut thriller?

The book opens with Richard Boyle, a Connecticut teacher, having a discussion with his students about The Road, Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel. Through the classroom windows, Richard observes a man approaching the school. The man is wearing a vest fitted with dynamite. Richard immediately goes into emergency mode and instructs a student to call 911. After ensuring his students are safe and that they will block the door with heavy desks, he leaves the classroom. Richard runs through the halls alerting other teachers to lockdown. He heads to the school entrance located in the direction that the man was walking. He is literally running towards danger.

It’s worth remembering that Connecticut is where the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting took place. Perhaps this is why Linwood Barclay chose the Connecticut town of Milford as his setting. It certainly lends credibility to his story.

When he reaches the doors, Richard recognises the assailant as Mark LeDrew, a former student. Mark has a list of staff members he wants to meet and it seems obvious that he intends to kill them in a suicide bombing. Fortunately, Richard convinces Mark that violence is not the answer and they go outside and wait until bomb professionals can arrive to disarm the bomb. But, just as he leaves the building, Mark trips on a shoelace which detonates the bomb, killing him and wounding Richard.

Richard becomes a hero in the press. Not everyone has the skills to defuse a situation that could have ended with mass casualties, and yet Mark’s parents intend to sue him for their son’s death. At the same time, other parents are unhappy that Richard has been teaching their children about The Road. All the media discussion of the bombing catches the attention of an angry individual in need of money and in the midst of the turmoil Richard is approached by a blackmailer.

The story unfolds from multiple points of view – including those of Richard, his wife Bonnie and his sister-in-law, Detective Marta Harper. There is also a cast of secondary characters who have chapters presented from their points of view. With the multiple plot lines, it is necessary to have the different perspectives to ensure that it is easy to follow the story as it progresses. The complexity of the interwoven plot lines and characters would be a challenge for an inexperienced writer.

I Will Ruin You is a very fast paced read. Similar to other thriller writers like Kellye Garrett, Barclay likes to end each chapter with a hook or an event that leaves you wanting more. It makes for an action-packed story that will keep you reading late into the night to find out what happens next.

At one point, when Richard is meeting with the parents who feel that The Road is not an appropriate book for teenagers, he tells them that good fiction provokes and bridges gaps and can bring people together by exposing them to the different sides of an issue. This could be a description of the book banning plot line in I Will Ruin You. Richard’s approach to addressing the parents’ concerns about the books studied in class is powerful. Equally powerful is reading about their desire to protect children from violent stories at a traumatic time, with mass killings occurring in their state and across America.

If you value the freedom to read broadly, the storyline around the book banning will likely hit home. Does Barclay manage to pull all the other storylines and character perspectives together? Of course he does. All the angles he puts across will keep you guessing, and his books never fail to entertain.

This book had promise and an interesting blurb, some of the sections definitely caught my interest but overall it was a bit like sleepwalking and my interest faded in and out quite a lot. I’ve read books by the author before and I wouldn’t say this is my favourite to date and I limped a bit towards the end. I perhaps could put my slight lack of interest down to the fact I didn’t really connect that well with the characters. The main married characters seemed to have a strange lack of trust with one another and I felt a lot of the time people were making odd decisions. I also mostly guessed the ending quite quickly which was a bit too obvious for me so a little disappointing. I would still potentially recommend giving this a go, it just didn’t quite resonate with me.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read to this book

what a book it was... its a thriller of a ride...

when richard boyle watches someone approach the school, he is immediately suspicious the fact that he was also carrying a back pack and something in his hand...something he had a tight grip on gave he a pre warning that all was not well....

as he rushes out of the class room he shouts to his class to barricade themselves in and call 999

richard is hoping that the door is secure and that the person cant enter the school alas that isnt so and the young man enters.... its a tense time for all....

what follows next will grab your attention to the many red herrings galore and the merry chase that happens with a great twist at the end... wow didnt really see that one coming

cant wait for the next book from this amazing author

As ever Linwood Barclay writes about a supposedly innocent person caught up in some very traumatic events and as usual his latest book has turned out to be a ripping yarn, full of twists and action centred on a fast paced plot.
I couldn’t put it down…..how would it all end? I for one couldn’t wait to find out!
When Richard, a high school English teacher manages to stop something terrible happening at work , he is hailed a hero and features on tv. However this brings him unwanted attention and sets off a complex chain of events which become more and more awful. Trying to save himself and his family, Richard gets drawn to some very unsavoury characters including an ex student who makes some shocking claims.
I don’t want to spoil this twisty tale but suffice it to say once you’ve picked up this book, you won’t be able to rest until you’ve finished! It’s definitely a page turner in the strongest possible sense of the word.
Even when you’ve got to the end…. No there’s more to come.
It also examines some dark themes, violence in American schools, child abuse and what happens when people are broken, how their lives can be affected.
If you’re looking for a good thriller to read on the beach, I suggest you look no further and I dare you to work out how it all pans out!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Starts off with a bang and keeps you guessing!

