From the publisher:
The New York Times bestselling author of Elevator Pitch and master of psychological suspense returns with a riveting thriller in which the possible heirs of a dying tech millionaire are mysteriously being eliminated, one by one.
“Find You First starts with a bang and ends with an even bigger one. . . . It’s the best book of his career.” — Stephen King
Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of—except time. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. For Miles, this means taking a long hard look at his past . . .
Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has kids—nine of them. And they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him—maybe his fortune, or maybe something much worse.
As Miles begins to search for the children he’s never known, aspiring film documentarian Chloe Swanson embarks on a quest to find her biological father, armed with the knowledge that twenty-two years ago, her mother used a New York sperm bank to become pregnant.
When Miles and Chloe eventually connect, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.
Who is the vicious killer—another heir methodically erasing rivals? Or is something even more sinister going on?
It’s a deadly race against time . . .
Miles Cookson has made himself a fortune via founding a highly successful tech company. He can afford anything and everything that he might want. Unfortunately, an exception has made its way into his life. He has been advised that he has a terminal illness that will take his life in a relatively short period of time.
Faced with this devastating news Miles brings to mind that two decades ago and before the burgeoning of his successful career he went to a sperm bank and was paid to make a donation in order to help his financial status. Now with death facing him Miles realizes that he may have children fathered by his sperm. The horror of this is that there is a good chance that his DNA passed down to those offspring fathered by him, will cause his offspring to have a good chance of developing the disease that is going to kill him.
Linwood Barclay develops a mesmerizing plot and a good book to dive into based on Miles finding out who the children born with him as the father and where they currently are residing. His searches for them are not as straight forward as they should be when it develops that someone is trying to kill off his children. The why behind the murders involves a carefully constructed plot and the warm emotions stemming from a recognition that the members of the group he fathered are actually his children.
Chloe Swanson, a member of those purported to be Miles’ children, is at first interested in how much she might collect from the very wealthy Miles. Her opinion changes as she gets to know him and she begins helping him with his search while developing a strong feeling towards him as a father figure that she did not have growing up.
The novel is one that keeps the reader glued to the pages as most of Barclay’s books are. A good addition to the author’s well received works and one that will cause the reader to keep on the lookout for his next novel.
5/2021 Paul Lane
FIND YOU FIRST by Linwood Barclay. William Morrow (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062678317. 448 pages.
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