Love love love this book! Another cracker from Linwood Barclay. This kept me on my toes all the way through and I couldn’t put it down. All the characters were fantastic and I felt I was there alongside all of them. I like how Linwood intertwines everyone’s stories so smoothly to create one storyline which is easy to follow. An easy 5 stars!

I do like a Linwood Barclay book as he often takes a truly original concept to hook you in This did not quite fit that premise However it was an addictive read all the same with a few interesting twists

My thanks to H.Q and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘I Will Ruin You’ written by Linwood Barclay in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

For Richard Boyle, an English teacher at Lodge High School, it’s an ordinary day as he discusses a novel with his students. Suddenly he sees a man walking towards the school wearing a vest with pockets that appear to be holding what looks very much like sticks of dynamite. Richard shouts to his students to barricade themselves in and ring 911 while he goes to confront the man, a former student called Mark LeDrew. Just as Richard manages to persuade him to walk back out of the building, Mark trips on his own shoelace and the dynamite explodes. Mark dies but luckily Richard escapes unharmed apart from minor cuts and bruises, but this is just the beginning of a nightmare as another student takes the opportunity to start a blackmail campaign against Richard for a past event that Richard knew nothing about.

Wow, what a fantastic thriller Mr Barclay has written! I’ve just come to the end of ‘I Will Ruin You’ and from the very beginning the suspense was so taut I had to keep closing my eyes afraid of what was going to happen next yet knowing I had to open them to read. The plot is intricately woven with compelling characters, dramatic twists and turns, and red herrings thrown in confuse and sent me in the wrong direction. By the time I neared the end I was breathless with built-up tension, but I wasn’t prepared for the final chapter that was unexpected and took me completely by surprise. Mr Barclay writes with a brilliant turn of phrase that makes it easy to read and impossible to put down, and I was totally gripped from the first page to the last. I was so involved in the story and characters that I devoured this amazing thriller in a day and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action-packed thriller.

How would you react in a life-or-death situation? It's a question everyone asks themselves, but few have to face in real life. English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent in harming others, but when Mark Le Drew shows up at Richard's school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is hailed as a hero, but not all the attention focused on him is positive. Richard's brief moment in the spotlight puts him in the sights of a deranged blackmailer with a score to settle.

I'm a huge fan of Linwood Barclay, and although this is a good read, it's not one of his best books. English teacher Richard Boyle quickly goes from hero to a man getting sued by the parents of the school bomber. This is a fast-paced twisted story with some great and well-rounded characters. There are some far=fetched scenes, so you have to suspend your belief while reading those parts. The story includes - suicide, gun violence and sexual abuse.

Published 1st August 2024

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HQStories and the author #LinwoodBarclay for my ARC of #IWillRuinYou in exchange for an honest review.

English teacher Richard Boyle does one good deed that turns his life upside down.
He stops a school bombing, but unfortunately for him the bomber dies and he’s life unravels. He’s sued by the parents of the bomber and is dragged into a blackmailing scandal that could ruin him.
It’s the most bizarre time of his life and he needs to find a way out of his precarious situation, but with roadblocks in his way, can he save himself from disaster or will this turn out to be the worst example of a good deed gone wrong?
I have to say Linwood Barclay has excelled himself with this book. I’ve read all his work and this sits right at the top of the pile.
It’s funny, tense and has an ending that you never see coming. Also the characters are brilliant, this really is a fantastic story and one I’d highly recommend.

Linwood Barclay's latest suspenseful thriller focuses on the life of an ordinary, dedicated school teacher in Hartford, Connecticut, Richard Boyle, who is about to plunge into the seemingly bottomless depths of darkness and nightmares as he learns no good deed goes unpunished. Richard is in the midst of teaching Cormac McCarthy's unsettling The Road, when he dashes out the door, telling his students to barricade themselves in and call the police. He rushes to the entrance doors, engaging with a disturbed former pupil intent on death and destruction, he manages to defuse the situation, only for the young man to trip over his unlaced shoelaces and tragically end up dying.

Richard becomes an overnight sensation, a hero, receiving widespread TV coverage. He is spotted by Billy Finster, a baggage handler involved in criminal drug activities. Billy gets in touch with Richard, with accusations that shake him to the core, struggling to cope with Billy's blackmail demands. He knows he is not guilty, but he cannot guarantee that others will believe him. There are tensions in the family home with his wife Bonnie, and his young daughter, Rachel, suddenly develops a passion for bugs. He talks to the Principal, Trent, getting support, but should he open up to his sister-in-law, Marta, a Milford police detective? There is more, including a troublesome colleague, lawsuits, and the contemporary issue of book banning raises its ugly head.

Barclay as an experienced thriller writer knows how to keep reader turning the pages right up to exciting conclusion, there are twists and turns galore, and a desperate and fraught central character, whose life is spiralling way out of his control, you cannot help but invest in a Richard who only wants to be left alone to teach. Perhaps there was a little too much going on in the narrative, but even so, I can see this appealing to many of the author's fans and to readers new to him. As always, I look forward to his next book with great anticipation! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Linwood Barclay is one of my favourite thriller authors and is definitely an auto-read for me. Sadly, this one is far from his best although still an enjoyable read - his usual brilliance has set the bar incredibly high!

The opening chapters were gripping. Teacher Richard Boyle encounters an old student who has come into the school wearing a suicide bomb. In talking him down, Richard is hailed a hero, but when another old student sees him on the TV, he begins a blackmail campaign against him, which is further fuelled by a jealous colleagues efforts to encourage disgruntled parental complaints against him.

After the initial drama, the plot became messy and contrived, and I struggled to stay engaged.

2.5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Linwood Barclay and HQ for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow! Talk about a twisty, adrenaline filled read.
Teacher Richard Boyle is giving a lesson about The Road, when he sees something out of the corner of his eye. This turns out to be an ex-pupil with explosives strapped to him.
In talking the ex-pupil down and saving the school, Richard inadvertently becomes the target of a blackmailer, and embroiled in some very bad stuff. The tale unravels at breakneck speed, and with a plot twist every few pages. It feels a bit mad in places, but that’s not unexpected for a Linwood Barclay novel. Just jump in and enjoy the ride.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

Linwood Barclay has done it again! A fantastic, fast paste thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Packed full of twists and turns, I could not put it down.

This novel is definitely a winner—dynamic and punchy. It has a fast-moving plot, and I couldn’t put it down. Despite the horror unfolding, the dry humour and wit employed are admirable. There was so much happening to confuse the reader. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop throughout. The plot was superbly orchestrated – sheer genius.

A troubled former school pupil has unfinished business with several staff members and scores he needs to settle. A teacher, Richard Boyle, heroically confronts him, but everything spins out of control. Then, the fallout begins.

After the shock of the incident, the blame game starts with recriminations from all involved. Why? Was it handled well? What ifs, and who is culpable? The author Quotes: “Pure dime-store psychology.” While everyone attempts to normalise, an opportunist lurks, intent on destroying Richard, which introduces a secondary theme of the local distribution of deadly opioids. A riveting, tense ending ensues before all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together.
Thank you to Net Galley and HQ

The opening scene is tense and attention grabbing. School teacher Richard Boyle spots an ex-student approaching the school in a manner that strongly suggests he intends to do harm. He’s got to act quickly and decisively, or this could end catastrophically. A scene plays out that is both dramatic and sad, and which throws suspicion on at least one member of the school staff for historic deeds, which most likely prompted this act.

In the aftermath of this event, Richard returns to the school to what might be described as a mixed reception. In the background, one teacher in particular seems to be plotting against him. But then Richard is faced by a second major challenge as he is confronted – out of school – by a former student who accuses him of historic misdeeds. This scenario, too, has potential for things to end disastrously for both him and his family.

A group of bad actors involved in drug dealing and Richard’s sister-in-law, a cop, are now added to the pot. What follows is a complex series of events, in which Richard makes a series of poor decisions. In addition, to make the story work and to keep the reader guessing, the author asks us to accept quite a number of unlikely co-incidences and swallow a series of misdirections. In truth, I found this all to be pretty unconvincing and highly contrived. Added to this, I was pretty sure from very early on that I knew who would turn out to be the mysterious baddy lurking in the background (I was proven to be right).

So, for me, this was a story that started brightly but then deteriorated into an elaborately conceived but improbable jumble that really made little sense. It just didn’t feel real. On the upside, the pace of the story, as well as a constant sense of threat and urgency, was well maintained throughout. On this basis it’s a three star rating from me (which might just be a little on the generous side).

Linwood Barclay is one on my favourite authors and I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up one of his books before even reading the blurb. His newest thriller certainly didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved it from the first page to the last. It had a great bunch of characters and so many twists and turns. Absolutely brilliant book

“I Will Ruin You” is a standalone novel by author Linwood Barclay that is full of action and suspense. Right from the first chapter when high school teacher Richard Boyle is faced with his former student, Mark LeDrew who shows up at school with a bomb strapped to his chest. Richard is depicted as the hero when his quick thinking manages to stop a major catastrophe.

The book starts at a high level of suspense and keeps going. In my opinion this is one of those novels when it doesn’t pay to think too much about the amount hard to believe events and just accept and enjoy. The action doesn’t stop and I found it very entertaining.

Despite been recognised as an hero Richard is still going to have problems with pending lawsuits and blackmail to mention just two.

The novel is fast paced and full of action, suspense, twists and even humour.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and HQ for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.